A review by _teoeo
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I finished this book crying. Over the last 2 months trc were my comfort books and I'm so sad that I've finished them now. The books are really extraordinary, the hype and high rating more than deserved!! They are beautifully written and the characters, I just love them. Also Ronan as a gay character without it being a stereotype when the books are from 2012 - 2016??? Wowowo. I have to admit that some plotlines abruptly ended without a satisfying explanation
e.g. piper?? how is it that glendower is dead?? what about gansey, what is it that cabbeswater had to make "different" about him so he can live again??
and that's the reason I'm rating it 4,5 instead of 5 stars. All in all it was really gut wrenching and heart warming and I'm so glad that I've finally read them! They really have a special place in my heart from now on!

Update: I recently discovered Maggie Stiefvaters past racist and problematic comments and also learned about the racist joke(s) in this book, e.g.:

“Principles? Henry Cheng’s principles are all about getting larger font in the school newsletter,” Ronan said. He did a vaguely offensive version of Henry’s voice: “Serif? Sans serif? More bold, less italics.”

Blue saw Adam both smirk and turn his face away in a hurry so that Gansey wouldn’t see, but it was too late.

“Et tu, Brute?” Gansey asked Adam. “Disappointing.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Adam replied.

Adam made puerile jokes at Henry’s expense (He’s half Chinese? “Which half?”) and sniggered clannishly; Blue called them on it (“Jealous, much?”): Gansey told them to put aside their preconceptions and think about him.

Because of my point of view as a white reader I didn't saw them when I first read the books, but I want to acknowledge them now and encourage you to inform yourself about these issues, even if trc is one of your favorites.
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