Review: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Title:  Murder of Crows

Author:  Anne Bishop
Publisher: Roc

Publishing Date:  March 4th, 2014

Pages: 369
Length: 14 hours and 13 minutes 
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Series:  The Others #2
Source:  Audio

 

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.

This is the second book in this series. I absolutely loved the first book and was super excited to get to the second book. I found this one a little slower at the beginning but I still am in love with this series. I love the characters, the world building, and the stories that come along with it. This book mainly focuses on the cassandra sangue and what their life is like, what Meg's life was like. It also focuses on what is going on between the humans and the terra indgigene. Full of action, a little romance may be a brewin' and a bigger piece of the entire puzzle is revealed. 

Meg is falling into a normal life at the Lakeside Courtyard. Things are moving along and she is becoming great friends with Simon. It is very short lived though when she starts having dreams without being cut and the urge to cut and release the blood visions are coming on faster. When she does cut the visions she has is full of blood and violence. Something is going on, beyond humans and others dying in nearby cities. To add to all this something is different between her and Simon, and she is now confused on what Simon really wants from her. This puts a strain on their friendship. Things are not going as well as she would like them too and death is all around her. 

The first book of the series was very involved and multi-layered, I feel this one goes even deeper and lets in just a bit more of Meg's story and the story of cassandra sangue. 

 Meg is one of my favorite characters ever. She is so strong and so sweet and so so brave. It's hard to develop a character with the perfect balance between sweet, reserved with strong and fierce. This is how I see Meg. She is the perfect balance. I loved reading more about her past and the the life she lived before Lakeside Courtyard. I just can't get enough of Meg. Not only did I enjoy learning about her past, there is more developing between her and Simon. Yup this is entertaining, frustrating too. 

Meg is fearful of relationships. She is just happy to have some friends, but she fears that Simon wants more and that more involves sex. She puts some space between her and Simon and this just causes all kinds of feelings to surface. She finds that Simon is more than a friend, he is safety and comfort and she needs him around. Simon doesn't like the space either. He misses Meg and is confused on how he should act around here. There is so much tension and feelings underlining the feelings they have for each other. I feel they are both so clueless on what they really want and desire, it's kind of ridiculous. Its entertaining and frustrating all at the same time. I can say though it's also nice, instead of this book focusing on romance, it can focus on deeper things. The romance and other relationships is there though, just subtle and in the background. It will blow up at sometime.... I can just see it. It is a time bomb waiting to go BOOM! I can't wait til it does. 

The main story behind this installment is what Meg is seeing, the other cassandra sangue and what they are seeing, and the fact there are many dying on both sides of this war from a drug that seems to be pretty potent. What Meg sees is pretty creepy and scary. 

This book has so many layers and so many characters, each with their own stories. I feel that the tip of the iceberg is all we are seeing so far. I love that this book has so many characters. They are all so very interesting and I have a need to know more about them all. The fact that there is so many and so many side stories with the main stories, it does make the book a bit long and sometimes the pacing suffers a little. The pacing is a little slow at times, not enough to keep me from loving this series. The info blast, I believe is needed and important to the story, but just a fair warning, there is a ton there. The only complaint I have is the pacing, and it's not even enough to bring my rating down. 

There are parts that are a bit confusing because of all the characters, but in the end it's all pulled in together so flawlessly that I forget I was confused at times. Never bored, never left wanting for more. This book has the perfect amount of fulfillment that keeps me invested from beginning to end. 

I adore this book and this series, I can't wait to read more. 

Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of fourteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel, Twilight’s Dawn, made the New York Times bestseller list. She is currently working on a new series, which is an urban dark fantasy with a bit of a twist.