The Girl and the Raven by Pauline Gruber – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

The Girl and The Raven by Pauline Gruber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the Girl and the Raven, we are introduced to young Lucy Walker who tragically loses her mom. Lucy finds herself uprooted from the only life she’s ever really known and moves from her small town to the big city of Chicago to live with her uncles. Lucy is hoping for a fresh start and a life free of drama and stress; something that young Lucy has never had before as she’s always had to look after her drug addicted mother.

What Lucy never expected was for her life to take a sudden turn with the discovery that she is half-witch and half-demon. Not only that but she meets the father that she never even knew existed. In Addition to discovering her long lost father, Lucy also finds herself battling for her life by a mysterious stranger. Clearly, this new life isn’t quite what Lucy expected but never one to back down from a challenge, Lucy faces each new challenge head-on.

Shortly after moving in with her uncles Lucy meets her upstairs neighbor, Marcus, and can’t help but become smitten with this good-looking lad. Lucy soon finds herself spending a lot of time with her new neighbor and finds herself falling in love with him. Marcus was friends with Lucy’s grandmother and promised her that he would look after Lucy and protect her, a vow that he takes very seriously. Young neighbor Marcus has a secret of his own that Lucy soon discovers. Lucy also finds herself quite attracted to Young Dylan, a boy she meets at her new high school. At first, Lucy thinks that Dylan is a jerk and wants nothing to do with him. As she gets to know him better, she sees another side of him that he keeps hidden from everyone. Suddenly she’s thrust into a love triangle as well as everything else that she is currently dealing with.

When Lucy discovers that her grandma’s beloved Raven is missing, she is determined to find it and save it at all costs. Lucy has always had a special connection with the beloved family pet. She finds herself teaming up with her neighbor, Marcus, and the two of them set off to save The Raven. Lucy’s life and everything she has ever known is forever changed as she is now thrust into a battle between good and evil.

The one thing that really drew me into this book was how strong the lead character Lucy is. Young Lucy has always had to be strong but now she really has to dig down and discover her true strengths. Lucy is one tough young lady who manages to persevere and overcome any challenge that comes her way. She will do anything to protect those that she loves. Lucy’s protective and loving nature combined with her strength is quite admirable.

I found this book had many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. From the very first page that just kind of leaves you in shock I was hooked. I immediately fell in love with the characters. I admired Lucy’s strength. The love triangle sucked me in, but I immediately became conflicted as to who would be the better choice for lucy, the brooding neighbor Marcus, or the high school friend Dylan. I love the supernatural aspect and the demons, gargoyles, and witches.

I found this book impossible to put down. As soon as I was able to, I moved on to book two in The Girl and The Raven series, entitled The Girl and The Gargoyle. I highly recommend this book and the others in The Girl and The Raven series by Pauline Gruber.

View all my reviews @Tara Johnson Barnes