Reviews are starting to roll in, and I have two more to share with you:
Matt McAvoy, who reviews a lot of self-published novels, gave it 4 stars: https://www.mattmcavoy.com/my-blog/-raven-by-sue-loh
A couple of excerpts:
Raven engages, and is entertainment for its own sake, by a qualified author. I have to say, in fact, that it is pretty good all round.
And my husband and I will both giggle at someone calling it “a triumph”:
[It] will have something of a broad appeal, I think, and I can’t think that there will be many readers who won’t enjoy reading it. Additionally, it is actually a pretty good idea for a story, with an interesting, and somewhat unique antagonist, for its most part. Overall, I would summarize by saying that this book is something of a triumph for Loh, and certainly worth a read.
The second review is from BlueInk Reviews, who did not give it a star rating but did treat it pretty positively: https://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/raven/
Loh delivers a diverse group of characters – both in Team Raven and the adults who care for them – and this debut has strong series potential. The dialogue is slick and believable, and a range of conflicts and a hint of romance round out this story effectively.
Their main complaint was that there was a bit too much techno mumbo-jumbo, which I actually agree with too. I happen to have simplified this particular quote since I sent them a review copy, so hopefully readers won’t find it such a headache anymore.
The technological aspects, however, can sometimes overwhelm non-tech-oriented readers (e.g.: “He was peering at a replication process in one of Hack’s decompiled executables when he saw just such a wound. One of the iterative subroutines in the executable was interrupted by a second embedded process that seemed to have no relation to the parent process.”)
Overall, though, Raven is a compelling read with tension ramping up until the truth behind the hack is revealed. Young adults interested in computers and AI will enjoy the tale.
I’m hoping the book will appeal not just to young adults who are already interested in computers, but also to those who could become more interested – and less intimidated -by reading it!
Expect more reviews to roll in as we approach May 20!
