The Girl and the Raven

by Pauline Gruber

Paperback, 2013

Status

Available

Collection

Publication

Dragonfly Ink Limited (2013), 408 pages

Description

Good versus evil just got complicated. Sixteen-year-old Lucy Walker just wants a normal life, until she learns she is half-witch, half-demon. Now she's got other problems, like keeping her demon dad from killing her boyfriend, keeping the witches in her life from killing her demon dad, and keeping her non-supernatural friends safe from both sides. All the while she's desperately searching for the family raven that carries her magical legacy. She's walking a tightrope between good and evil, drawn to both, uncertain which she will ultimately choose. Fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver series, and Meg Cabot's Abandon series will love The Girl and The Raven

User reviews

LibraryThing member Isisunit
I would like to thank NetGalley and Dragonfly Ink, Ltd. for granting me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Though I received the e-book for free that in no way influenced this review.

Good versus evil just got complicated. Sixteen-year-old Lucy Walker just wants a normal
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life, until she learns she is half-witch, half-demon. Now she's got other problems, like keeping her demon dad from killing her boyfriend, keeping the witches in her life from killing her demon dad, and keeping her non-supernatural friends safe from both sides. All the while she's desperately searching for the family raven that carries her magical legacy. She's walking a tightrope between good and evil, drawn to both, uncertain which she will ultimately choose. Fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver series, and Meg Cabot's Abandon series will love The Girl and The Raven!

This is an intriguing book that blends religious beliefs and pagan beliefs as the backdrop of a teenager's life. Lucy grew up with a mother that was beyond neglectful. An alcoholic, and a junkie, Donna appeared to never really care about her daughter - always spending their meager money on her next fix, or hawking Lucy's few precious gifts for a meager fix to help tide her over for a few more hours. All Lucy wants is to get out of the trailer park and go live with her beloved Grandmother. But then her grandmother dies and Lucy is trapped. Well, trapped until the fateful day the her mother is dropped off in front of the trailer, dead from an overdose.

Lucy moves in with her Uncles, Sheldon and Bernard, who live in her grandmother's house. Persephone, a dear friend, and powerful witch, also happens to live in the house. Lucy is thrilled to be living with people who care about her, but her world doesn't change the way she expected it to. Instead she is shooting lightening from her hands when she gets upset, and doing everything in her power to hide it from everyone around her.

She meets some girls at her new school, making friends right away, with all of them except for the uber bitch Ella and her faithful stooge Caroline. Ella gets totally bent out of shape when Marcus, Lucy's new upstairs neighbor ignores her in favor of Lucy. And then when the other local hottie, Dylan, becomes friends with Lucy Ella blows a gasket. What she doesn't know is that Lucy knows Dylan because she babysits for his stepbrother and sister Brandi & Ethan - both of whom adore Lucy.

What Lucy doesn't know is that she got the job through her father, a man she's never met, that she knows of. But in reality he has been watching her every move since she showed up at her grandmother's house. And it turns out he has also kidnapped Lola, her grandmother's raven. Lola is holding Lucy's powers of witchcraft for her until her 16th birthday, but until she can rescue Lola she won't receive her powers either. And without her powers she is defenseless against the demons in her life.

Lucy goes through all kinds of romantic tension with Marcus, some with Dylan, at least until they learn something from her Dad, the demon. Balancing between being a white witch and a demon is a tough act for Lucy, especially when another demon is trying to kill her. The question is, can she survive both halves of her heritage, as well as play peacemaker between the two halves of her family?

While I enjoyed the story, I was frustrated with the pacing at the end. Things moved along quite nicely for the bulk of the book, but once the major calamity has passed the story is ended quite abruptly in my opinion. With several unanswered issues just hanging out there, the questions posed and never answered. The end felt rushed and too much like a copout for my taste. However, it is still a fun read as long as you are willing to accept the easy-out ending.
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LibraryThing member sunset_x_cocktail
I received a copy from Netgalley.

Well this one was fantastic! A fast paced plot with an immensely likeable lead character. It does follow a little bit of YA cliche to start - death of a parent, sent off to new town, discovers new powers, and a potential romance.

Even so, that didn't really matter
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because it was such a good story. Lucy is sent to live with her uncles where she discovers some a family history she never knew about - as mentioned in the blurb - she's half witch half demon. Some really good world building, and what I particularly liked was the friendships built with some of the other girls she meets, (apart from one or two who were trashy and bitchy!) And some of the adult characters were fun too, family was actually present and a huge part of the plot instead of being absentee family so that was refreshing.

No insta-love as well! Lucy meets sexy neighbour Marcus and while there's insta-lust definitely, it takes time for their relationship to happen. So another plus.

Only thing I can note really is some inconsistency with the spelling of a minor character's name. One of Lucy's friends is called Suzy, and thorough out the story the spelling of the name changes from Suzy to Suzie. It's a little distracting.

Other than that, great story! While its sort of concluded, there is an option for a sequel or possible series to come. So definitely looking forward to more.
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LibraryThing member lrhubble
Contemporary Paranormal, Lexington, Tennessee & Chicago, Illinois

Lucy Walker is a sixteen-year-old girl who wants a normal life. Just as she thinks she has a chance at normal she finds out that she is half-witch and half-demon. Now her life gets even more complicated as she works to keep her demon
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father from killing her boyfriend. She also has to try and keep the witches in her life from killing her father and protect her non-supernatural friends from getting hurt from either side. As if that isn’t enough to keep her busy she also needs to find the family raven that has her magical legacy. She is doing a balancing act between the good and evil in her life and is drawn to both. She just doesn’t know which side she will ultimately choose.

This is a fantastic young adult story that can be read by anyone. The plot and characters are well thought out and written well. The story comes alive for the reader in a paranormal story that is very different from most paranormal books. Once the reader starts this one they will find it very hard to put down as they will be pulled into the story with every word they read. This is done is the first person point of view but that just adds to the story rather than takes away. When character point of view changes the reader will not be lost in the least and it is written in such a way that it flows from one chapter to the next with nothing lost during the switch. If the next book proves as good as this one it is going to be one series that will be a must read for those who love paranormal romances. This is one to definitely take the time to read.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

408 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

0991077407 / 9780991077403

UPC

884351823064
Page: 0.1019 seconds