Official Review: Apollo's Raven by Linnea Tanner

[Nikolas Farmakis]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Apollo's Raven" by Linnea Tanner.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Apollo’s Raven by Linnea Tanner is a work of historical fantasy set during 24 AD in Celtic Britain. The story is about a Celtic princess and a Roman, who fall in love amidst the conflict brewing in the region. The novel contains supernatural elements of magic and fantasy, which adds suspense and tension to the story. The language used in the book is predominantly informal, personal, and simple, which adds liveliness to the text.

The author begins the story by introducing a princess named Catrin, who has a special relationship with her pet raven. Born with a raven spirit, she can guide the raven and see through its eyes. The reader learns that her half-brother, Marrock, who has been banished from the kingdom for his despicable murders, is sailing with the Romans toward the coasts of her kingdom. Catrin senses the danger and runs to warn her father, King Amren. King Amren meets with a Roman senator and his son. Catrin and the senator’s son, Marcellus, begin liking each other, and this is the beginning of a huge romance between them. However, there is a secret curse that Catrin must alter to save her father from Marrock. Will Catrin alter the curse? Will the love between Catrin and Marcellus survive the surrounding hate?

The novel had numerous advantages. Firstly, the novel was chronologically, coherently, and clearly structured, creating a logical flow in the text, thereby allowing the reader to grasp the meaning of the story. Furthermore, I liked the fact that the writer was accurate in her historical descriptions, indicating that she had done her research prior to writing this book. Moreover, the book was professionally edited, since I only encountered a few errors. This highly elevates the writer’s credibility and professionalism, What I liked most in the story was the fact that it contained suspense, tension, and emotion, which engaged the reader in the novel.

There were also a couple of negative elements in the book. More analytically, the story was unoriginal, as it was cliché and highly similar to other fantasy novels. Additionally, the novel lacked realism, as the plot did not match a real-life scenario. What I disliked most about the book was that it contained profanity and erotic scenes, which distracted me from the main plot of the story.

This book is best suited for readers who enjoy historical fiction novels related to Celtic Britain. Readers who enjoy reading about fantasy and magic will prefer this book. This book is not suited for young readers, as it contains profanity and sexual scenes. The novel will be most appreciated by readers who believe in the Roman or Celtic gods, as the book makes many references to the gods of these cultures.

All in all, I rate the book with 3 out of 4 stars. I did not give it a perfect rating, as I found unoriginal and unrealistic. Nonetheless, a lower score would have been very harsh, as the book was professionally edited, exceptionally structured, and carefully compiled.

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Apollo's Raven
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[hasincla]

This sounds like a fun fantasy read! Maybe when I'm in the mood for something easy to read that isn't super original (ie moderate level of engagement) I'll give this one a try. Thank you for your honest review!

[Adanna Inya]

Awww. Will the odds be with the lovers? Nice review!

[Laurina Michael Olowoniran]

Wow. Amazing review. I would love to read this romantic story. Did their love survive? She could see through her Raven's eyes? Intriguing.

[Kachi_Ejiogu+_]

Suspense filled, with a touch of action and romance. I applaud the author's originality in keeping you fastened to the story. Interesting read. Great analysis.

[Ediomis_Enwongo01]

The aim of every author is to make his or her book as enjoyable as possible to the readers. The suspense, tension and emotion embedded in the book is enough to arouse this interest. Wonderful review

[Nafreezy]

Where there are princesses and equally strong princes there is bound to be an equally good theme of betrayal and bloodshed. Can't wait to read this!

[[MagicDragonInc]]

This is a great review, and very easy to read, thank you! This is the next book I am going to read, so I found your review really helpful and honest

[Aan Granados]

I love historical fiction but not the magic part. Well, I'll keep an open mind and try this. Thanks for your review,

[Aishwarya Chhabra]

I love romance based novels of another genres. The storyline seems attractive to me. I might really give this a try. Thanks for a great review

[AnnOgochukwu]

I agree with you that the storyline is cliche. But I still believe it would make an interesting read. Nice review.

[smahagnoul]

I enjoy reading about fantasy and magic. I like a story that contains suspense, tension, and emotion, which engages the reader in the novel.

[SweetSourSalty AndSpicy]

Additionally, the novel lacked realism, as the plot did not match a real-life scenario.

I wonder if the lack of realism had an impact on the relevance of the story to the present times. Thank you for the insightful review.

[Effie Cherotich]

I now understand why the reviewer thinks the story line is cliché.

[Divina Cousin]

Thank you for the honest review. Although you disliked the book due to its originality, I would like to give it a try because the plot seems intriguing.