Ravenminder by Lindsay Cummings
Published by HarperCollins
Age Group: Adult
Format: Fiction
Genres and Categories: Disabled and Neurodivergent Authors, Animal Companion Characters, Knight Characters, Magic Users, Royalty Characters, Villain Characters, Monsters, Mythological Creatures, Chronic Illness, Mobility Aids, Action, Adventure, Dark Fantasy, Romantasy, Theological Fantasy, Animal Control, Fire Magic, Shadow Magic, Various Magic
Series: Ravenminder #1
My Rating:
Published on: 23rd October 2025
Pages: 512
Disability Representation: Chronic illness, chronic pain, mobility aid, facial scars.
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Forbidden Planet / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones / BookBeat Audio
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The sky is a dangerous place for a girl without wings.

In the war-torn kingdom of Lordach, Ezer has spent two years as the Ravenminder of Rendegard. Chained in a prison tower’s aviary, she pays the debts of the man she calls uncle, who rescued her after shadow wolves killed her parents. With three glittering scars on her cheek and mystical ‘strangeties’ unlike any magic in their world, Ezer is haunted by dreams of her death at the hands of an unknown warrior.

Then a Sacred Knight arrives to recruit Ezer for the fight against the enemy, the Acolyte. When her affinity with birds reveals itself on the journey to Citadel, she is given a new mission: to help the Prince of Lordach tame one of the Acolyte’s captured raphons. Half giant raven, half black panther, these creatures are as loyal to the Acolyte as his strongest darksoul soldiers . . and only they can make the flight to infiltrate his lair.

While Ezer forges an unbreakable bond with the raphon, her heart becomes torn between the loyal Knight and the mysterious Prince. But as her dreams take on new clarity, she finds herself faced with a choice and a question: has the darkness been her destiny all along?

This book was provided for free by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Content Warnings:

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Ravenminder by Lindsay Cummings introduces the reader to a fantasy world at war. For the past two years, Ezer has been a part of the war effort, conscripted as a Ravenminder against her will to pay for her Uncle’s debts. Locked in a tower, she receives messages from ravens, making lists of the dead. Her uncle has disappeared, and when the crown prince comes looking for a Ravenminder to take south to the warfront, Ezer is forced to go with him. 

Ezer’s hiding a secret, though; she has a strange affinity with birds that her uncle insisted she keep hidden. While travelling to the warfront, their group is attacked, and Ezer calls the birds for help. Her ability becomes even more evident when she faces a raphon, one of the enemy’s vicious creatures, and emerges alive. She finds herself recruited by the younger prince for a secret project that could change the course of the war. All she has to do is tame the raphon, a creature that is half-panther and half-raven, and get it to fly an assassin through a barrier that only the raphon can penetrate.

As if that wasn’t difficult enough, Ezer is plagued by confusing dreams that warn her about the younger prince. The more time she spends in Lordach, the more she starts to realise that nothing is as it appears and that the concepts of good and evil are not set in stone. 

I have mixed feelings about Raveminder, and even as I write this review, I’m not sure how I feel about it. The way the book ended is unique, and I can’t fault Cummings for taking a chance by doing something different. From that perspective, it is a fascinating conclusion that left me hungry for the next book. However, I can’t help wondering if it was too out there. The story that Cummings has woven is complex, and I enjoyed the way that she confronted the idea of good and evil throughout the book. I think my view of Ravenminder will depend a lot on what happens in the sequel and how Cummings handles what has happened.

As usual, world-building was my favourite part, and what drew me to Ravenminder in the first place was the idea of raphons. I love dragons as much as the next girl, but I adore other mythical creatures, and raphons are wholly Cummings’ creation. I fell in love with the raphon, Six, and her relationship with Ezra was a core part of the novel for me. There were parts of this book that felt a little too slow for my liking, but the story kept me hooked.

I wasn’t entirely sold on Ezer as a character until the scenes with Six. She feels very much like a stereotypical rebel who plants her heels in the sand and says ‘no’ to everything. The love interests were a little better, with the Crown Prince having an interesting background. I would say that the characters felt insubstantial at times for me. This may be because Cummings was saving content for additional content, namely, two alternative versions of Ravenminder told from the perspectives of the male main characters.

There is a love triangle, and for those interested in spice (or not), this book has very little; the one intimate scene fades to black. I didn’t mind the love triangle, although I felt there was a little too much foreshadowing regarding one of the princes. I was a little annoyed that it was so obvious – until I got to the end of the book and realised that it was a bit of a red herring. Cummings turns what the reader thinks will happen on its head in one massive twist.

It’s a solid three stars for Ravenminder from me, but I will be the first to admit that in this case, the star rating should be taken with a pinch of salt. By choosing to end her book in such an interesting way, Cummings has taken a huge risk that will appeal to readers looking for something different. For me, I’m not sure if it’s too different or whether it works. 

About Lindsay Cummings

Lindsay Cummings is a full time mother of 2, and part of an adventurous "full timer" RV family. She currently is parked in North Texas. After graduating high school, she had to set aside her college dreams when she became ill with Chronic Fatigue, and took up writing as a way to cope.

At 19, Lindsay had her first series, THE MURDER COMPLEX, published by HarperCollins Publishers. At 20, Lindsay's second series, THE BALANCE KEEPERS, was published through HarperCollins. Years later, Lindsay became a #1 New York Times Bestselling author with ZENITH: THE ANDROMA SAGA, co-authored with youtuber Sasha Alsberg.

Her YA space fantasy, BLOOD METAL BONE, is available in the UK, AUS, NZ, CA, and the USA.

RAVENMINDER is her first romantic fantasy, and releases in the UK, AUS, NZ on 23 October, 2025.

When Lindsay isn't writing, she's busy as a freelance portrait photographer, and working as Creative Director at Lifeway Church Celina.

She lives in Texas, where she is either running her kids to soccer practice or hard at work on her next series, dropping Fall 2025

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