Feathers So Vicious (Court of Ravens #1) by Liv Zander

 

Summary (from the publisher): More treacherous than war... are the battles within a heart.

Perched between branches and shadows,
We watch, we scheme,
Fighting for a kingdom forgotten and forlorn.

Until we rip her away with our claws,
Our prisoner, our pawn, our plaything.

She’s innocent and pure,
Fragile and helpless…
…but oh so guilty by blood.

She calls us beasts,
Wicked and evil,
Vicious and cruel.

We are all that and worse.

One of us offers her shelter beneath his wings,
Whispering promises of pleasure,
Seeking redemption.

The other longs to shatter her into a million pieces,
Whispering promises of pain,
Seeking revenge.

Caught between our feathers,
She endures our deranged desires,
Our secrets, our lies,
Our twisted plans.

Will she surrender to our darkness,
or fight for a destiny growing ever elusive?

Welcome to the Court of Ravens, little white dove.

Feathers so Vicious is a full-length dark fantasy romance novel, and book one in the Court of Ravens duet. The two-part story features two morally gray raven shifters, a young woman at the mercy of their shadows, and a HEA. This world contains dark elements, violence, and themes some may find disturbing. Readers can find more detailed information on the author's website. What this book doesn't contain is a hero - because villains do it better. And two do it better than one…

Review: This dark romance follows Galantia, the only surviving child of her lord father. Forced into an arranged marriage to make a political alliance for her father, her fate changes when she is kidnapped by two ravens - shape shifting men who can transform into ravens and command dark shadows at their will. 

This was the first dark romance book I have read and wow! This was a lot. Trigger warnings abound. A lot of violence and assault scenes. I did like elements of this. I was intrigued by the premise (while dark) of Galantia kidnapped and then at the mercy of the raven's court. I was also intrigued by Malyr and Sebian's backstories. The two have had traumatic pasts, which certainly doesn't excuse but does help explain their behavior and choices. The shape shifting ravens were a unique premise and this felt relaly different than other fantasies I have read. 

The spicy scenes in this are what really did me in. I don't want to get too explicit, but they were over the top. Malyr and Sebian don't mind sharing their women and Galantia similarly seems ok with this scenario as well. 

I did like that this book alludes to a lot of bigger issues and unknowns that Galantia is not privy to that sets the book up well for book two. There is still a lot of unresolved plot elements, and I left with no real feelings of who I wanted Galantia to end up or how this duology might end. While I was disturbed by much of the content of this one, I am curious to see what happens in book two. 

Just a note that I started this on audiobook. While I love a full cast and generally think it adds so much to the narration, I personally did not care for the style that the narrator voicing Galantia used, which reminded me of a bad soap opera star. I really struggled to get into the book and finally switched around 45% of the way through to the ebook and enjoyed it much better. 

Stars: 3