Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher! Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Faithless Hawk

Author: Margaret Owen

Book Series: The Merciful Crow Book 2

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, bird themes, war

Publication Date: August 18, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, death, violence, gore)

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co

Pages: 400

Synopsis: As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word. Still she’s hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana's merciless bid for the throne.

With the witch queen using the deadly plague to unite the nation of Sabor against Crows—and add numbers to her monstrous army—Fie and her band are forced to go into hiding, leaving the country to be ravaged by the plague. However, they’re all running out of time before the Crows starve in exile and Sabor is lost forever.

A desperate Fie calls on old allies to help take Rhusana down from within her own walls. But inside the royal palace, the only difference between a conqueror and a thief is an army. To survive, Fie must unravel not only Rhusana’s plot, but ancient secrets of the Crows—secrets that could save her people, or set the world ablaze.

Review: For the most part this book was pretty good. It helped clear up a lot of the confusion I had with the first book and the writing was much better and clearer. The characters continued to be fully developed and overall I really liked this one.

However, I did feel like the pacing was a bit too slow in this one and the plot wasn’t that interesting. In the beginning it was pretty interesting, but the plot slowed down midway and then came to a head at the end.

Verdict: It was pretty good!