Good book this was! :)

Review to come. ( )

I received this book free from the audio file sync summer program in 2020. It is a YA fantasy that centers on Selena of Ravenwood. There are 7 great houses and they are coming together with the intention of forming an agreement to work together to apples the empire. It uses light and dark as plot devices. Ravenwood is dark, Damien is light. It was okay and I might read the rest if they were available which they are not. ( )

Based on the cover, I think I was expecting something a little different than what I got, but I still very much enjoyed it. Loved the characters in the series and their journeys throughout. ( )

Mark of the Raven was part of Audiobooksync in the summer of 2020. I enjoy the fantasy genre and really liked this novel. I wouldn't say it's amazingly written, but I like the characters. As a character-driven novel, I connected with Selene and Damien.

There are seven great houses who, if united, can bring stability, advancement, and peace to all the people. Four hundred years ago no one came to the House of Ravenwood's aid and they were wiped out. What no one knows is that one woman escaped. She possessed great power. As four hundred years have passed, the women of Ravenwood have kept the secret that their power still exists. Selene receives her power one night and she possesses as much or more power than her ancestor. When her mother explains how they use their powers to garner money in order to support the people, Selene feels torn apart. She finds that she is to do unspeakable deeds. She doesn't harbor ill-will towards others and sincerely wants to help her people. She questions this path, but tries to make herself strong--to turn off her emotions and do what must be done. She would like a better path that saves herself, her sisters, and the people. These views grew, probably, from her father's beliefs.

Damien, now the Grand Lord of his house, longs to reunite all seven houses. He believes that with reason and the desire to do what is right, they will all make their houses stronger and the people safer from the Empire. He didn't expect to be in this position, but his family has all died and he leads at a very young age. Centrally located, the House of Raven provides a place for all houses to meet. The Ravenwood women have always been mysterious, but they have lost their powers and have very little land, so it's a perfect meeting location; and, perhaps he can restore some confidence in these women who were abandoned. He can bring them together so no one is abandoned again.

The novel centers on Selene--what it's like to suddenly receive the gift, what it's like to live with a jealous sister and a limited sister, what it's like to be disappointed in one's fate, what it's like to be selfless in order to sacrifice so that her people can gain, what it's like to feel as though there is nothing good within you, what it's like to feel unloved by family, what it's like to hope. Damien possesses less time in the novel--his presence must relate to Selene and how fate needs both of them to create unity and goodness. I appreciate Selene's inner struggle and final decision. I appreciate Damien's sense of honor. I hope you see what I see in this novel. There are two more novels, so I assume it's a trilogy. I could be wrong, as I haven't read past this book. I will because I want to spend more time with these characters. ( )

Lady Selene is the heir to the Great House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a Dreamwalker, she can enter a person's dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. For the last hundred years, the Ravenwood women have used their gift of dreaming for hire to gather information or to assassinate.

As she discovers her family's dark secret, Selene is torn between upholding her family's legacy - a legacy that supports her people - or seeking the true reason behind her family's gift.

Her dilemma comes to a head when she is tasked with assassinating the one man who can bring peace to the nations, but who will also bring about the downfall of her own house.

One path holds glory and power and will solidify her position as Lady of Ravenwood. The other path holds shame and execution. Which will she choose? And is she willing to pay the price for the path chosen? ( )