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jennagregory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
The way they have magic and the base idea are kinda basic
But there are quite a few twists and a bit of romance
But there are quite a few twists and a bit of romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Murder
zoepagereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It’s weird reading a book that expects a high understanding of the function of sororities and that of tarot. As someone only meeting one of those requirements, it took a little while for me to get into the feel of things. Once I got in, I was with it up until the very last page. I did feel that the characters were a little under developed, but I’m not one to be too bothered by that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
rinku's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Ravens is another urban fantasy novel where I had the feeling that the story and setting had so much potential but sadly, both was not utilised enough. I was first sure that I only would give two stars, but the last third was so much better than the first two that I can give three stars.
There are two main characters: Vivi and Scarlett. Vivi goes to a new college where she discovers that she’s a witch and has to learn about her new powers. Scarlett, on the other hand, is from a famous witch family and is thus longer involved in the magical world. Her goal is it to become the president of her sorority. When strange things happen, both of them have to work together and overcome their differences to stop a greater evil.
Like I’ve said, the beginning of the book was just not that great. One of the main reasons for this is that the relationship drama/the love square(?) is so much in the focus which was just annoying. Another reason is that seemingly dramatic things happen, but they barely have consequences, showing us not why they’re dramatic in the first place. The magic system wasn’t the most creative as well; it includes both elemental magic and tarot cards which is something I’ve both seen before. What I liked though was the focus on sisterhood and how the female characters mostly work together.
Only after two-thirds, the book got interesting, leading to an amazing last third. Magic is now more in the focus and it’s revealed that Tiffany is evil, killed Dahlia and then pretended to be her . I loved this but I found it a bit cliché that it was her goal to heal her mother from cancer . Just in general, it got much creepier and more atmospheric.
I furthermore liked the college setting but it didn’t feel too authentic since our characters barely go to lectures or something. Another problem I had was with the writing style; some phrases used sounded a bit weird and especially towards the beginning, many interesting plot points are only told and not shown.
This is honestly rare for me, but I have quite a lot to say about the characters. Firstly, I appreciated generally how diverse the cast was but especially at the beginning, there was not really one character that I liked. I couldn’t understand Scarlett’s behaviour at all and that made her unlikable for me; she doesn’t even try to understand the feelings of her boyfriend Mason and is so unnecessary cruel towards Vivi. Mason was also a bit too much for me and it was annoying how offensively he flirted with Vivi. Vivi was okay; her insta love with Mason annoyed me and her character development came a bit too fast, was not very realistic, and told rather than shown. With the love interests, it was so clear from the beginning who would end up with whom. I wished we got a romance between Vivi and Scarlett since there was so much potential for it. What also bothered me were the many characters introduced at the beginning, making it hard to remember their roles.
I’m quite curious what the sequel of The Ravens will be about since it didn’t end with a cliff-hanger, and I don’t have the feeling that there are so many unsolved mysteries. Still, I’m interested in discovering more of the world of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, and Terminal illness
librarianlirael's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The first half of this drags, and I guessed the murderer and motivations within the first 30 pages. The last half was pretty good though, with two twists I almost didn't see coming.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
chronicallybookish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Storygram Tours for providing me with a copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
SORORITY WITCHES!
I know absolutely nothing about sororities, but I love a good witchy novel, and this was a unique take that I was super excited to read—and it did not disappoint. It was a super fast paced book that was so much fun. From page one, I was drawn in to this world and the characters. The plot was fast and interesting, even if it wasn’t anything super special.
I really liked the relationship between Jackson and Scarlett, but I wasn’t a fan of Vivi’s relationship. I didn’t feel much chemistry, and it didn’t add anything to the story except for annoying petty drama. It felt like they needed a reason for contention between Scarlett and Vivi, and so they made it about a boy, and that just felt so shallow to me. Also, they had like a 4 year age gap, which, since she’s 18 was a little sketchy in my opinion.
There were many times I was convinced I knew where the plot was going, but it never played out exactly how I thought it would—it was always better than my guess.
I’m honestly not sure if this should be classified as YA or NA. It is definitely appropriate for the average YA audience—no sexual or graphic content, not even any swearing—however it follows college students. One of the POV characters is 18 and the other is about 22.
Either way, a ton of fun if you’re looking for a fast-paced, witchy read—which, let’s be honest. Who isn’t?
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Special thanks to Storygram Tours for providing me with a copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
SORORITY WITCHES!
I know absolutely nothing about sororities, but I love a good witchy novel, and this was a unique take that I was super excited to read—and it did not disappoint. It was a super fast paced book that was so much fun. From page one, I was drawn in to this world and the characters. The plot was fast and interesting, even if it wasn’t anything super special.
I really liked the relationship between Jackson and Scarlett, but I wasn’t a fan of Vivi’s relationship. I didn’t feel much chemistry, and it didn’t add anything to the story except for annoying petty drama. It felt like they needed a reason for contention between Scarlett and Vivi, and so they made it about a boy, and that just felt so shallow to me. Also, they had like a 4 year age gap, which, since she’s 18 was a little sketchy in my opinion.
There were many times I was convinced I knew where the plot was going, but it never played out exactly how I thought it would—it was always better than my guess.
I’m honestly not sure if this should be classified as YA or NA. It is definitely appropriate for the average YA audience—no sexual or graphic content, not even any swearing—however it follows college students. One of the POV characters is 18 and the other is about 22.
Either way, a ton of fun if you’re looking for a fast-paced, witchy read—which, let’s be honest. Who isn’t?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Cancer
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘨𝘺𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘧𝘪𝘵?"
Vivi has never lived anywhere long enough to make friends. Her Mother up and moves their life everytime her tarot cards show danger on the horizon. But finally she is free, about to start her first semester at Westerly College. She finds herself pledging to be apart of The Ravens, but she has no idea that these aren't just regular sorority girls, they're witches.
The Ravens is absolutely dripping in witchy shenanigans and girl power. I was just singing "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves' in my head whilst reading. This was just the fun, and engaging read I needed, and once I hit the halfway point, I couldn't read it fast enough.
Vivi Devereaux and Scarlett Winter (now those are some badass witch names) are the two perspectives we switch between in the book. I often find with YA that a lot of the characters can feel a bit samey, but these two girls couldn't be more different. I really loved the contrasting driving forces to both of the narratives, and how their stories came together.
If you love magic academic settings, then you need to add this to your reading list immediately. There's a sequel out early next year called The Monarchs, and I am dying to get my hands on it. I recommend reading this with your own coven, chatting about this one with @littleredlibrary and @bristolianbooks made the experience even more fun.
Thanks so much to Hodder for the gifted copy of this one 🧡
Vivi has never lived anywhere long enough to make friends. Her Mother up and moves their life everytime her tarot cards show danger on the horizon. But finally she is free, about to start her first semester at Westerly College. She finds herself pledging to be apart of The Ravens, but she has no idea that these aren't just regular sorority girls, they're witches.
The Ravens is absolutely dripping in witchy shenanigans and girl power. I was just singing "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves' in my head whilst reading. This was just the fun, and engaging read I needed, and once I hit the halfway point, I couldn't read it fast enough.
Vivi Devereaux and Scarlett Winter (now those are some badass witch names) are the two perspectives we switch between in the book. I often find with YA that a lot of the characters can feel a bit samey, but these two girls couldn't be more different. I really loved the contrasting driving forces to both of the narratives, and how their stories came together.
If you love magic academic settings, then you need to add this to your reading list immediately. There's a sequel out early next year called The Monarchs, and I am dying to get my hands on it. I recommend reading this with your own coven, chatting about this one with @littleredlibrary and @bristolianbooks made the experience even more fun.
Thanks so much to Hodder for the gifted copy of this one 🧡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Grief, and Death of parent