The Secret of the Ravens

3.7

4.5 (1)

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Author(s)

Joanna Cacao

Publisher

Clarion Books

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

November 07, 2023

ISBN

978-0358650119

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Twin siblings Elliot and Liza only have each other. Their parents are gone. Their home was taken, and to survive on their own, they’re forced to scrounge up plastic and metal to trade for coin within an abandoned garbage heap. Desperate to escape the vagabond cycle that they’re trapped in, the answer to their plight seemingly appears when they stumble upon a Raven Quest—magical tasks offered by mysterious message-carrying ravens that when successfully completed, promise the victors coin and untold riches.

In a gamble to change their fates, Elliot and Liza follow the trail of Raven Quests to the kingdom’s capital, where the greedy rulers of the Kawumiti Kingdom reign and young people are enlisted to train as royal mages for the kingdom's army. But the Ravens Quests aren’t as they seem, and the King is on a mission to hunt down vagrant participants like the twins.

When a quest goes terribly wrong, Liza is poisoned, and Elliot finds himself racing against the clock to find the cure. Now the only way to save his sister is to join forces with a royal apprentice and a dark mage with mysterious motives of her own—even if it means sacrificing everything.

Editor review

1 review

Anything for family

October 20, 2023

Overall rating

3.7

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

3.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

What worked:
A problem with some graphic novels occurs when the narrative and abstract illustrations don’t fully communicate the plot. That is not a problem in this book. The text is not overly descriptive, as with all graphic novels, but it clearly tells the story of a young orphan trying to save the life of his twin sister. The drawings focus on the characters and events without unnecessary details so readers are able to fully grasp what’s going on. The illustrations effectively convey the evilness of the antagonists to enhance the descriptions in the narrative.
The main conflict finds Elliot doing everything he can to save his twin sister from dying of snake poisoning. The suspense intensifies as time counts down. There’s an underlying problem of persecution that concerns the whole kingdom. The opening scene finds a race of people being pursued by the royal hunters for execution. In the city, people living on the streets are being rounded up and the citizens are unwilling to help. This cruelty by the rulers creates difficulties across the lands and motivates one character to seek revenge.
What didn’t work as well:
The book’s ending is too abrupt as there are unresolved issues. I don’t want to share any spoilers but suffice it to say readers may not be satisfied. A sequel is surely on the way.
The final verdict:
The premise of the plot is engaging and magic is a central part of the story. However, the book ends just as things get really interesting so readers will need to reconcile this issue in their minds. This book will appeal to those who enjoy close family ties and enchantments.

Mark Buxton Top 10 Reviewer 444 reviews

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User reviews

1 review

Overall rating

4.5

Plot

4.0(1)

Characters

5.0(1)

Writing Style

4.0(1)

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0(1)

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Great fantasy graphic novel

July 26, 2024

Overall rating

4.5

Plot

4.0

Characters

5.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

Awesome debut for this author/illustrator.
I love fantasy world stories that are not portal fantasy but with their own worldbuilding and lore such as this.

Two orphan siblings need to earn money to survive and stop searching for garbage to sell. Instead, they begin to use magic to activate ravens. These ravens activate quests that will lead to rewards. They try to have a go at the main city although they don't agree with the regent's way of governing the people, but they still don't have enough money to survive. Because they don't want to join the apprenticeship program that serves the queen and king, they try again to use magic, and one of the siblings gets mortally injured.

This first volume focuses on the healing of the sibling, with a lot of fast-paced quests but there are larger and darker forces acting in the background that will define the main core of this series. This volume sets up the world and main conflict, although it resolves one problem initiated in this volume, the main story continues in the next volume.

The magic system is pretty cool, it uses hand gestures, ingredients, and voice, but in a cool way. There is a glossary at the end with all the spells, and detailed information on the right pronunciation, ingredients required, and purpose of each spell.

The story is full of quests, adventure, great pacing, and not too heavy on text in some pages and panels making it easy and fast to read. It's about surviving, learning to trust, friendship, revenge, family, betrayal, and sacrifice.

I like that the author illustrated "diversity" and also different body shapes. The usage of warm and cold colors at the right moment helps to set the mood.

We sure appreciate the last pages including a few making of and the evolution of this comic related to cover, character, and page design.

A lesson that I've learned from this story: We can do anything as long as we don't do it alone.