Review--Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s "phenomenal" (Urban Fantasy Investigations)  world of the Others — where supernatural entities and humans struggle to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules…

After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard — Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader — wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

I finally picked up the second book in Anne Bishop’s Others series, A Murder of Crows and I found I quite enjoyed it though, again there was a struggle to recall the events of the previous book. But it didn’t seem as bad this time around!

The thing about this series is, you have to realize that the pacing is slower than usual, but for some reason, I find that this works for me with this world. Yes, it takes a long time to see things happen and then to see some resolution, but there’s a lot of growth and development going on in between all that. Meg is still learning how to be “normal” in a sense, since she’s no longer a prisoner under the Controller’s command.

In this one we start to see a lot of hate going on between the Others and humans. Humans start attacked Others for no reason, really and the Others retaliate. And this ultimately starts causing friction and tension between the two groups. And the humans who work for the Others in their Courtyards are pretty much ostracized. It’s a dog eat dog kind of world going on here.

Having that in mind, we also get a few history lessons along the way. The Others were here in the country first, and then they allowed humans to live besides them in exchange for goods or such. But once humans break the treaty from years past, the Others take back what was theirs and chaos ensues.

Among all this, there are a set of drugs; gone over wolf and feel good, that are being distributed and it’s causing deaths. Humans are dealing it to other humans, but then some start using it on Others in order to kill them basically. There’s a lot of prejudice between the two groups in this one and there’s a lot of fallout to be dealt with.

We also see more of the Controller in a way and the dealing with the Cassandra sangues he holds captive. Simon and the other terra indigene get involved in the matter. I felt it was a little unclear what exactly happened on that front, but I suspect my suspicions are accurate, which I won’t divulge in.

I truly enjoyed the dynamics between Meg and Simon! There’s still so much tension between these two, and yet, there’s nothing romantic going on between them yet. But we can clearly see things possibly starting to happen. There are lots of little moments between them. Some can be written off as harmless affection between friends, but others leave you seeing more! This is by far one of the most slow burn romances I’ve ever read and it’s definitely a nice change of pace. I just keep hoping something happens between these two though!

The Others series isn’t really for everyone, with its slower paced pages. But there’s still plenty of enjoyment to be had if you love good character development! Watching Meg grow and learn how to be a functional and average human being is enjoyable! She’s not up to date on everything. She only knows what her Controller allowed her to know. So her seeing her learn and develop her skills is enjoyable! I love her character!

I’m hoping the tension between humans and the Others doesn’t last long. For I miss some of the interactions we had with a few of our human friends. But only time will tell!

If you’re looking for a nice and steady read with lots of good characters and plenty of plot development, this is the read for you! While it is slower paced, it’s still highly enjoyable! Perfect for those nice lazy days!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars