Title: The Raven King
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Published: April 26th, 2016
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5)The summary of The Raven King from Goodreads:
Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.
For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.
Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.
I had high expectations and hopes for this book. I loved the first three books, but they made me want a lot from this last book. I knew that everything would twist my heart around and I really didn’t have any idea how everything would end. I couldn’t put the book down and before I realized it, the book was over.
What I Liked:
There are a few stand-out aspects of this novel. The pace is perfect. It feels slow, like a meandering walk through a forest, but suddenly your heart is racing, your palms are sweating, and you’re trying to figure out how much of the book is left because there’s no way you can be near the end.
It moves along slowly at times, dropping little pieces of information like breadcrumbs. All you can do is pick up the pieces and follow. You don’t feel like much is going on until suddenly you realize just how much has happened and how far these characters have come. Your breath is sucked away and you can do nothing but keep following the breadcrumbs.
Aside from the pace, this book is centered on the characters. I can’t believe how much I love each character in this book. I fully believe these are people I could run across in my everyday life. The story unfolds through their eyes. As a result, you feel as though you’re there, that you’re on this journey with them.
There are five main characters in this book, but anyone who plays a part in the story feels real. We get to understand them as people, not just as characters. The overall series is about the Raven Boys and Blue searching for Glendower, but instead of focusing the story on that search, it’s their individual stories woven together that create the search.
We learn about each character, their personal story. They are connected by a search for a lost king, but there’s so much more to each of them. As each character is unwrapped, we get a clue to the search and a piece of their souls. It’s beautiful and wonderful. It’s an amazing example of how a character driven novel can still have an amazing plot line.
What I Didn’t Like:
Nothing, really. I never wanted to put the book down.
I’d Recommend To:
This series is a definite must-read for people who love real characters. The added bonus of having magic, a lost king, and a delicious plot make it even better.
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