Book Review (and author interview!) - When Ravens Fall by Savannah Jezowksi

   So I read this beautiful little book over Thanksgiving break, and as the Indie Christian Books Black Friday sale is going on (more about that later in the post), I just had to share a review of it with you guys!

4 Stars

   So this was actually a re-read, and you guys know how rare it is for me to enjoy a re-read as much I enjoy the original first-read of a book. But When Ravens Fall is an exception! I rated it four stars when I first read it, and I'm rating it four stars now, because this little novella is gorgeous. <3

From The Back Cover

It is the age of dreams.

When Kenna, the raven, foresees a girl in the Mist, she believes she has finally found the one to break the curse. That has always been her mission, since the day her misguided anger cast the curse than engulfed both her and Odin's son, Baldur, complicating what was already an impossible nightmare. But the girl she sees in the Mist is different than the others who have come for the Trials, than the others who have failed and returned home terrorized by their experience. This girl actually wants to be here.

Astrid, the dragon slayer's daughter, has a plan of her own. She is not interested in dreams and curses. There is only one thing that she desires, and falling in love is not it. After all, some girls were never meant to fall in love.

Baldur, the bear, inherited the gift of dreams from his mother. His dreams are consumed with the one event in his future he cannot seem to escape: his death. For years, he and the Raven have tried to find a woman capable of loving him in spite of his monstrosity, and for years they have failed. The roses are dying and the sky burns red like fire. The times tell the tale of the end.

 View it on Amazon --- View it on Goodreads

- The Norse legends. When Ravens Fall had a whole plethora of Norse legendary mixed into it, which was super cool. It made the story feel that much more alive, which was super cool. I've read next to no books with Norse legends/vikings and such, so it was really cool that When Ravens Fall had that element, I loved it <3. It was great fun getting to read about Baldur and Frigg's prophecy, and Odin and his ravens.

- It's a Beauty and The Beast retelling. You guys know I love my retellings (I'm writing one right now, though mine is Snow White, and not Beauty and The Beast), and When Ravens Fall didn't disappoint! I found it more of a loose retelling, which I was perfectly fine with, and it was lovely <3. 

- The setting. For such a short book, I was quite impressed with the worldbuilding that went into it. The setting was very vivid, and so easy to picture in my mind. I loved how unique it was! 

- The length. Novellas are just so short! I think I've said this about every novella I've ever read, but I need more! xD And while I loved When Ravens Fall, I do wish it was a little longer. However, the pacing was really good for such a short story.    

- There were some incorrect formats / typos. Not too many - just one or two typos, and a couple places where a paragraph should have been indented, but wasn't. It didn't throw me off much (I was too busy flailing over the epic story), but I thought it deserved mentioning.


   Both of those are super minor issues, so When Ravens Fall absolutely deserved every one of the four stars I gave it. It's a beautiful story that I would definitely recommend, probably to ages 12+.

   And Mrs. Jezowski herself is here today, and has kindly agreed to be interviewed. She has some cool stuff to say about her stories, so let's get right onto that, shall we? 

Savannah Grace: Where did you get the idea for When Ravens Fall? 

Savannah Jezowski: For my novella, When Ravens Fall, I wanted to write a Beauty and the Beast story that allowed the enchantress to play a bigger role in the story. It always frustrated me in the Disney version that she had one teeny tiny role in the prologue and then she pretty much disappears. Forever. So that is where Kenna came to life, my enchantress who had an incredible part to play in the story. I was also looking for a setting that had never been done before…and I thought, What about Vikings? Because, well, Vikings are pretty cool and unique, right? Once I started researching the old Norse legends, I knew I had chosen wisely. The myths are overflowing with amazing material for retellings. I drew upon half a dozen different legends in order to tell my little tale—such as Odin and his ravens, Baldur and Frigg’s prophecy, Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir, Ratatoskr the gossiping squirrel, and many others.

SG: Astrid is a really strong main character - what inspired you to write her? 

Jezowski: For Astrid, I didn’t want to have the typical Beauty—the booklover, the sweet inner temperament, beautiful in and out. I wanted a rougher character, someone who wasn’t very beautiful (on the inside or the out). Astrid was a rough character to get to like because she was so hardened by her difficult life. She had scars, inside and out, and she didn’t always make the best choices.

SG: How many years have you considered yourself a writer? 

Jezowski: I started writing when I was in elementary school but I didn’t begin to write seriously and attempt publication until I was in college.

SG: What's one piece of advice you'd give to aspiring inside authors? 

Jezowski Ask for help and join Facebook groups. Indie authors cannot be successful alone, so develop a support group and be willing to help others the way you need to be helped. It’s a team effort. Have joint sales and Facebook parties, group giveaways and things like that. Also, learn to do as much as you can yourself because it will save you a lot of money and heartache.

SG: Do you have a favorite out of all the book/stories you've written? 

Jezowski: My favorite is Wither: Five Enchanted Roses. It was a story I wrote to share my own spiritual struggle. I went through a time of difficulty where I felt like God had abandoned me, and writing Wither helped me to work through that time of darkness and find the joy and beauty in restoration.

SG: According to you, what elements make for a good book?

Jezowski: I love character driven stories, stories where the author starts with a character and builds the story around them (like how I built When Ravens Fall around Kenna and Astrid). I also like a little bit of clean romance and a lot of mystery and foreshadowing.

SG: Epic answers - thanks for being here, Mrs. Jezowski! <3 

Savannah Jezowski lives in a drafty farmhouse in Amish country with her Knight in Shining Armor, a little warrior princess, two English Springer Spaniels and a brigade of kitties. Her work has been published in Ray Gun Revival, Mindflights and in the student publication of Fountains at Pensacola Christian College. She is the author of Wither: Five Enchanted Roses and When Ravens Fall. Her first full length novel, After: Neverway Chronicles Book One, will be published in early 2018. She likes books, faeries, writing hats and having tea with her imaginary friends.

visit her website --- buy her books

   And now you guys are probably wondering about the epic book sale going on (me thinks you may have skipped the post to come down to this part xD) ...

   Indie Christian Books is having their huge Black Friday sale, and the website opens today! There's tons of discounted paperbacks and ebooks, so even if your budget is $0, there's a bunch you can snag! I'm dying to get my hands on some of the epic books <3. (and a quick note on the ebooks only page - many of the books there are listed as 'sold out', but that's only because they're not being sold directly through that page. Clicking on the ebook should take you to a place where you can actually get your hands on the beautiful book.)

   There's also a giveaway going on, so definitely check that out, too!

   Go nab yourself some epic (and cheap xD) books, y'all.

~ Savannah Grace

have you read When Ravens Fall?

which books do you have your eye on from the indie christian books sale?