The Seventh Raven

by David Elliott

Best-selling author David Elliott examines the timeless themes of balance, transformation, and restoration in this evocative tale about a girl who will stop at nothing to reverse a curse that turned her seven brothers into ravens.

And these are the sons
Of good Jack and good Jane
The eldest is Jack
And the next one is Jack
And the third one’s called Jack
And the fourth’s known as Jack
And the fifth says he’s Jack
And they call the sixth Jack
But the seventh’s not Jack
The seventh is Robyn

And this is his story

When Robyn and his brothers are turned into ravens through the work of an unlucky curse, a sister is their only hope to become human again. Though she’s never met her brothers, April will stop at nothing to restore their humanity. But what about Robyn, who always felt a greater affinity to the air than to the earth-bound lives of his family?

David Elliott’s latest novel in verse explores the unintended consequences of our actions, no matter our intentions, and is filled with powerful messages teased from a Grimms’ fairy tale. Stunning black-and-white illustrations throughout by Rovina Cai.

Genres: Fantasy, Poetry, Young Adult, Retellings, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Novel In Verse

192 pages, Unknown Binding

First published March 16, 2021

About the author

David Elliott is the author of THE COOL CRAZY CRICKETS and THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF ROSCOE WIZZLE. He says of AND HERE'S TO YOU!, "My neighbor’s rooster and I were having a disagreement. I wanted to sleep in the morning; he wanted to crow. The rooster won, of course. The first verse of AND HERE'S TO YOU! is a tribute to his victory and to the joys found in simply following your nature."

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Seventh Raven by David Elliott is a young adult fantasy retelling that is told in verse. The story is based on The Seven Ravens that is in The Brothers Grimm about the only daughter of the family trying to save her seven brothers from a curse that will turn them into ravens.

I’m sure my problem with this one that ended up with my rating at two and a half stars will not be a problem for others in the fact that I’m not usually a fan of poetry. At the time I picked this one up it wasn’t clear that the entire book was written in verse so that alone had me as not a huge fan. While this one wasn’t for me simply based on the style of writing I’m sure others out there may enjoy it as it did seem sort of a cute story just the poetry aspect made it rather repetitive to me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠]

DNF @ p.26 because I have better things to do than try and force myself through stagnant, repetitive "poetry" I am probably too uneducated to appreciate but, y'know, it hurts my brain and ruins whatever scraps of decency this story might have held. I am disappointed in this that even the appeal of this being a retelling of this rarely-used Seven Swans tale doesn't even make me want to finish it.

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize this book was going to be in verse, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. I quickly found myself drawn into Elliot’s words and rhymes and verse. I by no means have any idea how verse is “supposed” to read, but just from reading it aloud in my head, I felt like the book has a really readable flow and a rhythm and rhymes that sounded good!

The afterword about each character having their own form of poetry was super interesting.  The different forms gave each character a unique voice within the verse.

I also liked how the novel followed the fairytale format of “get in, get out, tell the story.” It is a quick read that is a modern retelling of The Seven Ravens, which appeared in The Brothers Grimm. The plot is pretty interesting, a sister trying to save her seven brothers from a curse. The different. points of view helped move the story along, with the various styles of verse making each unique.  April persevered through a lot of hardship to finally find the mountain of glass where the brothers were being held.

Plus the artwork inside looked really great from what I saw so far.  I love the cover too, how gorgeous is that!

If anything I think the formatting suffered in the early electronic version but I would love to see a finished copy.

I would totally recommend for fans of fairy tales and fans of books in verse!  It is out in Mid March so add it to your TBR now!

[Alex (The Scribe Owl) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come see this review and more at my blog, The Scribe Owl!

3/5 stars

Thanks to Edelweiss for supplying me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book in verse! It wasn't included in the description, so it was a bit of a surprise, but it worked out well. I especially loved the author's note on the different types of poems and the ways they were utilized.

I don't really have much to say. The book was a quick, interesting read, but I'll probably never think about it again after I send in this review. The formatting on my copy was not very good, but that was probably just from it being an eARC. I enjoyed this book and its prose, but I doubt I'd recommend it or reread.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay wow. I don't particularly care for novels in verse and I wasn't aware this was in verse until I already asked for work to purchase it. I decided to wing it and give it a chance and I'm glad I did!

I don't know how, but this is a full fairytale in prose. It feels like a full story when really it's bare bones. Less than 200 pages and in prose no less, this took around 2 hours to read even while working. But I can feel the heart in it. Granted, it's not fully fleshed out; the brothers, all named Jack, have little to no personality, the other characters are given one maybe two poems each and that doesn't lend to perfect characters. But with what it had, it was kinda awesome.

A magical fairytale in verse that's good for fantasy fans to branch out with!

[Addie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5



Not at all what I expected. It’s a rhyming book, meaning the whole story was told though a variety of poems basically. It was difficult to relate with the story, but some of the stanzas were very pretty.

[Molly - Baltimore Bibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today I learned that books written in verse are not for me. The language is beautiful, the story is haunting & spooky. It’s a creepy & unusual retelling. But I’m not a fan of verse. If you like verse & retellings, definitely check it out!

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elliott’s book in verse takes a fresh look at the classic Grimms’ fairytale “The Seven Ravens.” Told from multiple perspectives, this exploration of family bonds and wishes gone wrong is paired with lovely artwork from Rovina Cai. This book is for fans of poetry and fairytale retellings.

The cover of this book and it’s brief description intrigued me, but I wish I had known it was in verse. I’m surprised that the publisher did not include this key information in the description. Poetry is not always my thing, and while a novel in verse is impressive in its ambition, this book didn’t work for me.

The characters, for the most part, were flat and stereotypical and the verse too often repetitive. This book is classified as a teen/YA read, but it seems better suited to a younger age group based on the language and illustrations. The formatting of the ebook copy I had was very poor, but this could be because it was an eARC. Nevertheless, it negatively impacted my reading experience, making it a more difficult and confusing read.

The high points were the character of Robyn (although I was disappointed by his fate) and Elliott’s explanation of the poetic forms he used at the end of the book. I wish I could have seen a print copy of the book and maybe read it with a younger reader – I think that would have improved my opinion and experience of the book.

-----
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Grace W · Rating 1 out of 5]

(c/p from my review on TheStoryGraph) Oh this is bad. This is so bad. The poetry was bad, the story didn't do anything, it has literally nothing interesting to say even a little bit. This is just bad. Thank god it was so short because even the length it was felt like I was being dragged across a bed of nails. I regret every word I read.

[🇵🇸🇵🇸 hasfia 🇵🇸🇵🇸 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars ✨

Aw man, if this was a full fledged novel I’d have gobbled it tf up 😭

[La Coccinelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you want a cool fairy tale retelling and you get a pile of pretentious poetry.

Yeah. It's like that.

I enjoy verse novels, but I did not click with this one. I think part of the problem is that I detested Robyn, the character with whom we're supposed to relate. See, Robyn likes being a raven... but he's such an unempathetic narcissist that, when the point of breaking the curse comes, he can only think of what he is going to lose, not what nine other people are about to get back, or the fact that his sister had to literally mutilate her body to break the curse. So he goes and sulks for the rest of his life and declares he's an angel (I kid you not; we're supposed to like this weirdo?).

There's a note at the end about how different forms of poetry were used for different characters. In another format, I might've found this interesting. But since I listened to the audiobook, I didn't get to see the words on the page, which made it more difficult to differentiate the types of poems. The effect one gets from listening to this book is one of unevenness and excessive repetition.

The misandrist messaging, the unlikable characters, and the repetition all combined to leave a rather sour taste in my mouth. I love verse novels. I love fairy tale retellings. I should have loved this book.

But I didn't.

[Melissa Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Seventh Raven was published in March of this year. I knew I wanted to purchase it because I loved the YA retelling "Bull". Which is about the Greek story of the Minotaur. However, before I could purchase this book, I had to read the second book in his YA re-telling "series", which was "Voices". I purchased it last year and it had been sitting on my shelves lonely. So I picked it up and devoured it in a day. I knew, with out a doubt that I would like this third book as well and I wasn't disappointed.

With this particular story I wasn't very familiar with the original. The original is a German fairy-tale that was collected by Brother's Grim. I have heard of other titles with different birds like 'Six Swans' and I thought it was kind of the same story. If you look it up, there have been many variations of this tale through out the world from all different countries and are roughly the same story.

This book still in rhyme is told in several POV's. Robyn is the youngest of the seven brothers and unlike his siblings he does not like their ways. Robyn likes color and the sky and so he thinks his parents must have sensed this at birth because he was not called Jack like the others.

Jack is the father and all of his sons are named after him, except his youngest boy, which he called Robyn. But in truth he pines for a daughter.

Jane is the mother. She is often lonely while she waits for her husband and sons to come home from the outdoor activities. She too wants a daughter.

One day Jack and Jane's dreams come true. They have a daughter, but she is sick and dying. The boys argue who will bring the priest water to help with the baby, it is Robyn who ends up slipping away while his older brothers fight over who is greater.

Jack the father is overwhelmed with anger and sorrow and curses his sons "no better than ravens" the boys become what their father cries out. The ravens fly away. The daughter gets better.

I don't want to spoil the story for you if you haven't read this one before.

I really enjoyed it. And of course I loved the way David Elliot weaves the story through the poetry so elegantly. I wish he would write more of these re-tellings. I would buy every single one.

A millions stars. So good. If you like re-tellings and you like poetry. I highly recommend.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in the minority opinion, but I absolutely loved this!

The poems were great! They were easy to understand without losing their lyrical integrity. Reading the author's note in the back really gave me an appreciation for the the poetry form choices used and how much thought went into creating this retelling.

I also loved the subtle queer rep through one of our main characters. That was such a nice and unexpected touch and I loved their parts. I had never heard of the Seven Ravens fairy tale from the Brother's Grimm so this was a nice reprieve from the same retellings that seem to saturate the market.

Highly recommend the audiobook version, it's short and has a wide range of narrators so you don't get confused when it switches perspectives. However, the drawings in the book are fantastic too! So, you might want to read along and enjoy the illustrations.

[Andria Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artwork nice but I hadn't realized that this was a novel in verse and I actively dislike those. I'm extremely picky in what poetry I do like (Robert Burns, Dylan Thomas, Emily Dickenson) and while this wasn't bad it just wasn't to my taste. It was short, however and with lovely artwork. So I'm giving this a solid 3 ⭐.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Seventh Raven by David Elliott, Illustrated by Rovina Cai
Genre: Fairytale Retelling, Verse Novel
Page Count: 192
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Warnings: None

Quick Look (out of five):
Plot Rating: 3
Character Rating: 3
Romance Rating: N/A
World-Building Rating: N/A
Writing Style Rating: 5
Recommended?: Only for readers who enjoy verse novels.

Note: Due to the different style of this book, this review will focus on an analysis of the literary devices being used, as well as the poetic style choices. There will also be no spoilers section.

This novel is definitely not for everyone. I absolutely loved it, but that is due to my adoration of literary analysis. This novel’s value is entirely in the ways poetic form, symbols, and archetypes are used to tell a story whose heart exists in between the lines. For readers who read a published copy, there will be a lot of meaning to gain from the occasional artwork throughout the novel (I cannot comment on those, as all artwork was marked as Not Final in my Advanced Reader Copy). If you enjoy plot or character driven novels, this book will likely fall flat. However, those who enjoy diving into literary analysis as you read, I would highly recommend this novel. There is a seemingly unending supply of things to interpret.

The Seventh Raven is a novel written entirely in verse that retells The Six Swans from the Brothers Grimm fairytale collection. A couple with seven sons who have always wanted a daughter end up accidentally trading their sons for a single daughter. The sons are turned into ravens and fly away. As the daughter grows, she senses a loss at the core of her family. Upon learning of her brothers, she sets out to save them. The novel resembles a parable in tone, with the focus on themes and poetic style more than on the characters or plot. It is a masterful blend of poetic forms into a complete work that resembles the epic poems of the past.

The plot of the novel is empty in the same style as fairytale plots. Rather than being a weakness, this allows the plot to act as an invisible support to the true purpose of the novel. By eliminating plot as a focus of the story, the focus changes to the structure of each speaker’s poetic style and what it reveals about them.

The characters in this book are highly two dimensional, intended to act as archetypes given form rather than fully developed people. Jack and Jane are the parents of six boys named Jack, a seventh son named Robyn, and a daughter named April. Jack and Jane begin the novel as the representatives of traditional gender norms and tropes. The six Jacks also fall in this category, and often exist as a single entity rather than as six individuals. Robyn is set up as the foil to these characters, as he feels out of place and does not fit into this constrained world. April is the catalyst of the story, named after a spring month to demonstrate the way her birth acts as a rebirth for the other characters. Overall, we spend the most time in April’s mind, making her feel slightly more defined than the other characters. None of the characters actually seem like people, nor are they intended to.

At first, the verse style of this novel bothered me. It felt simplistic and lacking in purpose. However, the further I got into the novel, the clearer it became that the fault actually lay with the ‘rough draft’ format of the Advanced Reader Copy. As the placement of line breaks was sometimes wrong, it took longer to grasp each poetic style. Upon a second and more informed reading, I appreciated the way that the first and second halves of the novel acted as foils to one another. In the beginning, the poetic styles chosen are purposefully simpler in feeling. The characters are all unhappy in some way or another, fighting against some aspect of their life. This discontent is apparent through the excessive use of enjambment. Each speaker has a verse style that rarely uses punctuation inside or at the end of lines. This creates the sense of each line rushing into the next with no breaks for breath. The repetition and pace act as a perfect match to the way each character is experiencing their lives. While this means the first half of the novel is exhausting to read, the stylistic choice does fit perfectly. The second half of the novel is where the verse style gets interesting.

Throughout the novel are segments in which the speaker can best be described as a narrative voice. These sections usually focus on the reactions of nature and inanimate objects to the story. They use a rolling rhythm and parallel lines to create the sense of a passive yet driving force. My personal favorite was the segment titled “The Road is a Villain”. Nearly every line begins with ‘and’ which combines with the rhyme scheme to create a rising and falling rhythm not unlike a marching or rowing rhythm.

One of the more interesting structure choices is in the Crone’s speaking segments. The Crone is clearly the archetype of the wise woman/fate. She is the only speaker who comes close to prose format, employing a kind of modern prose poem. She declares herself the ‘truth’ and exists in many forms, including taking on the Mother Goddess archetype that cycles from youth to old age. If the Crone is Truth (the perfect representation of self-actualization), then her style of speaking is closest to a state of perfect acceptance of self. Considering this, it becomes highly symbolic that April and Robyn are the only ones whose sections come close to the Crone’s style.

In the beginning, Robyn’s sections resemble those of his brothers, but feel just slightly different and off. He uses more complex phrasing or placement of line breaks in a way that stands out sharply amidst the speaking styles of his family. In the second half, Robyn’s section become even more distinct from his brothers’ sections. His segments closely resemble April’s sections in and demonstrate that both these characters feel fully themselves. They utilize longer sentences and fuller lines. Robyn’s lines feel sharply different from his way of speaking in the first half. His lines are no longer broken at the end of each phrase, and instead break in places that create a more robust rhythm and symbolize his newfound sense of comfort as a raven. Since Robyn and April’s desires are polar opposites – April wants her brothers to be human again and Robyn wants to stay a raven – the similarity in their poetic form becomes more apparent and important.

The six brothers named Jack either speak as one or in parallel lines in the beginning. While they feel incredibly simplistic, this sparseness serves to show their content. The Jacks do not need more from life; the repetitiveness of their days does not grate on them to way it does for their parents. In contrast, they speak as one in a jumble of partial thoughts after their transformation. Their intense feeling of being in the wrong form screams out from the page as they seem to speak over one another in a chaotic cacophony. Their moments of speech are shorter than anyone else’s and have a more simplistic pattern to their line breaks.

Jack the father speaks in a form quite similar in sound to those of the six sons named Jack. It feels boisterous and forceful in a way that presents a traditional vision of masculinity. His wife Jane speaks in the exact same poetic form, but her sections feel a bit softer. Their identical poetic forms ensure that the masculine and feminine characteristics of each are more noticeable due to the contrast. This tonal setup reverses in the second half of the novel. Jack sounds softer, his lines oozing regret. Jane takes up the more forceful and staccato position, boiling with anger at the way Jack has cost her all eight of her children.

By switching Jack and Jane’s tones, the author sets up and then destroys their traditional gendered existence. There is an implication that by clinging to these gender tropes, Jack and Jane caused their own sadness. They longed for a daughter to bring softness to their lives, ignoring the ways Robyn’s sentimentalism could have filled that role if they had allowed him to live outside gendered tropes of behavior. It plays in to one of the overall symbolic morals of the novel: that living in absolutes rather than spectrums constricts one’s ability to be themselves.

Robyn’s ending acts as a mirror to this gender deconstruction. By having Robyn become part raven and part human, the story demonstrates the necessity for nuanced senses of self. There is a distinct queer aspect to Robyn’s story. He feels that he cannot be himself at the beginning of the novel, having to hide some aspect of his self away. His family notices and dislikes Robyn’s differences. Later, April observes that Robyn is sensitive based solely on the way her parents describe him compared to her brothers. “Sensitive” feels like coded language for Robyn’s queer identity. The freedom Robyn finds in his transformation and his choice to live between the ground and the sky demonstrates the ways he exists outside of all categories and constructs.

My only complaint about this novel is that it exists in physical form. Throughout the entire novel, I found myself wishing to see it performed on stage. It reminds me of medieval Morality Plays that consisted of anthropomorphized vices and virtues that travelled around performing moral and religious lessons for the peasant class. There is also a similarity to early Greek plays adapting epic poems. While I found this story to be a delight when read in novel form, I think it would truly shine on the stage.

If you are interested in more reviews, check out my blog theartistryofreading.com!

[Dragonclaws2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would first like to thank NetGalley for sending me an EARC in exchange for an honest review.

I definitely did not get what I assumed this book would be. It threw me off greatly. I was expecting a book with long chapters and paragraphs not this sweeping poetry I got.

I am not much of a poetry lover but I loved this. The rhyming just sweeps you into the story and before you know it you've read the entire book.

Also, adding elements like animals, trees, and an axe with feelings just made this all the better. It really showed the emotion that the author was trying to portray. (With it rhyming, too!)

The book actually started out sadly because the entire family had wanted a daughter. It was kind of cute that the brothers wanted a sister especially Robyn.

Robyn was my favorite brother of them all because he was different than his brothers. I did feel a little sad for him at the end but I rejoiced when I heard he still kept his wings.

April, herself, was also a favorite but in a more "Aw-she's-going-to-save-her-brothers" kind of way. She was right to do what she did for her other eight brothers but not Robyn.

The father was one of my least favorite people because he did curse his son's so he could have a daughter and kind of didn't care. In my mind, that's rude.

Overall, I would totally recommend this to someone who is new or likes poetry especially with the variety of different poems included!!!!

[Amanda Shepard (Between-the-Shelves) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read, and usually I don't mind novels that are in verse. However, the fact that this one rhymed bothered me a bit? It just kind of took me out of the story a bit. But if you like fantasy retellings and novels in verse, this one would definitely be for you!

[disz · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3 stars

beautiful words, indeed.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

[Elevetha · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first novel in verse I've attempted and while I can't say as I hated it, I also can't say I truly liked it.

Some aspects were quite well-done and some turns of phrase or select sections of verse were solid, but overall, whole chunks of verse were unnecessary or overly repetitive to the point of annoyance, and I didn't care for Robyn's story nor particular brands of verse for various characters throughout.

Basic b*tch that I am, I have discovered I really like couplets and alternate rhyme.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group -HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not put this book down. My eyes were glued to every word of every page solely because the writing structure was just brilliant. You get to know the characters in just a few words and the plot gets straight to the point without any drag. This is such an enticing novel filled with so much drama and excitement that it will leave you gasping for air and catching your breath when you are finished.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Tessa]

I'm DNFing this about fifty pages in. Though I really enjoyed Bull and Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc, this one is extremely repetitive in style and I just wasn't enjoying it. The illustrations are lovely though.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loooooooved this. The words and imagery and rhythms came alive in my head. I would LOVE to see this performed.

Don’t bother with most of the other reviews on here. They review this book as if it were a prose novel. It’s very much not. It is exactly what I would want from an expertly and beautifully told fairy tale in epic verse.

Do get a hardcopy (or audiobook?) because the eBook leaves something to be desired. And try reading it aloud. It’s not truly born until it leaves the page. Just like Robyn.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely poetic retelling of a fairy tale. To those who say it's repetitive, yes, that's half the point. Fairy tales are often repetitive and many oral traditions are repetitive to make them easier to remember. The author explains some of this in the note at the end.

[Paco Taco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. Gosh. This book is so good. I don't usually read books like this but I have a thing for bird titled books and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I loved the illustrations throughout and the formatting of the writing.

[Shaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

original review:
4,5⭐
This is so beautiful, I had to read it in one sitting

update after rereading it:
4✨
I still love it, but it didn't catch me as much as the first time reading it

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Popsugar reading challenge: A book from an animal's POV

Great idea in theory but mind-numbingly repetitive in practice. The father will be clueless and domineering, the mother will be long suffering and sighing all the time, the oldest 6 brothers will hate being birds, Robyn will keep thinking “boy it would suck if I don’t have to be a bird,” the sister will be determined and plucky. That’s it that’s all you get.

This book is really obviously a metaphor for Gender and the struggles of identities therein but in practice it’s yet another one of those YA books where the metaphor has you going “do you really think men can only be XYZ traits and women can only be XYZ traits?” You get a little bit complicating this idea when the father longs for a daughter because there’s supposedly too much masculine energy in the house and he wants more feminine energy. And then his gripes are reversed when it’s just a wife and daughter in the house. And you’re supposed to be all “smh you silly man!!” but the narrator kinda treats all the older brothers versus Robyn the same way. Somehow all the oldest brothers have the exact same gender presentation and same goals and same NAME and it just... Was not a compelling metaphor at all! It felt regressive! I’m sorry!

[Carrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Now, I love the old Grimm fairy tales and enjoy seeing the more obscure stories retold. I also love poetry and enjoy reading certain things (not all) in rhythmic prose, such as this story. But I could understand that this won't be for everyone, especially those who do not enjoy poetry as much as I do. This is made evident by some of the reviews here on this site.



This story is about a couple who have seven sons. Six of them are named Jack and one of them is Robyn. This couple although loving their sons always wished for a daughter. When their prayers were finally answered and they were blessed with a girl, the child was unresponsive and seemingly dying. The father not willing to accept his daughter's fate, in a moment of desperate anguish said he'd willingly trade all of his sons for his daughter. At that moment all 7 boys were turned into ravens and flew off.

The young girl survived and was named April. She was never told about her brothers and she knew nothing about the curse they had upon them that had saved her very own life. Being an intelligent young woman April found out not only about the existence of her brothers, but also about their curses. She left home hoping to find a way to break the curses and bring all seven boys back home.

I enjoyed this story, the way it was written, and the pacing of it. It is a good way to tell a story in my opinion, and it would be a great way to read fairy tales to the younger children.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. Ambitious and an intriguing idea, but ultimately it did not live up to expectations. The characters fell a little flat and while the language was haunting and sometimes beautiful, I did not feel connected enough to the story to appreciate it. At the end, Elliot offers explanation as to why he used different poetic forms for different characters, which could be helpful for readers not familiar with poetry, but it felt over-explained to me - I wish the characters could have spoken for themselves and displayed their own traits through action rather than through an afterword explanation by the author. Kind of like how a joke isn't funny if you have to explain it. If I don't understand your plot or your reasoning without it being explained to me, well...

This was a quick read and an interesting one, but not one that's going to stick around with me.

Thank you Edelweiss and HMH for the ARC!

[Maria F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for me
I didn’t know this book was going to be written in verse but it was a pleasant surprise and I found myself enchanted by this and the way the author managed to tell this haunting story through poetry.
I definitely enjoyed the different POVs and the changes in tone from all of them- Robyn being my favorite character because he was different than the rest and his POV was almost endearing to read 💛
I loved the art as well and the little surprises along the way
All in all, this was a quick read that didn’t end how I expected but I loved it nonetheless!
I recommend this if you like verse, Grimm fairytales, haunting world building and can appreciate the genius behind poetry 💛
*thank you to netgalley for sending me an earc in exchange for an honest review*