Book review: The Raven King

Book Review of The Raven King

“The Raven King” is the fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Following The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. A series about magic, psychics, spirit paths, dangers and mysteries of the past.

Summary

“For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into his mission: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a life; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him. Nothing dead is to be trusted. Now the endgame has begun. Nothing living is safe. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.” (Borrowed from the blurp on the back of the book).

Verdict

Finally the last book in the Raven Cycle! When I finished The Raven King, I thought it could’ve easily just been 3 books. There are so many unnecessary scenes and extra characters, that actually don’t really contribute to the plot that much. Because I had acquired all four books in one go, and I did enjoy reading them, I had to finish The Raven King too. It wasn’t bad it was just way too long and the plot was getting thinner and more crazy. (That already happened in Blue Lily, Lily Blue).

Theme, plot dedvelopments, descriptions, language etc. was all recognizable from the first three books. But the characters seemed more hysteric in a way, in The Raven King. Maybe they were all supposed to be that way because recent events and the ley line affected them, but it wasn’t always believable. Which is a bit unfortunate, because I started out liking the characters, then grew to being slightly apathetic towards some of them. I never really got to reach a point where I liked Gansey, which might explain some of my other issues with the books overall. I can’t say if that is due to me not being a love infested teenager, or because he’s just not my type of (anti-)hero.

The Raven King revealed

Okay, so in The Raven King, the teenager reader gets all the things. All the possible romances, friends and dangers that were missing from or hinted at in the first three books are thrown into this one. All the boys and Blue have grown a lot throughout all the action. The magical elements of the world Stiefvater has created goes bananas. Basically, we get everything we didn’t know we wanted as readers. I imagine this would have been a magnificent and splendid ending for someone who can relate more to the main characters, by e.g. being a teenager and having to deal with the same kinds of struggles. I just thought it was completely overdone and over the top.

With that said, there are still a lot of really nice things in The Raven King, but it proved to be the first part of the series I enjoyed the most. I recognize that I’m probably not the target audience for these books, so beware, if you’re a more adult and avid fiction reader used to magical books. This is definitely one of the most young adult fiction series out there.

The Raven Cycle summed up

I really enjoyed the first book, the second book was interesting although not completely tied into the overall arc of the series, the third and fourth installments should’ve honestly just been one book and there were a few too many subplots. I liked the main plot and the mysteries and stories about the ley line and the material surrounding that was so fascinating. The characterization of the women in Blues family and some of the Aglionby boys were incredible and I at no point regretted reading The Raven Cycle. It just wasn’t really written for readers like me. But if you’re into crazy magic stuff, teenage romances and annoying families that are super relatable, then give it a read!

Are you a young adult who likes reading about magic and supernatural stuff? Magic that isn’t necessarily the classic witches and wizard stories? Including a romance or three, as well as a bunch of teens going up against adults? Then you’ll love this series!