The Crows are the bottom caste of 12, required by their immunity to the Sinner's Plague, to remove and burn the bodies of plague victims lest everything close is blighted. An endangered prince hires the crows to convey him and his body guard double to safety - but nowhere is safe for Crows. Spoiled prince and bodyguard learn lessons in what doesn't seem a well thought out fantasy world, no one about which there is much worth saving. ( )

{first in duology; fantasy, YA, re-read} (2019)

In a land where every caste has a gods-given birthright only the Crows do not.

In the land of Sabor everyone belongs to a different caste, each named for birds. There are twelve castes in Sabor of which the Phoenix is the highest and the Crows are the lowest, considered almost untouchables. The rulers of Sabor are of the Phoenix caste, whose birthright is fire; they can summon fire from nothing and will not be burned by fire. Every caste except the Crows has a birthright of magic, granted by the one thousand dead gods; caste members seem to have limited uses of their magic but caste witches - of which there are one thousand in total across Sabor - can wield the power. The Crow caste, however, has no magic and has no home but the roads; but, though Crows have no innate magic, Crow witches can borrow a birthright from the bones or teeth of other castes.

"You knew," Fie accused, stacking up every horrid piece. "That's why you ran."
Jasimir shook his head, adamant. "It didn't sound possible until now. All three Swan witches are accounted for, she has no sign, and Tavin and I witnessed the marriage ceremony ourselves. We didn't know she could lose her Birthright for only a moon. I swear, I came to your band for help because Rhusana allied with the Oleanders, and for that reason alone." Fie scowled, baleful, at the dirt. "Aught else you want to tell me? Tatterhelm's got a meaner cousin? The king's really two asps in a fancy robe?"
"I still don't know what Viimo meant about ghasts," Tavin said.
"Me either." Fie's gut twisted. Pa had taught her how to call Swan teeth just on principle, for they had but a largely useless few. Still, in the handful of times she'd blinked through the life in a dead Swan's spark, she'd heard no whisper of ghasts. And that, like so many things, bode ill. Grim silence settled over them once more as Fie plaited a whole new set of troubles into the ones on her head.
Then Tavin's voice broke in. "I really have to know: Which one of us is Pissabed?"

(Crows are named for the first word spoken in anger after they are born. Fie has had to make up Crow names for them on the spur of the moment.)

Crows are tolerated because they, alone, are immune to the Sinners' Plague which kills animals and people horribly and painfully and can literally wipe a village off the face of the earth within a month, so it is their duty - which they cannot refuse if they see the plague beacon - to collect the bodies of plague victims for which they receive a fee, which is how they make their living. If they find victims still alive it is their duty to dispatch them (hence 'merciful Crow') because the plague is incurable and highly contagious. Although the wandering families of Crows are the only thing preventing the land being overrun by the plague Crows are the untouchables of their world, despised and even hunted down for sport.

Sixteen year old Fie is the daughter of a Crow Chief whom she calls Pa (who adopted her after her mother was hunted down) and is being trained by him to be a chief for one of the Crow bands that roam Sabor. She can borrow the magic of a person's caste, for a limited time, from their teeth which Crows collect if a village can afford nothing else for their fee and she can also see past lives from the touch of bones. She knows that, despite Saborian laws, Crows are treated as outcasts and hunted and tortured by the so called Oleander Gentry who ride masked at night and so they must live circumspectly even as they walk the roads of Sabor.

The story opens when Fie's band has been called to the palace to deal mercy to a plague victim, if necessary, for the first time in 500 years. When the queen tries to cheat them of their viatik (or rightful payment) - as so often happens to Crows - Pa lets Fie set the price. And she makes a deal that could make life safer for all Crows - if she can pull it off.

I do like Tavin's irrepressible, flippant humour. He knows how to break the tension; the Crows are running for their lives with Queen Rhusana and the Oleander Gentry (the equivalent of the KKK) after them and they've just realised everything is even worse than they thought.

I like the map at the beginning of the book and I also found the table of castes, with their birthrights, useful.

Very enjoyable. After borrowing this book from the library twice, I've now bought the duology for my own shelves.

(February 2024)
4.5-5 stars ( )

A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?

This book pulled me in from the beginning. The world building with a complex caste system and magic and political machinations made for a fast-paced adventure. Well this story wraps up nicely it definitely opens the door for more stories to figure out how this will conclude considering the throne in jeopardy! ( )

Obviously this was overhyped as overhyped could be yet nevertheless “Merciful Crow” was still a somewhat enjoyable read with some major flaws that some readers may not be able to overlook. The original world-building adventure of a tale really started to pick up the pace ⅓ into the read after a slow and painful start. Seriously I had for a brief moment considered dropping this but I had decided to struggle through and wallah! I persevered and made it to the end. Kudos to me! Anyways… the downside of this novel were the characters. I. Hated. All. Of. Them. And not one, not one had any redeeming factors to make them worth liking. And let’s not forget the romance in which I can’t even formulate enough words to describe how bloody awful is was. This read could’ve done without the romance and I was left cringing with the instant love “my life would suck without you” type of romance. The “relationship” between Fie and Tavin was rushed and unbelievable. Like what was the purpose of adding the romance into this YA fantasy novel?! I need answers damnit! Despite those flaws, I was still enthralled by the author’s writing style and her ability to draw me in (enough) to the YA fantasy world she was able to create that's filled with action, adventure, and world-building.

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