Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Raven King

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The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

32 reviews

trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Oh… that… that was the most beautiful thing ever

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melurmom's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This is by far one of my favorite books and I feel that I can safely say this is the best written book of the raven cycle. I have my own personal feelings about Maggie but she did a wonderful job challenging the characters and the reader in the final installment of this wondrous series. While, as with all the books, the magic is impressive but my favorite part has always been how well these characters capture the difficulty of growing up, navigating family and friends, and growing out of former images. I strongly, strongly recommend.

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grimmdark's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

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abbypeekreads's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

What a fun and intriguing ending to this amazing series! After an interesting (and, admittedly, a bit rocky) start, the last two installments of The Raven Cycle have been nothing short of incredible and intriguing. I truly did not expect to become so attached to these characters, but here I am, feeling reluctant to let go of them.

As I've said throughout the course of this series, I can't even begin to tell you the details of the paranormal stuff/magic system in this book. At first, I found the constant confusion and feelings of not being able to keep up a bit annoying. But after a while, I just started to settle in for the ride and the vibes, which made reading this series so much more enjoyable. Did I fully understand the ending of this particular book (and therefore the series)? Nope. Was I disappointed by that? Maybe a little (thus the four star rating). But it was so artfully written that I didn't seem to care all that much. In fact, I was still just as absorbed in the story as before.

The characters, as always, stole the show. Again, I grew unexpectedly attached to this little group of pals, particularly over the course of the last two books. But I particularly loved seeing their arcs come full circle, and how each of them came into their own as the story came to a close. It was beautiful and heart-warming and had me smiling from ear-to-ear.

Overall, The Raven Cycle is such a special series. It's kind of hard to explain what I mean by that, so all I can really say is read these books if you haven't all ready. I don't think you'll regret it.

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happilyeveralli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

AN EPIC FINALE! It's no secret that I've fallen in love with THE RAVEN CYCLE. THE RAVEN KING was a sometimes iffy finale to what I can say is my current favorite series of all time.

I loved that Henry has become a part of the group and that Noah was finally able to pass on after being tormented throughout the past two books and in general a tumultuous ghostly experience. I'm happy that Henry, Gansey, and Blue are hanging out. Happy that Adam is off to college. Happy that Ronan is free of Aglionby and is dreaming peacefully at his home which he loves. I hope Gansey and Blue work out, as well as Ronan and Adam. I hope Henry, Blue, and Gansey go to Venezuela. I wish nothing but happiness for them, as well as the women of Fox Way.

These characters have become so near and dear to me in the past few months. I don't think I'll forget the feeling of reading these books for the first time whilst listening to the most perfect playlists. Discussing them with other people who are lovers of the series. Even though I have criticisms about the representation in this series and the way it unfolded, in the end, Maggie Stiefvater created a series that captured me and pulled me out of a reading slump. THE RAVEN CYCLE I will never forget you.

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nannahnannah's review against another edition

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4.0

Out of every new release this year, I was looking forward to this one the most! I love Blue and the Raven Boys. But after reading the epilogue and finishing it all . . . I dunno. I'm so conflicted.

The highlight of the book is definitely the addition of the character Henry Cheng. I am gonna try not to spoil much, but this guy is impossible not to love. He's charming, magical, well-crafted, and everything the Raven Cycle stands for. Plus, his difficulty with words and expressing himself verbally is something that's so relatable and made me want to hug him and (even) Maggie Stiefvater for including him.

Every character in this book is fully fleshed out and as real and lovable as in every other book of the cycle. The book is really about them: Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, more so than the plot, to be honest. Therein lies the problem, I think. It focuses so much on those characters (except for maybe Noah, who could've had more page time) that the plot is lost, especially toward the last 1/4.

There's also so many characters that even among them all, some of them are lost and have endings that are a little bit unresolved. I wish things came together better for them, or that their arcs were better defined. But with just the sheer amount of people this cycle came to have, it's no wonder the climax and the last book ended up being a little messy.

I think in the end, I just wish the climax had more magic. And yeah, you could argue the entire climax was and involved magic. But what was left out was the magical feeling while reading and the magical feeling after putting the book down. I wasn't left with a contented feeling of closure or wonder. It was just "oh, okay, that's how it ends!" more than "WHOAAAA," which I was really hoping to have. Maybe I came in with too high of hopes, so I could've done this to myself. But there were just so many strands to come together, and I just don't think they did.

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