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melani_e4's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
there’s a lot of shit going on I almost can’t keep up. almost. Loved it tho
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
trintrin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I gotta say, this book has a lot of quotable quotes. The writing's just gotten so much better and feels more poetic and very beautiful. The synonym-antonym one (Adam Parrish was lonesome, Blue Sargent was afraid etc.) was my favourite and it was a pleasure to read in a way that actually makes you sit and think about it for a while. I'm literally battling the urge to not add every single quote I highlighted into this review.
The character dynamics somehow seems to have improved? I didn't even know that was possible considering how amazing they were from the start. Every single one of their interactions add more years to my life, I'm not even kidding. Be it Adam and Ronan's relationship slowly taking root, or Adam and Gansey finally not fighting, or Ronan showing he does have affection for Blue, or even Blue pulling the plug on Noah, they all seem so real and so wonderful and I feel like a part of their group.
<blockquote>Blue and her boys were <I>all</I> in love with one another. She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another. analysing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they would be with one another.</blockquote>
I want to childishly believe they will all remain this way until they grow very old and die peacefully, but oh well :D
Plot wise, this book turns its focus back to Glendower (who I still don't care much for) but oh boy were there some mind-blowing plot twists. And worse, some characters I hold very dear to my heart had to go and die. And possibly even worser, some characters who give me the creeps had to make a reappearance. I genuinely don't want to read the next book because 1) that means I officially have to say goodbye to the raven squad, and 2) I really don't want to see Gansey die, even if they do end up successfully resurrecting him. Now that we've had the taste of a major character death, I do not want to go through the same with Gansey.
Adam's character development was great, and so was Ronan's many subtle improvements. Gwenllilian was a nice touch. Not enough Noah scenes. Blue is such an inspiration. Gansey is as loveable as ever. Jesse Dittley is a man with a heart as huge as him. Mr. Gray must be cherished. Calla's strength is amazing. Persephone is one of a kind. Malory, however, I don't know what he brought to the plate, but that seems very fitting to his character, so whatever.
The only thing that this book, or rather, this series lacks is a strong overarching villain. It's all just very villain-of-the-week; not to worry, just a minor inconvenience, and <I>boom</I> he's gone now. Neeve was very unnerving, but she just disappeared. Whelk gave me the creeps, but then he just got trampled over by a magic forest. Mr. Gray was a cool and badass villain who looked like he would definitely get the job done, but he had to fall in love (in the span of a few weeks? days??) and did a full 180°. Kavinsky was a strong candidate but he blew himself up. And now,Greenmantle, who was genuinely scary, turned out to be a coward and ran away because of a few papers (and they never even properly revealed what was actually inside it) I hope the two women, who I assume will be the part of the antagonists of the next book, actually have some skin to them. Otherwise, I have nothing else to say (actually I have a lot of love to pour for the character writing, but that's gonna be as long as the book is, so writing all of that maybe is a bad idea)
Feb 2024 reread: 5 beautiful stars
UHMM I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE WEAKEST BOOK IN THE SERIES? Like I never once hated it or thought it was bad, but for some reason I remember just not thinking this book had much going on for it. Which makes sense, in a way, because the plot is quite slow for a majority of the book and then BOOM everything happens all at once at the end. But this is the Raven Cycle we're talking about, who cares about the plot? Let's talk characters. Wait did I say characters? Whoops, let's talk Adam Parrish.
Adam's character growth was so, so satisfying, especially knowing how much he develops all the way until the Greywaren epilogue.THAT COURTROOM SCENE!! When Adam and Gansey finally understood each other, I felt like screaming into the void and eating my pillow. That scene with Blue and Noah, the slowburn with Ronan, his "I'm awake" moment at the end, his introspection of himself throughout the entire book all deserve a medal. God I'm in love with Adam Parrish, can you tell?
The character dynamics somehow seems to have improved? I didn't even know that was possible considering how amazing they were from the start. Every single one of their interactions add more years to my life, I'm not even kidding. Be it Adam and Ronan's relationship slowly taking root, or Adam and Gansey finally not fighting, or Ronan showing he does have affection for Blue, or even Blue pulling the plug on Noah, they all seem so real and so wonderful and I feel like a part of their group.
<blockquote>Blue and her boys were <I>all</I> in love with one another. She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another. analysing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they would be with one another.</blockquote>
I want to childishly believe they will all remain this way until they grow very old and die peacefully, but oh well :D
Plot wise, this book turns its focus back to Glendower (who I still don't care much for) but oh boy were there some mind-blowing plot twists. And worse, some characters I hold very dear to my heart had to go and die. And possibly even worser, some characters who give me the creeps had to make a reappearance. I genuinely don't want to read the next book because 1) that means I officially have to say goodbye to the raven squad, and 2) I really don't want to see Gansey die, even if they do end up successfully resurrecting him. Now that we've had the taste of a major character death, I do not want to go through the same with Gansey.
Adam's character development was great, and so was Ronan's many subtle improvements. Gwenllilian was a nice touch. Not enough Noah scenes. Blue is such an inspiration. Gansey is as loveable as ever. Jesse Dittley is a man with a heart as huge as him. Mr. Gray must be cherished. Calla's strength is amazing. Persephone is one of a kind. Malory, however, I don't know what he brought to the plate, but that seems very fitting to his character, so whatever.
The only thing that this book, or rather, this series lacks is a strong overarching villain. It's all just very villain-of-the-week; not to worry, just a minor inconvenience, and <I>boom</I> he's gone now. Neeve was very unnerving, but she just disappeared. Whelk gave me the creeps, but then he just got trampled over by a magic forest. Mr. Gray was a cool and badass villain who looked like he would definitely get the job done, but he had to fall in love (in the span of a few weeks? days??) and did a full 180°. Kavinsky was a strong candidate but he blew himself up. And now,
Feb 2024 reread: 5 beautiful stars
UHMM I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE WEAKEST BOOK IN THE SERIES? Like I never once hated it or thought it was bad, but for some reason I remember just not thinking this book had much going on for it. Which makes sense, in a way, because the plot is quite slow for a majority of the book and then BOOM everything happens all at once at the end. But this is the Raven Cycle we're talking about, who cares about the plot? Let's talk characters. Wait did I say characters? Whoops, let's talk Adam Parrish.
Adam's character growth was so, so satisfying, especially knowing how much he develops all the way until the Greywaren epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Grief, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
imskylow's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I absolutely love each of these characters and their distinct personalities. They really carry the mystery of the story. Without them, I feel like the plot would be somewhat bland. I’m especially glad Adam is finally growing up and realizing that his pride was keeping him from deeper relationships with his friends. My favorite character is Ronan. One squash. Two squash.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death
angstifies's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH THIS SERIES??? probably my favorite installment so far, the humor in these books and every dynamic is just so so so good, can’t get enough of it.
definitely more plot-focused than the previous novels and that worked just great, i loved everything that happened in here. the mysterious magical elements and the characters are always SO amazing and it’s only getting better. i’m not ready for the next book to be the last one tho.
definitely more plot-focused than the previous novels and that worked just great, i loved everything that happened in here. the mysterious magical elements and the characters are always SO amazing and it’s only getting better. i’m not ready for the next book to be the last one tho.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Cursing, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual harassment
gracefully_jk's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Kidnapping, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Physical abuse
For the worst of the body horror/gore:bi_n_large's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Child death, and Physical abuse
imds's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Death, Abandonment, and Murder
Minor: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse
grimmdark's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
well ok so as always with these books i enjoyed myself thoroughly because i love the world and the characters and the story, so much! and i have about 3 million quotes i loved that i've kept, because maggie stiefvater's style is so rich. besides the humor (top notch), so many times i found myself reading descriptions of feelings or small moments that my mind could barely grasp as i lived through them. but there they were, laid down so accurately on the page! this sentence barely makes sense but yeah.
THAT SAID, out of the three books in this series that i've read thus far, this is my least favorite. again, it was really good! just not my favorite. there's so much happening everywhere all the time with everyone and everything felt kind of scattered? so all the elements of the story kind of just... float aimlessly towards the ending? i don't know. i felt i was kind of grabbing at too many strings at the same time, and it made the story feel perhaps longer than it was. could be because this is also the book that's taken me by far the longest to finish cause i've been busy!
can't wait to dig into trk!i'm beyond heartbroken about persephone and jesse dittley. i loved them both so much
also, i was half expecting neeve to make a comeback sooner or later, but i wasn't expecting that ending! she knew piper's name but the latter hadn't ever told her what it was. so either she guessed it with her powers somehow, since she's such a powerful psychic, or she was there the whole time and overheard it when blue, the gray man, etc... were still there. creepy. why does she even make an appearance such a long time after they escape? like did she just stand there watching piper fading in and out of consciousness for however long that was???
i don't know how i feel about gwenllian! and i'm having trouble believing the guy blue found with maura actually is THEE artemus???? guess we'll see.
THAT SAID, out of the three books in this series that i've read thus far, this is my least favorite. again, it was really good! just not my favorite. there's so much happening everywhere all the time with everyone and everything felt kind of scattered? so all the elements of the story kind of just... float aimlessly towards the ending? i don't know. i felt i was kind of grabbing at too many strings at the same time, and it made the story feel perhaps longer than it was. could be because this is also the book that's taken me by far the longest to finish cause i've been busy!
can't wait to dig into trk!
also, i was half expecting neeve to make a comeback sooner or later, but i wasn't expecting that ending! she knew piper's name but the latter hadn't ever told her what it was. so either she guessed it with her powers somehow, since she's such a powerful psychic, or she was there the whole time and overheard it when blue, the gray man, etc... were still there. creepy. why does she even make an appearance such a long time after they escape? like did she just stand there watching piper fading in and out of consciousness for however long that was???
i don't know how i feel about gwenllian! and i'm having trouble believing the guy blue found with maura actually is THEE artemus???? guess we'll see.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cursing
andromeda_1998's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I’ve been really enjoying this series so far but I’m not sure if I like how the story is progressing. For me book 1 was the strongest of the three books I’ve now read and I hope that the last book wil be as good as the first. Book two and three are good books as well but I don’t like the extra characters that were introduced. The grey men is growing on me tbh. And some of the extra chapters from Colin Greenmantle’s view are entertaining but I’m not really into them.
Characters
Like the first 2 books, I love most of them! The characters are well put together and they feel very real.
Storytelling
Some chapters in bllb feel a bit sticht together. Like blue’s midday with the garden of Jesse. We hear that the boys where really worried about her but it would have been better to also read about it from there point of view. Some time we are just thrown from one chapter to the next without really getting context. Which makes the bridges between the chapters unstable but overal it’s a really good book.
Plot
The plot is good but this book suffers from the same feeling the second book has. They feel a bit as filler episode (to me) and I don’t really understand why. I’m really curious about the last book of the raven cycle, maybe it makes me understand some of the choices Maggie Stiefvater made in these books.
Characters
Like the first 2 books, I love most of them! The characters are well put together and they feel very real.
Storytelling
Some chapters in bllb feel a bit sticht together. Like blue’s midday with the garden of Jesse. We hear that the boys where really worried about her but it would have been better to also read about it from there point of view. Some time we are just thrown from one chapter to the next without really getting context. Which makes the bridges between the chapters unstable but overal it’s a really good book.
Plot
The plot is good but this book suffers from the same feeling the second book has. They feel a bit as filler episode (to me) and I don’t really understand why. I’m really curious about the last book of the raven cycle, maybe it makes me understand some of the choices Maggie Stiefvater made in these books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
alyssadavis's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It should have been impossible. No one should have been able to dream any of these thing, much less all of them. But Adam had seen what Ronan could do. He'd read the dreamt will and ridden in the dreamt Camaro and been terrified by the dreamt night terror.
It was possible that there were two gods in this church.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Grief and Injury/Injury detail