Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence is an intriguing, strange, and brutal story. This was my first time reading something by Lawrence, and my experience with Crows has inspired me to read more of his catalog. In his newest book, Lawrence tells a story that is mostly about the Academy of Kindness and how it creates a trio of assassins, but it also features an elderly assassin who got pulled out of retirement, which is fun. Overall, it’s quite dark and horrifying, but I couldn’t look away from this unique tale even if I wanted to.
Each year, 100 girls enter the Academy of Kindness, and at the end of the 10-year program, only three will be left alive. These three women are honored with the title of Kindness and are sent out into the world to bring justice. Don’t let the name fool you, the women who earn this title are highly skilled assassins that serve the will of the triple-goddess. They are a feared, respected, and terrifying trio that wreaks havoc or serves justice, depending on who you ask.
The story is told initially with three POVS in lockstep, and that is when the story makes sense. The book begins with Rue’s POV in the present, who is dealing with a group of mercenaries that have invaded her village. We get a second POV from the past that comes from a girl training to be a Kindness. These two storylines complement each other very well because we get the sense that Rue is connected to the Kindness in some way. About midway through the book, a new POV is dropped in our laps. This one comes from a child who is trapped in a decrepit mansion. We don’t know when this POV takes place, but the reader can begin to guess why this horrifying POV is important. The issue I ran into was near the end of the book when the different POVs don’t align and make sense anymore. At some point, the story abandons the young Kindness halfway through her training, and it finishes with Rue. It felt awkward to finish the rest of the story this way because Rue is living in a very unfamiliar world that we haven’t spent much time in. Overall, the Kindness Academy POV feels unfinished, and Rue’s story still feels too removed from the past events we learned about.
By far the most interesting parts of this story belong to the Kindness Academy timeline. It’s a brutal exposition of the hundreds of girls being subjected to all sorts of horrors that whittle down each class. I was fascinated by the cold instructors, the unforgiving atmosphere, and the tests that each girl was put through. I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to live in a place that doesn’t care whether you live and fully expects you to die sooner than later. Not only are all the adults unfeeling, but the girls in your grade are also your enemies. It was interesting to see this experience through a student’s eyes and understand what goes through her mind, how she plays the game, and whether her attempts result in success or failure.
Daughter of Crows doesn’t hold your hand, and it never gives you the information either. When the story calls out major elements of the world, political situation, or the magic system, I always stumbled because I never had information to help orient myself or understand what is being talked about. This happened to me several times, right up until the last few chapters. We’re missing a lot of key information, and while it doesn’t completely hurt the story, it made me feel unmoored and just plain confused at times.
Daughter of Crows was a very interesting read, and I recommend it solely for its unique story and the truly insane reveals, because those moments really stuck with me. While it may be hard to orient yourself in the world, Mark Lawrence puts in the work to mislead you so he can deliver several devastating blows. By the end of the book, we have an idea of where the story will go, and I’m curious to see how the series evolves and unravels Rue’s mysterious life.
Rating: Daughter of Crows – 7.0/10
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
