Review: Raven Calls

Raven Calls by C.E. Murphy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Riddle me this, why does Joanne have to learn everything the hard way? At this point, I'm just as tired as Joanne. Reading through all the trials and tribulations she goes through makes me weary and I'm just the reader. In this new installment of Walker Papers, Joanne is in Ireland. She felt a pulling in her gut and races over to there to do what she feels she must do. She wrecks havoc.

The short summary of this story is she fought, won and lost. People died. I want to discuss Joanne. This is one messed up woman. Between her self esteem issues and Mommy didn't love me abandonment issues, I want to slap her hard. Ever meet the person who seems to always be in the position of "saving" the world at work? They are so busy and bad things seem to happen to them? Then as you get to know this person, you realize, the "bad things" are because they caused it themselves. This is Joanne. I'm torn. I feel bad for her but as I get to know her more, I want to beat her. Her troubles literally stem from herself. The newest revelation about her ability to time travel explains so much. What Joanne assumed to be "truths" were not exactly right. That's the problem with people who focus on the "truth" and "right or wrong". They are subjective. They don't deal in facts. They are not self aware. They are self centered. The amount of collateral damage is beyond calculation. I think the better question to ask is, "who didn't die and who isn't damaged by Joanne?"

The only version of Joanne I can respect is her younger self she stole from. That Joanne is self aware, confident and logical. The Joanne we are treated to can be explained best as - self saboteur. Joanne doesn't need enemies. She's doing a great job of getting herself killed by her lack of planning and self defeatist attitude. I loved when she received a kick in the ass by her younger self.

This world Ms. Murphy creates is complex with many pieces of mythology integrated into a magical world. I have very little knowledge of Irish and Native America mythology. As far as I'm concerned, it was fascinating and so well designed. I liked it! There was one thing that broke my heart in this story. It wasn't the different people dying or being tortured. It was Joanne's message from her younger self to Coyote. It was a hot mess train wreck. I felt sorrow and longing for Coyote. He deserves better.

I highly recommend this book to Urban Fantasy readers who enjoy pain, sorrow, anguish and a bittersweet ending.



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