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A review by protoman21
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
4.0
This review is very challenging. I waited for this book for such a long time and I had such ridiculous expectations for it, so it was inevitable that I would be a little let down. I still love the characters and I love the world and I LOVE Will Patton's narration of audiobooks, but I think I was expecting too much.
As a standalone book and not the end of the series, I certainly enjoyed it and love Stiefvater's brilliant use of language and character. Each scene is a joy and moves forward at just the right pace. I missed Blue and her Raven Boys and it was great to spend some more time in their world. It was also great to get to know Henry Cheng better. He was a very welcome addition to the Raven Cycle and his development in this book makes me wish we had more of him before now.
One of the big events in this book and the series is Adam and Ronan, and for probably many reasons, this storyline completely missed with me. I probably would have to read the entire series again with fresh eyes to see it coming from Adam's perspective, so seeing it come to fruition here did nothing for me and just made me question how realistic it was. Obviously Stiefvater knows the character better than I do, but I can't help but view it from the perspective of a heterosexual male and Adam just never struck me as somebody who felt that way. I'm sure that it happens just like this all over the world, but maybe Adam did such a good job of hiding it from himself, that he was able to hide it from me as well.
The other thing that I couldn't help but feel disappointed about was the kiss between Blue and Gansey. With soooo much build up and anticipation, I was waiting for something more dramatic or at least to be able to see more how they felt about it. I understand how it fit in with the climax of the book, and in that sense it worked perfectly, but there was no spark, there was no love behind it, and that feels like a loss to me and something that we can never get back.
It was great that we got to see Adam confront his parents at the end and it was brilliant the way Stiefvater revealed them for the cowards that they are, and demonstrating that Adam has finally released the power they held over him.
And who doesn't want to go on the road trip with Gansey, Blue and Henry? What a nice "ride off into the sunset" moment!
As a standalone book and not the end of the series, I certainly enjoyed it and love Stiefvater's brilliant use of language and character. Each scene is a joy and moves forward at just the right pace. I missed Blue and her Raven Boys and it was great to spend some more time in their world. It was also great to get to know Henry Cheng better. He was a very welcome addition to the Raven Cycle and his development in this book makes me wish we had more of him before now.
One of the big events in this book and the series is Adam and Ronan, and for probably many reasons, this storyline completely missed with me. I probably would have to read the entire series again with fresh eyes to see it coming from Adam's perspective, so seeing it come to fruition here did nothing for me and just made me question how realistic it was. Obviously Stiefvater knows the character better than I do, but I can't help but view it from the perspective of a heterosexual male and Adam just never struck me as somebody who felt that way. I'm sure that it happens just like this all over the world, but maybe Adam did such a good job of hiding it from himself, that he was able to hide it from me as well.
The other thing that I couldn't help but feel disappointed about was the kiss between Blue and Gansey. With soooo much build up and anticipation, I was waiting for something more dramatic or at least to be able to see more how they felt about it. I understand how it fit in with the climax of the book, and in that sense it worked perfectly, but there was no spark, there was no love behind it, and that feels like a loss to me and something that we can never get back.
It was great that we got to see Adam confront his parents at the end and it was brilliant the way Stiefvater revealed them for the cowards that they are, and demonstrating that Adam has finally released the power they held over him.
And who doesn't want to go on the road trip with Gansey, Blue and Henry? What a nice "ride off into the sunset" moment!