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A review by brokenrecord
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
4.0
I think this was a good but not great ending to this series. The one thing it really did right was Ronan/Adam, which was what I was most looking forward to from this book, so I’m glad it delivered on that front. Both kisses had me absolutely dying!!! The fact that we even got 2 separate kiss scenes was great since I was really only expecting one. Before reading this, I would’ve bet everything that it would be Adam to make the first move because I couldn’t really see Ronan risking it or believing enough that Adam felt the same way as him to try something, but I actually really loved how it was handled, so I’m not sorry to be wrong about that. I also loved that we got Adam initiating the 2nd kiss (AND RONAN CALLING HIM ADAM!!!). I also loved Adam coming to term with his feelings (realizing he shouldn’t play with Ronan’s emotions if he’s not serious, but then realizing that he wasn’t playing) and talking to Gansey about it. And getting Ronan’s POV was SO MUCH, since we haven’t had it since “Ronan’s second secret was Adam Parrish,” so getting Ronan thinking things about his feelings for Adam and how he would burn cities and start wars for his smile and the fact that he KNOWS that Adam knows about his feelings for him were just a LOT to handle.
This book didn’t do as much for me with Blue/Gansey as previous books did, but I think that’s partially because we had already gotten most of their development in the previous books and they’re basically together at the start of this, the only thing that’s missing is her being able to kiss him, and it’s also partially because this book seemed to focus much more on Ronan/Adam than on them (which was fine with me considering how much I love them and because, like I said, I think we got plenty of them in the previous books). The two of them together at the toga party was pretty wonderful, though, and also Gansey describing his love for Blue on like several occasions.
My biggest complaint is just that it felt like the book ended too soon?? In large part because I JUST WANTED MORE OF RONAN AND ADAM. I know that this book had a plot beyond them, but they were basically all I could focus on in my first read through. Someday I will be able to reread this book and focus on things that are not them. But here, as absolutely perfect as them getting together was, I just wanted MORE. I know this series isn’t just about them, but we don’t really get much after their second kiss??? Like, there are very, very brief moments, and there’s Adam driving Ronan’s car (and Adam’s dad referring to Ronan as Adam’s boyfriend, although I think that’s probably more meant to be an insult than a factual statement about their relationship status) but that’s kind of it? I mean, would it have killed Maggie Stiefvater to add a scene in the epilogue that included both Ronan and Adam??????? I’m just saying!! I guess we’re supposed to assume that Adam’s going off to college out of state but that he’ll come back after for Ronan, but just… idk, I’d like to feel more certain about how their relationship is going to work post-graduation. And beyond them, it would’ve been nice to see a little more of Gansey and Blue actually getting to be together now that they can kiss and not worry about their love being doomed and all that.
I also thought Gansey’s death ended up being kind of anti-climactic after 4 books of build-up; maybe it was because there was so much build-up that when it finally happened, it was just like, “Oh, ok, so that’s happening now.” I just expected to feel more at his death, I guess?
My other major complaint was that it seemed like there was a lot less of the 4 of them (plus Noah) hanging out and just being friends. There was a little of that at the goodbye party for Matthew, but also not really, since the focus was more on Ronan/Adam development there, but it definitely seemed to be a lot less than previous books, and there generally seemed to be less humor, and that was all just disappointing because the humor and the friendship scenes were one of the main reasons I fell in love with this series. I was at least super into Adam being protective of both Blue AND Gansey by asking Gansey if he knew about Blue’s curse, and then telling Gansey that he and Ronan kissed and asking Gansey about how he knew he loved Blue.
Anyways, overall I think this was a fairly satisfying ending for the series! I will definitely be rereading this series on numerous occasions in the future, and I also think I ended up liking BLLB more upon reread, so hopefully that will end up being the case with this one as well.
This book didn’t do as much for me with Blue/Gansey as previous books did, but I think that’s partially because we had already gotten most of their development in the previous books and they’re basically together at the start of this, the only thing that’s missing is her being able to kiss him, and it’s also partially because this book seemed to focus much more on Ronan/Adam than on them (which was fine with me considering how much I love them and because, like I said, I think we got plenty of them in the previous books). The two of them together at the toga party was pretty wonderful, though, and also Gansey describing his love for Blue on like several occasions.
My biggest complaint is just that it felt like the book ended too soon?? In large part because I JUST WANTED MORE OF RONAN AND ADAM. I know that this book had a plot beyond them, but they were basically all I could focus on in my first read through. Someday I will be able to reread this book and focus on things that are not them. But here, as absolutely perfect as them getting together was, I just wanted MORE. I know this series isn’t just about them, but we don’t really get much after their second kiss??? Like, there are very, very brief moments, and there’s Adam driving Ronan’s car (and Adam’s dad referring to Ronan as Adam’s boyfriend, although I think that’s probably more meant to be an insult than a factual statement about their relationship status) but that’s kind of it? I mean, would it have killed Maggie Stiefvater to add a scene in the epilogue that included both Ronan and Adam??????? I’m just saying!! I guess we’re supposed to assume that Adam’s going off to college out of state but that he’ll come back after for Ronan, but just… idk, I’d like to feel more certain about how their relationship is going to work post-graduation. And beyond them, it would’ve been nice to see a little more of Gansey and Blue actually getting to be together now that they can kiss and not worry about their love being doomed and all that.
I also thought Gansey’s death ended up being kind of anti-climactic after 4 books of build-up; maybe it was because there was so much build-up that when it finally happened, it was just like, “Oh, ok, so that’s happening now.” I just expected to feel more at his death, I guess?
My other major complaint was that it seemed like there was a lot less of the 4 of them (plus Noah) hanging out and just being friends. There was a little of that at the goodbye party for Matthew, but also not really, since the focus was more on Ronan/Adam development there, but it definitely seemed to be a lot less than previous books, and there generally seemed to be less humor, and that was all just disappointing because the humor and the friendship scenes were one of the main reasons I fell in love with this series. I was at least super into Adam being protective of both Blue AND Gansey by asking Gansey if he knew about Blue’s curse, and then telling Gansey that he and Ronan kissed and asking Gansey about how he knew he loved Blue.
Anyways, overall I think this was a fairly satisfying ending for the series! I will definitely be rereading this series on numerous occasions in the future, and I also think I ended up liking BLLB more upon reread, so hopefully that will end up being the case with this one as well.