Heart of the Raven prince

Book: Heart of the Raven Prince by Parker A. Garner

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5

𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- Heart of the Raven Prince by Parker A. Garner

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)

🗣 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ .25 / 5

🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲= SLOW BURN 🌶️🫑 / 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠

Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)

5⭐️ Fourth Wing / Bound by Inked Flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of Silver and Curses
5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ ACOTAR / Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️ We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
Genre- Dark Fantasy

🎧 12 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 58 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 - (I listened comfortably at 1.7x speed )

📖 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 - 504

𝗣𝗢𝗩 - Dual POV / dual narration BY Arya Jacobs & Devon Ryder

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 - 6th October 2026

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? A Mix, but definitely plot-forward

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼 - The Raven’s Prey Saga #1

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨 ? Not confirmed at the time of review

𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗲 - Well paced for the story.

𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 ? ✅ YES, I think so

𝐀𝐧𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ? ❌

ℳℴℴ𝒹𝓈 ; Adventurous, Romantic, Steamy, Emotional, Dark, Tense, Twisty, Angsty, Foreboding, Trauma-heavy, Mysterious, Magical, Adrenaline fuelled high stakes.

𝒟𝒾𝒹 𝒾 ℯ𝓃𝒿ℴ𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 ? ✅ Absolutely!

𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝒽ℯ 𝓃ℯ𝓍𝓉 𝒷ℴℴ𝓀 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓈ℯ𝓇𝒾ℯ𝓈 ? ✅ YES. That ending has made sure of it.

𝒲ℴ𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒾 𝓇ℯ𝒶𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉ℎ𝒾𝓃𝑔 ℯ𝓁𝓈ℯ 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓊𝓉ℎℴ𝓇 ? ✅ Yes. This was a fantastic introduction to Parker A. Garner’s writing.

𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖎 𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖙𝖔 ? Fantasy readers who want the fantasy plot to actually matter. If you enjoy genuinely dangerous enemies-to-lovers, a fierce FMC, morally grey characters, vampires, fae, trials, political intrigue, nasty villains, magic, revenge, forced alliances, slow-burn yearning and romance that develops alongside the main story rather than swallowing it whole, put this on your TBR. I’d especially recommend the audiobook or an immersive read-and-listen.

🚨🅲︎🅷︎🅴︎🅲︎🅺︎ 🆃︎🅷︎🅴︎ 🆃︎🆆︎!🚨
This is a dark fantasy containing violence, blood, death, grief, war, enslavement, kidnapping, torture/abuse, humans being used as a food source, captivity and other darker themes. Definitely check the author’s complete warnings before reading.

⚜️𝕊ℙ𝔼ℂ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝕀ℕ 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐:
💋 Humans
⚰️ Vampires
🧝‍♀️ Fae
✝️ Gods / Goddesses
🧟‍♂️ Monsters / other supernatural creatures

⚜️𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕤:
🔥 Slow Burn
🥵 Dirty Talk
🗡 Enemies to Lovers - he killed her parents!
💀 Forbidden Romance
🌡 Yearning, Angst, Tension
🙏 He Falls First
☠️ Touch her and…

⚜️𝕋ℝ𝕆ℙ𝔼𝕊
😈 Secrets & Betrayals
🔮 Prophecies and Mysteries
🏆 Trials
👑 Royal Intrigue
☯️ Religion/Deities
🕯️ Dark Magic
🧩 Forced Proximity
💈 Banter
☠️ Touch her and…
🏹 Bad Ass FMC
🧨 Sassy FMC
🥊 Revenge
🪽 Winged MMC
🩸 Vampire/Fae Court
⚔️ Genuine Enemies to Lovers
🤝 Forced Alliance

✨ TᕼᗴᗰᗴՏ ✨
Power • Freedom • Oppression • Revenge • Survival • Grief • Duty • Sacrifice • Autonomy • Slavery • Morality • Redemption • Loyalty • Trust • Leadership • Protecting your people • Prejudice • Choice • The difference between being a monster and being made into one

📝Cliff Notes Review-
THIS is how I like my romantasy: fantasy first, romance simmering dangerously underneath it. Fawn and Caden’s true enemies-to-reluctant-allies relationship is a proper slow burn while the immortal queen, trials, political intrigue, vampires, fae, gods, secrets and genuinely dangerous stakes drive the actual story. The worldbuilding flowed naturally without huge info dumps, the audiobook was phenomenal and that ending has absolutely guaranteed I’ll be there for book two.

⚜️𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓, 𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕?⚜️(𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡- 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜?)
I’d absolutely recommend the audiobook. There’s a lot happening, but it never felt difficult to follow, and having those voices attached to Fawn and Caden made the emotional moments, confrontations and tension even more immediate.

⚜️𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
Bloomin’ brilliant. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Arya Jacobs and Devon Ryder were extremely well cast as Fawn and Caden. Neither performance felt like somebody simply reading fantasy dialogue from a page; they gave the characters enough personality and emotional weight that I became completely absorbed in their perspectives.

I listened at 1.7x and everything remained beautifully clear and crisp. That’s something I pay particular attention to because increasing speed can absolutely murder a performance if the narration isn’t suited to it. Here, the emotion survived intact. Tense scenes still felt tense, emotional moments still carried weight and, importantly, the pauses still existed long enough to create drama rather than disappearing into one continuous stream of words.

The narration definitely enhanced my experience rather than simply accompanying it. For a big fantasy with different species, politics, danger, emotional confrontations and dual perspectives, that’s exactly what I want. If you’re debating whether to read or listen, the audio gets a huge recommendation from me.

😥 𝕎𝕙𝕪 𝕟𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤?
This is actually quite a difficult section because I really enjoyed this book . There isn’t one enormous problem sitting in the middle of it ruining everything. My reservations are more about pieces of the world I desperately wanted to understand better.

The biggest thing missing for me was more concrete lore around the relationships between humans, vampires and fae . We understand that humans occupy a horribly vulnerable position in this realm and are used as a food source, but I wanted to understand the social rules surrounding that arrangement more clearly. Were the human feeders selected randomly? Were particular humans assigned to members of the elite? Was feeding regulated? Were humans being used sexually as well as for blood considered normal, forbidden, expected or simply dependent on whoever controlled them? Those details would have made the darker social structure feel even more complete.

I had similar questions around romantic partnerships. Do fated mates exist in this world? Can everyone freely choose partners? Do the royal or elite families arrange relationships? Does the queen control pairings? Are long-term relationships even culturally important, or is everyone largely free to sleep with and love whoever they choose?

That missing information became particularly noticeable during one romantic/sexual situation. I won’t spoil who or what happens, but because I already strongly suspected where the central romance was going, part of me desperately wanted someone to have that wait…this feels wrong because I want THEM moment.

My jealousy-trope-loving little goblin was sitting there going:
EXCUSE ME. PUT THAT PERSON DOWN. 😂
But strangely, I also appreciated that it didn’t happen.
If these characters aren’t established fated mates and have only recently met, why would either automatically stop having a life because the reader knows they’re probably endgame? That’s actually much more natural and believable. People don’t receive a little notification saying “Congratulations! Your romantic lead has entered the narrative. Please cease all other activities immediately.”

So I disliked it emotionally…
…while simultaneously thinking it was probably the more realistic writing choice.
Annoying. 😂

I’m now VERY interested to see whether it becomes relevant later, particularly because if Parker A. Garner decides to weaponise jealousy in book two, I will suddenly become considerably more forgiving about the entire thing.

🌍 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘:
One of my favourite things about this book was how effortless the worldbuilding felt . This is a BIG fantasy. We have humans, fae, vampires, gods and goddesses, different realms, magic, royal politics, war, slavery, an immortal ruler, trials, history and supernatural rules. But I never felt buried underneath information.

The world unfolded around the characters while the plot continued moving. I learnt what I needed as it became relevant rather than receiving huge chunks of history and terminology before being allowed to continue with the story. That’s probably one reason the immersive read worked so well for me: I could simply sink into it.

There was no repetitive slog and no giant dull patch where I suddenly became conscious of how long the book was. The main plot surrounding the immortal queen is strong enough to carry the story by itself, but there are also multiple smaller threads running alongside it, meaning I constantly had something else to wonder about.

The trials were particularly addictive because they let Fawn’s personality shine while naturally raising the stakes. She doesn’t simply stand around waiting for somebody stronger to save her. She walks directly towards danger with the self-preservation instincts of someone who apparently misplaced them several chapters ago. 😂

I also loved that the romance remains a subplot rather than swallowing the fantasy . There is tension, attraction, yearning and some wonderfully filthy dialogue, but the world does not stop turning because Fawn and Caden fancy each other.
That’s why the slow burn worked so well for me.

I’m not sitting there wondering why these supposed enemies are declaring eternal love 140 pages after meeting. Their relationship is developing underneath everything else, almost sneaking up on them while considerably larger problems demand their attention.

And considering where things seem to be heading?
I suspect book two is going to be considerably hotter.

🧝‍♂️ ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤:
Fawn absolutely worked for me.
She’s a queen trying desperately to do right by her people, and what I loved most is that her bravery isn’t presented as elegant perfection. Sometimes I genuinely couldn’t decide whether she was incredibly courageous or simply catastrophically lacking in common sense.

Apparently Caden couldn’t either. 😂
But that’s what makes her entertaining.

She doesn’t sit somewhere safe sending other people into danger. If doing something reckless might protect her people, she’s already halfway through doing it before anyone has finished explaining why it’s an appalling idea. Her decisions come from responsibility rather than a desire to prove she’s the toughest person in the room.

She also has a wonderfully entertaining inner monologue and absolutely no problem confronting people who attempt to claim, control or belittle her. I loved those moments because they reinforce who she is as a ruler. Her kingdom may have fallen, but her sense of responsibility to those people hasn’t .

Then we have Caden , who turned out to be considerably more complicated than the terrifying Raven Prince introduction suggests. I loved getting his POV because it lets us understand the conflict underneath the exterior without immediately removing all of his mystery. He’s morally grey, carrying an enormous amount of baggage and absolutely not somebody Fawn has any sensible reason to trust initially.

Which is precisely why their relationship works.
These two aren’t enemies because somebody accidentally insulted somebody at a party.
There are actual reasons for the hatred.

Watching that shift into reluctant cooperation and then into something neither really wants to acknowledge gives the romance room to breathe. Caden also begins seeing Fawn’s ridiculous courage for exactly what it is. He might question whether she’s brave or simply insane, but underneath the frustration is unmistakable admiration.

The side characters are still relatively lightly sketched , but I liked what we saw of them enough that I already want considerably more. And apparently the author decided I was getting too comfortable because that death genuinely caught me off guard.
RUDE.

I’m now extremely suspicious about becoming attached to anybody in book two. 😂

🪧𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
The cover hadn’t particularly excited me. Honestly, I’m still not a fan of it. It doesn’t grab my attention and, having finished the story, I don’t think it captures what made this book exciting either. If I saw that cover without knowing anything else, I’m not convinced it would make me stop scrolling.
Which is a shame because what’s underneath it is bloody good.

The main fantasy plot surrounding an immortal queen controlling the realm immediately gave the story proper stakes, but it was all of the threads running underneath that kept me entertained: Fawn’s fallen kingdom, Caden’s history, humans being oppressed and used as a food source, vampires, fae, gods, magic, the trials, political power, hidden motives, genuinely horrible villains and the growing question of exactly what Fawn and Caden are becoming to each other.

Fawn and Caden’s relationship never needed to carry the entire book because the fantasy story was already strong. That gave their romance permission to simmer. They could distrust each other, argue, cooperate reluctantly, notice things they absolutely shouldn’t be noticing, yearn, exchange some extremely entertaining dialogue and occasionally reach that delicious “fuck it” point without suddenly forgetting that they have an immortal monster of a queen and an entire realm to worry about.
That’s a TRUE slow burn to me.

My only real hunger was for more lore . I want the social rules. I want to understand feeding arrangements. I want to understand relationships and mating. I want to know whether fated mates exist. I want to understand how partners are chosen and what is culturally acceptable between humans, vampires and fae.

And yes, part of that curiosity is entirely selfish because I WANT TO KNOW WHETHER I AM GETTING JEALOUS CADEN.

There. I said it. 😂

The other-person situation gave me such conflicting feelings because the romance reader in me wanted somebody to slam the brakes on immediately, while the sensible part of my brain was saying, They barely know each other. Why exactly would either of them magically know they’re endgame?

I hate when logic wins.
Still, there’s another book coming. I have hope. 😈

𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠;

𝕋𝕚𝕜𝕋𝕠𝕜
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

SPICE SCALE:
🌶️– segsual language and a little on-page action / fade to black

🌶️🌶️– a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

🌶️🌶️🌶️– a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ – Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.

Read full review on ARC Library