Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Ravens

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.

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tinysierra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

3.75*
Pretty sure I bought this because it was on sale, Coven is my favorite season of AHS, and I liked the cover lol so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this.

I enjoyed The Ravens. I think the pacing was just what I needed in this moment. It was fast paced and the magic system was easy to grasp. The split POV between Scarlett and Vivi worked well. It’s one of few YA books that takes place in college.

The romance:

I thought Vivi and Mason would have been adorable, especially after their meet cute… if Mason hadn’t been dating Scarlett when the book started. I just couldn’t get over that. I also did not like the girl vs girl fighting over one guy type thing. Their fighting was actually kind of mild compared to other books, but it seems so immature. I feel as if it was at attempt to highlight how the witches are supposed to have each other’s backs, but I just wish there were other ways they could have went about that. I also didn’t like Scarlett immediately falling in love with Jackson, either. Maybe I don’t understand how allosexual attraction works as an ace reader lol but I’m like dang, couldn’t she be happy being single? Does she have to jump into another relationship immediately?

There are Harry Potter mentions on pages 71 and 125 as well as other references to pop culture and celebrities. I guess we’re required to mention Harry Potter in every magic story now? -.-

I personally don’t think this book needs a sequel. Although I enjoyed this book, I don’t feel invested enough to read the next book.

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librarianlirael's review against another edition

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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.

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chronicallybookish's review against another edition

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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?

Content Warnings

queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.0

4 🌟 CW: descriptions of blood, murder, blood ritual/ritual sacrifice of animals, hazing

"This is the skin your born in. Embrace it. Wield it. Use it. Change it at will. It is your instrument, but you are not defined by it--you define it, you can choose. That's what it means to be a Raven."

The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige was a nice pick me up from my last drag of a book. This was a witchy YA thriller that had plenty of red herrings and plot twists to keep me guessing.

We follow Scarlet and Vivi, as Scarlet vies for presidency of her sorority, and Vivi is looking forward to have 4 years in one place for once. This was a story of magic and sisterhood in more than just the Greek sense.

Scarlet isn't a fan of Vivi, despite Vivi being super powerful for someone who didn't know they were a witch. Of course this means they have to get along as sisters in the same sorority. It was nice seeing their relationship shift and grow and settle into something nice.

Then something from Scarlet's past comes back to haunt her, throwing the sorority into survival mode and test the bonds of sisterhood. It takes a whole coven to defeat a dark witch.

There were so many plot twists I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say much more. This was a fun read.

Content Warnings

achay91's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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