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A review by booksonmars
The Golden Raven by Nora Sakavic
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-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? No
5.0
what a sequel! thank goodness it wasn't as traumatic as the raven king. this was definitely more tender, but i think its because we are following a more vulnerable character: jean is adjusting to his new life at usc, away from the ravens and riko and everything it used to represent. he's becoming more aware of the abuse he suffered, and is coming to terms with its injustice. what jean goes through is multifaceted: there is the grief towards the ravens, towards the person he was forced to be, and there is also hate too. this book is him navigating through that. throughout the book you see him start to build relationships with his teammates and coach (coach rhemann i love you), while realising he has a support system that is there for him and his wellbeing. it was so heartwarming to see jean become an active member of the team, allowing them to help them and helping them in return. i particularly enjoyed his friendship with cody and tanner.
the bonds he made with cat and laila truly become family in this book. i love them so bad. i love how fond and protective and loving they are of jean, and the fact that jean becomes more affectionate towards them had me in near tears. like that's family in law!! (fozes you are always first in my heart!! speaking of the kevjean moments in this book has me so fond of them; the way they both deal with their trauma is starkly different and i hope there are more healing moments with them in the third book.)
this book has much more jeremy chapters, almost half, which helps in understanding his character more, making him more human. you do get to see behind the smile, and you can see how much this team means to him, how much he's there for his teammates. the jerejean moments had me gnawing at my fingernails the tension is so good but also the platonic love there is so?? jean being protective of jeremy, and witnessing it in jeremy's pov is so sweet.
nora please don't make us wait so long for the nezt book! reading this one has made me realise i absolutely love these characters and this unnecessarily violent fake lacrosse adjacent game that i will never understand and all the drama in between.
the bonds he made with cat and laila truly become family in this book. i love them so bad. i love how fond and protective and loving they are of jean, and the fact that jean becomes more affectionate towards them had me in near tears. like that's family in law!! (fozes you are always first in my heart!! speaking of the kevjean moments in this book has me so fond of them; the way they both deal with their trauma is starkly different and i hope there are more healing moments with them in the third book.)
this book has much more jeremy chapters, almost half, which helps in understanding his character more, making him more human. you do get to see behind the smile, and you can see how much this team means to him, how much he's there for his teammates. the jerejean moments had me gnawing at my fingernails the tension is so good but also the platonic love there is so?? jean being protective of jeremy, and witnessing it in jeremy's pov is so sweet.
nora please don't make us wait so long for the nezt book! reading this one has made me realise i absolutely love these characters and this unnecessarily violent fake lacrosse adjacent game that i will never understand and all the drama in between.