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lalabell's review
3.0
It's definitely not my favourite piece of work by Anyta Sunday.
The characters seem a little bit dull at times, especially in the beginning, which made it hard for me to like them immediately. But I have to say that over the time while reading, they've grown on me and each personality got to stand out (except Shannon for some reason). Though that can't be said about their chemistry with each other. Just why couldn't I really get comfortable with Liam and Quinn getting together? We may never really know but I settled with that fact either way and now I have to live with it,so I guess I have to suck it up.
The plot was less exciting than I'd expected. A shame if you think about what could've been done with the several plot points, "the Raven" and Liam's father issues being only a few of them. I think if the author would've taken a little extra time and a couple more chapters, she could've created a little bit more tension.
In overall I liked it and enjoyed reading it but I still prefer the Love & Family and the Signs of Love-series.
The characters seem a little bit dull at times, especially in the beginning, which made it hard for me to like them immediately. But I have to say that over the time while reading, they've grown on me and each personality got to stand out (except Shannon for some reason). Though that can't be said about their chemistry with each other. Just why couldn't I really get comfortable with Liam and Quinn getting together? We may never really know but I settled with that fact either way and now I have to live with it,so I guess I have to suck it up.
The plot was less exciting than I'd expected. A shame if you think about what could've been done with the several plot points, "the Raven" and Liam's father issues being only a few of them. I think if the author would've taken a little extra time and a couple more chapters, she could've created a little bit more tension.
In overall I liked it and enjoyed reading it but I still prefer the Love & Family and the Signs of Love-series.
iam's review
5.0
Omg I adored this.
Liam Davis & The Raven starts out very unassuming and a bit weird, but very soon I was thoroughly charmed by it.
Read this review and more on the blog.
Content warnings include: violence and homophobia (mostly combined), hate crime, assault, disability after assault, sex on-page, ableism, bullying, death threat, dysfunctional parent-child relationship.
It's far from perfect - some parts are a bit confusing (like the whole Freddy Krueger thing at the beginning) and the plot isn't airtight, but it's extremely enjoyable.
Liam is the protagonist, he's blunt and extremely goal-focussed, he has few (if any) friends and comes off as standoffish - and honestly a little creepy when that gets combined with his obsession to observe and take notes all the time for his newspaper. He seriously has no shame when it comes to recording his impressions as a journalist. At first I thought his traits were exaggerations, almost comical, but I soon found him to be painfully relateable in many of the things he does - often rationally, perfectly reasonable and without any ill intent, and yet not exactly socially accepted.
I loved the way he tended to step back to evaluate his emotions and ascertain that he is absolutely sure of his decision before he makes it - not just for his own sake, but to do right by his friends. I admired the way he was able to step back from what he felt and focus on his work.
In many ways, Liam is who I wish I were, and it made me sad that he is seen and perceived as friendless and cold.
The side characters Shannon, Quinn, Hunter, Mitch, Hannah and even Jill are wonderful, though their personalities aren't always explored in the depth I was hoping for.
My favourite character by far was Hunter. He is incredible, fun, flirty, with great quips and great life advice and out of all the friends Liam makes over the course of the book he is the one who truly makes a difference.
Hunter is also paralyzed from the waist down as the result of an assault. I cannot speak about the disability rep with confidence - for the most part it seemed fine, except the term differently-abled is used more than once, and I've been told to not use it.
The plot is made up of two big points and their consequences:
1. To "grow as a writer" Liam has to write the party page for the school newspaper and thus start attending parties
2. In the beginning, Liam gets assaulted when he walks home from a party, but a hooded vigilante called The Raven intervenes. But The Raven has enemies too, and Liam wants to protect his protector by figuring out The Raven's identity and sending a warning.
Closely tied to that comes Liam stepping out of his comfort zone (not in the sense that he is easily uncomfortable - Liam is just very in tune with his routine) in various ways with subplots about friendships, dating, (un-)realistic expectations, first impressions and frequently about writing the best possible article.
Partly over the top yet still handling very serious topics, the book somehow made me thing of the Mean Girls movie - I did not expect to like it and somehow it's ridiculous, but I absolutely adored it in the end, and turned way more personal than anticipated.
Interestingly, while it isn’t brought up at all in this book, the sequel in the series, Marc Jillson & The GazeboMarc Jillson & The Gazebo, mentions that Liam is on the autism spectrum.
Liam Davis & The Raven starts out very unassuming and a bit weird, but very soon I was thoroughly charmed by it.
Read this review and more on the blog.
Content warnings include: violence and homophobia (mostly combined), hate crime, assault, disability after assault, sex on-page, ableism, bullying, death threat, dysfunctional parent-child relationship.
It's far from perfect - some parts are a bit confusing (like the whole Freddy Krueger thing at the beginning) and the plot isn't airtight, but it's extremely enjoyable.
Liam is the protagonist, he's blunt and extremely goal-focussed, he has few (if any) friends and comes off as standoffish - and honestly a little creepy when that gets combined with his obsession to observe and take notes all the time for his newspaper. He seriously has no shame when it comes to recording his impressions as a journalist. At first I thought his traits were exaggerations, almost comical, but I soon found him to be painfully relateable in many of the things he does - often rationally, perfectly reasonable and without any ill intent, and yet not exactly socially accepted.
I loved the way he tended to step back to evaluate his emotions and ascertain that he is absolutely sure of his decision before he makes it - not just for his own sake, but to do right by his friends. I admired the way he was able to step back from what he felt and focus on his work.
In many ways, Liam is who I wish I were, and it made me sad that he is seen and perceived as friendless and cold.
The side characters Shannon, Quinn, Hunter, Mitch, Hannah and even Jill are wonderful, though their personalities aren't always explored in the depth I was hoping for.
My favourite character by far was Hunter. He is incredible, fun, flirty, with great quips and great life advice and out of all the friends Liam makes over the course of the book he is the one who truly makes a difference.
Hunter is also paralyzed from the waist down as the result of an assault. I cannot speak about the disability rep with confidence - for the most part it seemed fine, except the term differently-abled is used more than once, and I've been told to not use it.
The plot is made up of two big points and their consequences:
1. To "grow as a writer" Liam has to write the party page for the school newspaper and thus start attending parties
2. In the beginning, Liam gets assaulted when he walks home from a party, but a hooded vigilante called The Raven intervenes. But The Raven has enemies too, and Liam wants to protect his protector by figuring out The Raven's identity and sending a warning.
Closely tied to that comes Liam stepping out of his comfort zone (not in the sense that he is easily uncomfortable - Liam is just very in tune with his routine) in various ways with subplots about friendships, dating, (un-)realistic expectations, first impressions and frequently about writing the best possible article.
Partly over the top yet still handling very serious topics, the book somehow made me thing of the Mean Girls movie - I did not expect to like it and somehow it's ridiculous, but I absolutely adored it in the end, and turned way more personal than anticipated.
Interestingly, while it isn’t brought up at all in this book, the sequel in the series, Marc Jillson & The GazeboMarc Jillson & The Gazebo, mentions that Liam is on the autism spectrum.
brokenrecord's review against another edition
3.0
This was fine, but definitely not my favorite Anyta Sunday book. I think my main problem was just that I wasn't that into the main plot about the Raven. I also found it a little annoying that when Liam figures out who the Raven is and tells both Hunter and Quinn he knows, the name isn't actually written on the page, so I couldn't tell if Liam ACTUALLY knew who it was or if he was wrong. And I think that's to keep the suspense so it'll be surprising in the end when it's , but I had already guessed correctly for myself, so I just found it frustrating to not know if Liam was on the same page as me. There was ambiguity where I didn't think there needed to be any. It also felt like the end was more focused on the plot than the romance, and since the romance was the part I was more invested in, I lost interest in the book near the end.
I also would have liked a bit more from Liam about the development of his feelings for Quinn. I get that he's more calculating and pragmatic and not a huge feelings person, but I still needed just a LITTLE more, especially because I didn't fully buy that they were in love in the end. There was just a step missing for me between the initial interest and the jump to them being in love. It also annoyed me that Liam was like, "I'm straight because I've only kissed girls," then he kisses Quinn and likes it and is like, "Oh, nevermind, I must be gay," and at literally no point does anyone bring up the possibility of him being bi/pan or anything like that. I mean, he can be gay, that's completely fine of course, it's just a pet peeve for me when it feels like sexuality is being treated like a gay/straight binary and if you're a dude who likes kissing one single dude, you must be gay, and bisexuality/pansexuality don't exist. I think this goes back to my complaint about there not being enough examination of Liam's feelings — if there had been more reflection on his part about what he was feeling, then it might've felt more like, "Oh yes, he's clearly gay," instead of, "He's gay because he's attracted to a man and no other sexualities exist beyond gay/straight."
There was also one spoilery plot twist that I HATED, which was:
I DID actually enjoy this more than I'm making it sound. I particularly liked the earlier bits when Quinn and Liam were just getting to know one another, and Liam would say things that made Quinn think he might be into him, but then he'd say something contradictory, and Quinn would just be like, "UGH." That was super cute. Really, the romance itself was nice enough, I just needed a bit more development and more of Liam exploring his feelings and less of the Raven/vigilante stuff because I didn't care about that element and it ended up feeling kind of muddled.
Spoiler
Shannon and not Quinn, since Quinn would've been the more obvious culpritI also would have liked a bit more from Liam about the development of his feelings for Quinn. I get that he's more calculating and pragmatic and not a huge feelings person, but I still needed just a LITTLE more, especially because I didn't fully buy that they were in love in the end. There was just a step missing for me between the initial interest and the jump to them being in love. It also annoyed me that Liam was like, "I'm straight because I've only kissed girls," then he kisses Quinn and likes it and is like, "Oh, nevermind, I must be gay," and at literally no point does anyone bring up the possibility of him being bi/pan or anything like that. I mean, he can be gay, that's completely fine of course, it's just a pet peeve for me when it feels like sexuality is being treated like a gay/straight binary and if you're a dude who likes kissing one single dude, you must be gay, and bisexuality/pansexuality don't exist. I think this goes back to my complaint about there not being enough examination of Liam's feelings — if there had been more reflection on his part about what he was feeling, then it might've felt more like, "Oh yes, he's clearly gay," instead of, "He's gay because he's attracted to a man and no other sexualities exist beyond gay/straight."
There was also one spoilery plot twist that I HATED, which was:
Spoiler
Mitch being blackmailed into helping Jack. MITCH AND HUNTER WERE SO CUTE! I was so upset about that reveal.I DID actually enjoy this more than I'm making it sound. I particularly liked the earlier bits when Quinn and Liam were just getting to know one another, and Liam would say things that made Quinn think he might be into him, but then he'd say something contradictory, and Quinn would just be like, "UGH." That was super cute. Really, the romance itself was nice enough, I just needed a bit more development and more of Liam exploring his feelings and less of the Raven/vigilante stuff because I didn't care about that element and it ended up feeling kind of muddled.
unapologetic_romantic's review
2.0
I’m disappointed. Most of the Anyta Sunday books Iv’e read have been wonderful, this was just wasn’t my vibe sadly. Did not finish at 86%.
leewicks's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe a 3.25 stars, or a 3.5. Somewhere around there.
That was a good, easy read. Surprisingly good, in fact. Never the less, it didn't feel like a particularly strong story, in my opinion.
My favourite part of this book?
Hunter. He was definitely my favourite character. He was simply brilliant. His outlook on life, his confidence, his ability to make me laugh (even a couple of snort-laughs, which is a scary thing coming from me), and his relationship with the people around him. I don't think I've read many books where a character is in a wheelchair, and although it was important to the plot, I just found it to be realistic and honest, which I appreciated.
I also really liked Quinns general demeanour, the general flow of this story, and how easy it was to read.
When it comes to Liam though, I'm a little stumped as to what I want to say.
By the end of the book, I liked him as a character. He took a lot of warming up to, though I did however also find him to be very relatable. Is he autistic, or perhaps on the spectrum? I myself am, and a lot of his traits (intelligence, bluntness, how he thinks his decisions through in such detail) are common with people who you would find on the spectrum, though more along the higher-functioning end (like Aspergers, which is what I'm diagnosed with). Just a thought.
Also, I don't quite understand the attraction between Quinn and Liam, and there were also quite a few instances where I thought to myself "this is not how real people communicate!" (especially regarding a certain shower scene). Just saying.
However, I did like this story. The mystery element was pretty easy to keep up with (and for someone like me, that was kind of a big deal), the characters were fun, some elements of this book were refreshing, and I am definitely going to be picking up something else of the authors to read soon.
That was a good, easy read. Surprisingly good, in fact. Never the less, it didn't feel like a particularly strong story, in my opinion.
My favourite part of this book?
Hunter. He was definitely my favourite character. He was simply brilliant. His outlook on life, his confidence, his ability to make me laugh (even a couple of snort-laughs, which is a scary thing coming from me), and his relationship with the people around him. I don't think I've read many books where a character is in a wheelchair, and although it was important to the plot, I just found it to be realistic and honest, which I appreciated.
I also really liked Quinns general demeanour, the general flow of this story, and how easy it was to read.
When it comes to Liam though, I'm a little stumped as to what I want to say.
By the end of the book, I liked him as a character. He took a lot of warming up to, though I did however also find him to be very relatable. Is he autistic, or perhaps on the spectrum? I myself am, and a lot of his traits (intelligence, bluntness, how he thinks his decisions through in such detail) are common with people who you would find on the spectrum, though more along the higher-functioning end (like Aspergers, which is what I'm diagnosed with). Just a thought.
Also, I don't quite understand the attraction between Quinn and Liam, and there were also quite a few instances where I thought to myself "this is not how real people communicate!" (especially regarding a certain shower scene). Just saying.
However, I did like this story. The mystery element was pretty easy to keep up with (and for someone like me, that was kind of a big deal), the characters were fun, some elements of this book were refreshing, and I am definitely going to be picking up something else of the authors to read soon.
jenvile's review against another edition
2.0
I have lukewarm feelings about this one.
Premise? Intriguing.
Execution? Questionable.
Unlike a lot of people, I actually liked Liam being blunt, clinical and straight forward. To be honest, it’s refreshing in a character. I’m so sick of characters in novels having all this inner monologue and not be able to communicate it comfortably with others. So it was nice to have a character who was indeed smart, looked at the facts and wasn’t overly angsty or dramatic about their situations or events. I also adored Quinn, and how... not perfect he was. He was such a slob, and the fact that he was described in such a way at the beginning of the story made me laugh.
Buuuttttt, the mystery, being such a heavy part of the book, was so weak and poorly executed that I just didn’t care for the outcome. There were characters which I also didn’t care about and they seemed more of a stepping stone instead of adding layers or depth to our main characters.
I read this one to prep for the 2nd book of the series which recently came out, but I don’t think I’ll be enjoying the next one since I wasn’t in love with the characters/plot here. I’ll still continue reading Anyta Sunday’s works because she is one of my favourite MM authors. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.
Premise? Intriguing.
Execution? Questionable.
Unlike a lot of people, I actually liked Liam being blunt, clinical and straight forward. To be honest, it’s refreshing in a character. I’m so sick of characters in novels having all this inner monologue and not be able to communicate it comfortably with others. So it was nice to have a character who was indeed smart, looked at the facts and wasn’t overly angsty or dramatic about their situations or events. I also adored Quinn, and how... not perfect he was. He was such a slob, and the fact that he was described in such a way at the beginning of the story made me laugh.
Buuuttttt, the mystery, being such a heavy part of the book, was so weak and poorly executed that I just didn’t care for the outcome. There were characters which I also didn’t care about and they seemed more of a stepping stone instead of adding layers or depth to our main characters.
I read this one to prep for the 2nd book of the series which recently came out, but I don’t think I’ll be enjoying the next one since I wasn’t in love with the characters/plot here. I’ll still continue reading Anyta Sunday’s works because she is one of my favourite MM authors. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.
jreason's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant book as always by Anyta Sunday. Started around 4pm, finished around 9pm. Keep them coming!
The characters were all brilliant and had some interesting points about them. Would really like to see more of them in the future!
The characters were all brilliant and had some interesting points about them. Would really like to see more of them in the future!
myendlessshelf's review
3.0
A sweet story, I liked the comic style element but there were a few continuity errors that kept pulling me out of the story.
It was cute, but not one of my favourites by this author.
It was cute, but not one of my favourites by this author.
a___broad's review against another edition
4.0
Oblivious, studious nerds are my weakness. This was adorable.