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=  The Faithless Hawk (The Merciful Crow book #2)  = The Faithless Hawk by Margaret Owen is the sequel to The Merciful Crow; published by Henry Holt and Company in New York on August 18, 2020. This young adult fantasy novel is 400 pages long and can also fall under the genres of adventure, romance, and LGBTQ literature because of the themes and characters within its pages.

Plot
As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word; however, still she’s hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows because of the friendship they built. Pa retires at the shrine of Little Witness, one of the Crow Gods, and Fie is surprised to know that Little Witness is real and watching over the shrine and keeps telling her that she needs to keep her oath and that she is not really a Crow. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana's merciless and ruthless bid for the throne. With the witch queen using the deadly plague to unite the nation of Sabor against Crows—and add numbers to her monstrous Skinghast army by using the dead from the sinners plague—Fie and her band are forced to go into hiding after being lured and tricked into helping a community massively infected, leaving the country to be ravaged by the plague. Crows are being turned away at the gates of communities infected with the sinners plague creating a blight that requires mass burning of the land and everything on it. However, they’re all running out of time before the Crows starve in exile due to limited resources at shrines, the Crows refugee camps, and Sabor is lost forever. Tavin finds Fie again and they are reunited, he brings the Crows to Jasimirs military encampment. Queen Rhusana herself show up and brain washes the Hawks making a proposition that if Tavin pretends to be Jasimir, marries her, and ascends the thrown then no harm will come to Jasimir and Fie. Despite their protests, he accepts the proposal. Fie is heartbroken and devastated at the betrayal. Fie teams up with a Sabor Swan spy, Khoda, who is allied with a secret organization to protect and do what is best for the whole kingdom. A desperate Fie also calls on old allies to help take Rhusana down from within her own walls. Thanks to Khoda, he gets them inside the palace but inside the royal palace, the only difference between a conqueror and a thief is an army. To survive, Fie must unravel not only Rhusana’s plot, but ancient secrets of the Crows—secrets that could save her people, or set the world ablaze. Khoda and Fie manage to release Jas and acquire his help. Fie disguises herself as a Peacock suitor for "Prince Jasimir" or Tavin glamored as Jas to get close to him and discovers secrets about the deceased Phoenix Queen Ambra. As the sinners plague reaches the palace and after putting road blocks in the way of Queen Rhusana and Tavin's plans for coronation, Fie and Khodas last plot reveals that Tavin was on their side all along. Queen Rhusana then awakes a terrifying army of Skinghasts as it is revealed that King Surimir was not dead but suffering from the sinners plague underneath the castle. Once that comes to light, several people, including Tavin are suddenly and quickly infected with the plague. After a showdown with Rhusana and discovery that Fie herself is Queen Ambra reincarnated, she uncovers the truth about the Crows birthright and recovers it, the true ability to deliver mercy from the plague, a chance to live as a Crow. All those in the castle who were infected by the plague are now Crows, including Tavin. Fie kills Rhusana and her plots are foiled, Jas sits on thrown and develops a democratic government system to try and promote equity among the castes and Fie reworks the band system within the Crows, with Tavin by her side, to show optimal mercy.

Main Characters

 * Fie (A Crow Chieftain)- The feisty main character who wishes to see the Crow caste treated better within society and is willing to do anything to see it happen. In a previous life was the Phoenix Queen Ambra.
 * Crown Prince Jasimir (A Phoenix)- The heir to the throne of Sabor who believes that his step mother, Queen Rhusana killed his father the King so she can take over the kingdom of Sabor for herself
 * Tavin (A Hawk/Phoenix)- the bodyguard, body double, and half brother of the Crown Prince Jasimir who is willing to do anything to see that Jasimir and his love interest Fie is safe even if it means tricking them.
 * Queen Rhusana (A Swan)- the manipulative wife to deceased King Surimir and wants to rule the kingdom of Sabor.

Side Characters

 * King Surimir (A Phoenix)- King of Sabor and father of Prince Jasimir and the bioloigcal father of Tavin.
 * Pa (Ex Crow Chief/Witch)- father of Fie and previously the main Crow chieftain who has retired to the Shrine of Little Witness.
 * Little Witness- A God who represents the Crows
 * Wretch (A Crow)- part of Fie's band of Crows.
 * Swain (A Crow)- part of Fie's band of Crows.
 * Madcap (A Crow)- part of Fie's band of Crows.
 * Viimo (A Vulture)- an alliance to Fie and Jasimir.
 * Khoda (A Swan)- A spy for a secret organization to protect the kingdom of Sabor who believes that Rhusana is unfit for the throne and wants Prince Jasimir on it.
 * Lakimia (A Hawk)- The corporal of the band of Hawks protecting Fie's band of Crows.
 * Draga (A Hawk)- Tavin's mother and the highest ranking officer in the military who is on the side of the Crows.
 * Barf- a gray Tabby Cat that was used as payment by Queen Rhusana for the Crows properly "disposing" of Prince Jasimir and Tavin's bodies after they both "caught the sinners plague" who adds a source of comedy amongst the drama.
 * Oleander Gentry- a group from various castes who hate/hunt Crows and are Rhusana's minions.
 * Skinghast- A wicked undead being that Queen Rhusana controls and can only be defeated by fire.

About the Author
Margaret Owen's The Merciful Crow was her debut novel, published in 2019 with the sequel The Faithless Hawk following in 2020. She has a new book being released in 2021 that is a separate series titled Little Thieves. All her life she dreamed of becoming an author thus after trying other career paths, she finally did it.

Awards/Nominations and Blurbs

 * Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year 2020- "A richly textured story of rage, romance, and rebellion."