Friday 6 May 2016

REVIEW: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Pages: 438
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: Fantasy, Magic
Release Date: April 26th 2016
Buy The Book: Amazon UK - Book Depository

The fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

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.


My Thoughts:
You know those books that leave you without words? Books that are so utterly beautiful that you’re stunned into silence? This is one of those books. I honestly don’t even know where to begin or what to say that can possibly explain how amazing The Raven King was. This is the final book in The Raven Cycle, and this whole series has been one of the best written YA series that I’ve read. I’m going to keep things spoiler-free in this review, but I will have a discussion video on my channel very soon to talk about everything, and I mean Every. Little. Detail. 

Let’s start with the characters. These characters, oh my god. I love them so much. It’s been a joy to see them develop over the course of the series, and whilst they’ve been faced with many heart-breaking situations, they’ve worked through their difficulties together and remained the strongest of friends. The heart of this series really is the friendship between the boys and Blue, and I’m so happy that it’s stayed that way. 

Ronan Lynch is my favourite in this series (and one of my all-time fave fictional characters) so I was thrilled that a large part of the plot focused on him and his dreaming-abilities. One of the biggest plot twists appears courtesy of him right at the end of chapter 21, and I literally had to put the book down because although it made perfect sense, I hadn’t suspected it at all.

We finally got to see the slow-burning romantic relationships fully develop, and oh boy it was worth the wait. I can’t even begin to describe how much I adore the way Maggie has built the romance throughout this series. There is a huge amount of YA that is marketed on the romantic side of the story, but these books don’t need to rely on that. We’re given little glimpses here and there amongst everything else that’s going on in the plot, so that when the romance finally does happen after all of the tension, it’s completely breath-taking. FYI, I’m still not over chapter 39, and will probably never be over chapter 39. 

The style of writing throughout this book is simply gorgeous. There are so many passages that I adore, particularly with regards to how the characters are feeling. Maggie focuses a lot on their thoughts and it helps us feel more connected to individual characters. 

The final few chapters are packed full of emotion. Without saying too much about what happens, I can tell you that my heart broke repeatedly and I couldn’t see the pages through my tears. However, I am thrilled with the way this series has been wrapped up, and the epilogue was sheer perfection. I can’t help but feel proud of these characters!


As I said at the start, words can’t quite do justice to how I feel about this book, and this series as a whole. Although it’s sold as a quest to find a hidden King, The Raven Cycle is about much more than that. It’s so characters driven and full of magical storytelling, exploring mythology and various different themes. Finally I’d like to thank Maggie Stiefvater for creating this beautiful world and the characters in it. I guess all that’s left to say is, that’s all there is

Royal Rating:

 

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