{Audiobook} {Adult} Review: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Title: Murder of Crows
Author: Anne Bishop
Series: The Others, book #2
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside's shape-shifting leader—wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

I don't read and/or listen to very many adult novels. They tend to have a proclivity towards romance and sex, and I'm looking for more from a story. But as I branch out and discover there's more out there than what I found on my mother's bookshelf growing up - ha! - I've discovered some real gems...this series included. I read Written in Red last year because I'd read so many glowing reviews for the urban fantasy story, and I mean to continue with the rest of the series because I was completely gobstruck by that first book.

And Murder of Crows did not disappoint. It fabulously builds upon the world presented in the first book, effortlessly elaborating on the unstable state of the alliance between Others and humans, and it does so in a way that almost makes you fall on the side of the Others. In this world, humans are the lesser creatures, but after this book, I'd say most of them get what they deserve. The terra idigene are being preyed upon by humans who want control, who want to see them fall. And the cassandra sangue, or blood prophets, are treated no better.

In this second installment, we learn even more of what Meg has suffered at the hands of humans, how it has affected her and warped her sensibilities. But intriguingly enough, we get to see a lot of it through another cassandra sangue's eyes. I'm usually wary of books with so many perspectives, but it works well in this story because there is so much story to tell, so much at play, that without the multiple points of view, some things would come right out of left field and the story would suffer for it. Bishop's succinct prose pulls the story together, keeping all of those character arcs from going off the deep end. Her writing style is very different from what I normally read, but favorably so.

It's in those character arcs that the prose really shines, further developing characters we met in the first book and introducing us to many new characters in this sequel. But if I'm being completely honest, the story shines most when Meg and Simon have page time. The romance between these two, as odd a pairing -- in their world, at least -- as the two characters themselves, is still almost comically slow to come to fruition. It's there. Everyone else sees it, but Meg and Simon are new to these feelings and slow to recognize them for what they are. And that just might be my favorite aspect of the series yet. Well, besides how territorial Simon can get over "his" Meg, in both wolf form and his human form.

Aside from not reading many adult novels, and not usually enjoying so many third-person points of view in one story, I also don't real all that much urban fantasy. This series has really made me reconsider everything I thought I knew about myself as a reader. It's the perfect blend of all of those things and still I want more from this world. Written in Red was a great introduction to the world of the terra indigene, and Murder of Crows was an equally strong sequel. I'd highly recommend this to anyone and everyone, and that recommendation doesn't come lightly.

GIF it to me straight:

Brilliantly done...I have so much love for this series.

About the author:

Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of fourteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel, Twilight’s Dawn, made the New York Times bestsellers list. She is currently working on a new series, which is an urban dark fantasy with a bit of a twist.

Find Anne:

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Labels: adult, anne bishop, audiobooks, fantasy, mythology, paranormal, penguin, reviews, shifters, vampires, werewolves