The Sign of the Raven coming November 10th, 2026 from Viking Books for Young Readers; 320 pages
About the Author: “Following an English literature MA in a small Scottish town by the sea, Pippa Dunn enjoyed a successful career in the cultural sector, working for organizations including Quentin Blake’s House of Illustration. She was then headhunted to work for the global environmental NGO ClientEarth—first as their director of philanthropy and then as the organization’s first in-house strategy specialist. Pippa is now an English teacher working with her future readers. As well as writing fiction, Pippa also supports narrative and story development for two independent film companies, and leads creative writing workshops for both children and adults” (Bio from Bookshop.org).
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Ashlyn Threadneedle is a 16-year-old orphan living in 1889 London, post-Queen Victoria’s assassination and the election of President Whitaker. She’s doing what she can to get by as a messenger, but the work barely pays for her rent—work made all the more troublesome by her inability to find herself at the right place at the right time. Ashlyn is a lucid dreamer, though it didn’t seem significant until she followed the sound of a chime in the waking world she swears she has heard in her dreams before. The decision to follow this chime leads her on a dangerous path, discovering the Stream—a dreamscape that connects everyone from any time—and a group of lucid dreamers called the Corvi Signum, which soon comes under attack by President Whitaker. When she realizes why things went awry in the past, Ashlyn must choose if she’ll sacrifice everything she’s only just learned to love.
I adored this book. Pippa Dunn did an excellent job weaving together multiple plots and creating such interesting characters (and character dynamics!). I never felt like any plotline was being neglected, from Ashlyn’s desire to learn more about her mother to the political propaganda and corrupted democracy to even the romance; I was utterly entranced and couldn’t put The Sign of the Raven down! I particularly found myself really enjoying Ashlyn’s dynamic with her friend Dimitri, who at first I wrote off as a potential-but-unlikely love interest since he was the childhood best friend who clearly had a crush on her. I was not prepared for how much I would be rooting for them by the end and was left a mix of devastated and relieved by their ending, as it was such a bittersweet note we were left on (but not unsatisfying in any way). And every moment in the Stream was riveting—I wanted to learn more about it right alongside Ashlyn. The non-linear way Dunn crafted that world, rooted in memories but memories that could be from far in the future, combined with the idea that it shows people as they truly are… it was all just fascinating. And Vesta! I was not expecting any queer characters in this novel, but I absolutely adored her as a supporting character, and I appreciated how easily she was accepted by Ashlyn. For a debut novel, this was fantastic—I’ll be keeping my eye out for all of Dunn’s future work!
The Sign of the Raven releases on November 10th, 2026.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Grace McCool, Pine Reads Review Writer & Editor