Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 3
Ratings3
Average rating4.3
The Yamei Palace has become a much less lonely place—despite Jusetsu’s predecessor’s warnings—but the Raven Consort still cannot truly escape the emptiness in her heart. There’s no shortage of visitors who come in the evenings to ask for her help, and tonight is no exception. A mystery within the Hakkaku Palace leads Jusetsu to come across the Eight True Teachings, a religion threatening faith in Uren Niangniang. Meanwhile, Koshun discovers a glimmer of hope that could free Jusetsu from the Raven once and for all. Will the two of them continue to work together?
Tags
Genres
Series
Featured Series
7 primary books#3 in Raven of the Inner Palace
Raven of the Inner Palace is a 7-book series with 7 released primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Kouko Shirakawa.
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
4.5⭐
Another amazing volume in the series. After what happened with the Magpie Consort last time, things seem to have calmed down in the inner palace... at least on the surface. Jusetsu continues to ponder about what the Owl said, and despite feeling guilty for not sticking to her predecessor's teachings, she can't seem to stop connecting with others. This book has a clear theme of people having more than just one side, showing the many conflicting layers of human emotions, and Jusetsu herself is no exception.
Just like the previous volumes, each chapter features a case for Jusetsu to solve. This time, we have a lady-in-waiting haunted by a ghost outside her door, the ghost of a regretful manservant from a past era, and a scholar with a ghostly hand pulling on his sleeve. All of these cases are connected to a certain cult that worships an ancient god on the verge of reviving, which leads to a familiar side character exiting the scene and leaving us with the sense of foreboding. There is also a subtle hint as of why Jusetsu was warned not to bond with anyone. As she makes new friends and saves a consort's life towards the end, she finds herself taken aback by how people are starting to hold her in reverence... which is not all that different from the ancient god's cult.
Oh, and there's also an interesting revelation about Eisei and Jusetsu.
Overall, the book keeps the somber and ominous tone that's been here since the first volume. It's so well-written, mostly serious but with lighthearted scenes sprinkled all over to balance it out. This one is less lore-heavy than the previous volumes and has little to no action, but the generally creepy atmosphere makes up for it.
My only issue with this particular book is the amount of typos and errors. Not even grammatical errors anymore, but mixing up character names or even sentences that don't make any sense. It doesn't exactly ruin the book, but extremely distracting. What happened during the editing process? Do you need more editors? Or proofreaders? Hire me if you do. It's such a shame because the book is really good, so hopefully volume 4 won't suffer from this issue.
