“The fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.”
Title: The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date of Publication: April 2016
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBT
Page Count: 439 (Hardcover)
“All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love’s death. She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.” https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17378527-the-raven-king
“It was not that the women in 300 Fox Way weren’t her family – they were where her roots were buried, and nothing could diminish that. It was just that there was something newly powerful about this assembled family in this car. They were all growing up and into each other like trees striving together for the sun.”
I love a book with a fantastic setting. The Raven King takes place in a town called Henrietta. It’s a magnet for the mystical, attracting people who love supernatural objects. Aglionby, the Barns, Cabeswater, 300 Fox Way, they all make me feel like we’re coming home.
He Began To Dream – Youtube Video (music + art by Maggie Stiefvater)
“Outside of Henrietta, nestled on the ley line, something dark watched all of this, everything in the Henrietta night, and said, I’m awake I’m awake I’m awake.”
Slow-paced, incredibly intense, The Raven King is about friendship, destiny, love, secrets, grief, trust, and truth. Stiefvater wrote this book just to break my heart.
“No homework. I got suspended,” Blue replied.
“Get the fuck out,” Ronan said, but with admiration. “Sargent, you asshole.”
Blue reluctantly allowed him to bump fists with her as Gansey eyed her meaningfully in the rearview mirror.
Adam swivelled the other way in his seat – to the right, instead of to the left, so that he was peering around the far side of the headrest. It made him look as if he were hiding, but Blue knew it was just because it turned his hearing ear instead of his deaf ear towards them. “For what?”
“Emptying another student’s backpack over his car. I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“I do,” Ronan said.
“Well, I don’t. I’m not proud of it.”
Ronan patted her leg. “I’ll be proud for you.”
The characters are remarkable. We have our core group of Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, as well as the Orphan Girl, Declan, Matthew, Persephone, Neeve, Jimi, Orla, Maura, Mr. Gray, Gwenllian, Artemus, Greenmantle, Piper, Laumonier, and Henry. With such a big cast you’d think the “B” characters would be flat, but they are all thoroughly written, each with their own ambitions, imperfections, emotions, and personal growth.
Ronan and Adam are definitely my favourites. I want only good things to happen for them.
“His feelings for Adam were an oil spill; he’d let them overflow and now there wasn’t a damn place in the ocean that wouldn’t catch fire if he dropped a match.”
The multi-perspective format is great. It’s not confusing at all, and puts the reader in a special spot where we get to know many characters personally. I liked the use of time on the clock, and the echos of earlier books in the series.
“The problem with pursuing bad feelings was that it was always difficult to tell if one was running toward a problem to fix it, or running to a problem to create it.”
The Raven King is a great ending for The Raven Cycle, I recommend this to readers 14+ who like a little paranormal with their fantasy. The Raven Cycle is being adapted to a TV Show. Get updates from https://twitter.com/TRC_Show
Setting: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Ending: 4/5
Overall: 4.6/5 Rounded up to 5 on Goodreads
“
All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been formed by a desire to leave a mark, resulting in spray-painted cars, sharpie-covered computer printers, ink-splattered walls, and stories told in books, in magazines, and on stages. Maggie Stiefvater lives in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.”
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1330292.Maggie_Stiefvater
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