Even though this isn't a romance novel, they have a great love, and I was hoping that things would work out for each other. For all that, he's formidable and strong. He's a born leader, not through brute force, but an intrinsic charisma and his being a good person that you wanted to like. Even years as a soldier, seeing the worst, didn't change that about him.

And it was clear that she did care about others, and loved her children and her husband, Tier, very deeply. Because of the dangerous nature of her magic, she had to keep her composure. I liked that she was a to-the-point, contained, composed, but deeply feeling person. Seraph is not the type of heroine who's in touch with her feelings and bright and bouncy, emotionally open. I liked the messages about prejudice, and how some people are dismissed and marginalized, but they are the people who are capable of really doing something worthwhile in the world.

The magic was part of who they were, and it affected the non-magic people who lived in the world of this book. And, I like that she kept the story focused on the characters and their journey, and not on the actual magical aspects. I loved how it all tied together and related very personally to Seraph, and the family she had with Tier. Having said that, I thought the idea of the different orders of magic really interesting. I must admit that there were parts that were slower and harder to read, and that's due to the intricacies of the worldbuilding (keep in mind, I don't read a lot of heavy-duty, traditional heroic fantasy-so keep the urge to sneer under wraps if you've read a lot of that and consider this book child's play). It's clear that Patricia Briggs can work the same magic for traditional fantasy that she does with her urban fantasy and werewolf stories for this reader.

Raven's Shadow by Patricia Briggs