Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 3

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.