Review: Finally Raven's Story, Worth the Wait
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2013
I was so excited when I saw that this was to be Raven's story. Raven is one that has been an enemy of the shifters and has done bad things so I was very curious how Ms. Richards would turn him into a hero that I would like. And I'm happy to report that I did find him more than likeable.Raven makes a deal with Miach that allows him to escape from the shifters in exchange that he will not report to the scientists what he has learned while a prisoner. Raven's good with the deal because he plans to quit working for the scientists. He's known the truth about both sides for some time. Seeing how the shifters were careful in his treatment as their prisoner just brought it home for him compared to how the scientists lied about the shifters and do torturous experiments on the ones they capture. Just as Raven starts to walk away he finds himself intrigued by the scent of a little arctic fox shifter who is up for some severe testing. Raven has suspicions about who the little fox shifter is to him, but has no plans to try a relationship once he helps him escape because he doesn't feel that he is good enough.The plot was strong and moved along at a good action-paced clip in the beginning before switching up a bit for character and relationship stuff. I liked many things about this installment. I like that Raven isn't instantly different even though he has a soft spot for his little Liam the fox shifter. He is gruff with the others and matter of fact about things. He isn't altruistic and admits that he's only working with Declan and his group to break Liam out. He has no plans to join in or stick around. I like how its not a matter of instant acceptance for him either. The others don't trust him and in some cases don't like him. He will have to earn their trust.In a way, this felt like the beginning of a story even though there is closure for Raven & Liam because I want to see what happens now that Raven is one of the good guys.There were several little threads left dangling that I look forward to see where they go. It was good to get a little peek in with the Stone Ridge gang and with Terrance & Perrin.Nice strong installment in the series. Oh, and I would recommend that this one not be read out of order because of all the references to Raven in previous Stone Ridge stories.