The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4)

                Hello happy readers!  My first review of 2017 was Blue Lily, Lily Blue where I admit I had almost skipped over it and went right for the finale, The Raven King but had to back track a bit.  Now a little while later I am happy to finally get to post that review of the fourth and final book in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven King.  Spoilers ahead for the series thus far, duh. 

Rating:  5 Ravens

                So I dove into this audiobook ready and nervous.  I wanted to see where all these books and stories and events would lead my friends.  Because they had become my friends through it all.  I cared for each of them deeply and I worried if what I knew from book one was to truly come to pass or if there was a way around it.  I had hope but I also had this leery sense not everyone would make it out happy and unscathed.  So I listened carefully and dreamed this world as Stiefvater painted it before my eyes.

                I loved this book.  This series.  Basically everything I said last week about Blue Lily, Lily Blue here is still true.  The characters are a real strong point.  You are so deeply invested in your core you feel everything with them.  I loved getting to know more of Henry Cheng, he was just entertaining and the way he talked and thought.  So very much like one of our group.  Artemus, Blue's daddy, is interesting to say the least.  He's a bit off.  I am glad though that Maura didn't go searching for him to be with him, I much prefer her assassin boyfriend but still it was nice for Blue to get to meet him and for her mother to have a sense of closure.  Plus Orphan Girl whom we’ve seen bits and pieces of since book two   We also got to see more of the world of Ronan's father and in part more of Declan. 

                Relationships.  That is how I would describe this book.  Magical.  Unique. Amazing.  Beautiful.  So many things encompass this series but I feel it was the relationships.  Between friends.  Between lovers.  Between family.  Between you and your past.  Between you and a place, it all comes down to relationships.  I could talk about the group: Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam for hours and never fully grasp the depth of it.  It just is.  Now I was sad to see less of Noah with him fading away but he was still there in their hearts.  Still no matter the romantic relationships of our core they were best friends and all loved one another.  That was beautiful.  Blue and Gansey just meat your heart even they were nearly outshined.

                The world of this book is so well balanced between reality and magical that you feel like they are real.  That 300 Fox Way really exists full of astounding women with abilities and sharp wits.  That you could swing by Monmouth Manufacturing and see Gansey’s model of the town and the mess that is their rooms.  The Barns full of sleeping dream objects in a variety of different shapes, sizes, and purposes.  And most of all Cabeswater, where time is lost and thoughts can be made real.  It was both beautiful and scary at times but I'd still give anything to visit.

                These books were really something different.  They don’t try to be something they aren’t.  They just are.  I can honestly say I can't think of another story similar to these.  Things are dark in points.  Death and possession on the rise.  It just breaks your heart each time though to see these character suffering.  To see the turmoil in those being possessed, forced to do things against their core self to hurt those they love and those attacked forced to defend themselves and risk hurting someone they care about.  The feels!  And the demon trying to unmake Cabeswater, to unmake our dreamer Ronan Lynch.  So many feels were happening in this book I'm thankful for the audiobook that I could listen through the shock and tears. 

                The Raven King was a conclusion. The journey started back when Blue first saw Gansey on the corpse road then met her raven boys searching for their sleeping king.  The story is wrapped up.  It was fitting.  The journeys end fit.  I loved how it wrapped up.  At first it took  me a moment and I rewound some to make sure I had heard it properly but once I was sure I was correct and took a second to think on it, it did fit.  The story is not what I expected but still all that I hoped for.  It was beautiful and I'm happy to have been on the journey. 

                Overall I have to say I loved this book and this series as a whole.  I'd love to hear what everyone thought about it especially the end.  So many feels.  I cried at several points throughout.  Just so many things happening and concluding.  I love this world and I'm sorry to see it end no matter how wonderfully and faithful it was to the journey. 

                Until next time..

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Rave Cycle #3)

                Hello happy readers to the first review of 2017.  This will come as no shock I’m still catching up on reviews of books I did read last year.  The first is BlueLily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater the third book in The Raven Cycle.  First I went to start my review of The Raven King and series as a whole when I realized I went straight from book three to the final book and never got to review it.  How this happened is beyond me but still.  I finished the whole series last year and I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the last book and series as a whole but first we have to catch up.  My previous reviews for The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves.  This will contain spoilers for the first two books in case you’re new to this.  Also I listed to this on audiobook.

Rating:  5 Stars

                Blue has more than she has in most of her life in the form of friends and a place with them where she feels she belongs.  She among her Raven Boys the last place she ever would have expected.  Still even though her mother disappeared on a personal quest, leaving her new assassin boyfriend Mr. Grey with them Blue has much and is scared to lose it.  We have still have Gansey’s fate she saw back in book one and her own curse hanging over her head.  Ronan has this huge ability to dream things into life, and we are still searching for Glendower our Welsh King hoping he will grant a wish. 

                Blue Lily, Lily Blue had so much happen in it yet it still seemed to have a bit of a slower pace and focus more on characters which I enjoyed.  There was so much character work in these and I really enjoyed it because the characters of this story are what really drive it home.  Blue and her Raven Boys.  There is a quote in the book which I have seen many mention as a favorite from the book and for good reason, it just fits.

“But what she didn’t realize about Blue and her boys was that they were all in love with one another.  She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another, analyzing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they would be with one another.”

                The story is so otherworldly and complex and yet some simple and true that it’s hard to really explain it to anyone.  At least that seems to be how things go with me.  Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam all must go back to school adding a sense of contrast to their summer spending all day and night looking for the sleeping king.  Now they have to focus on mundane tasks like school as well. 

                Blue is still Blue.  She is the character I fell in love with in book one.  She has this quality about her that makes you want to hug her and be her friend.  Even more so now as Mara is missing and she has to deal with many other emotional issues from boys, deaths, evil bad guys, supernatural evils and so much more.  A girl could really use her mom.  Still the rest of the ladies in 300 Fox Way really help balance the story.  Each one is unique and has a personality more than just to help the story along. 

                Gansey is much the same as the guy we got to know.  He has a good heart and soul.  He’s determined to find his sleeping king.  He doesn’t always understand how others take his words but he is never cruel. You grow to love him even more which only breaks your heart.  The romance developing between him and Blue, their moments of togetherness.  They are so sweet and adorable you want nothing more than to have them kiss but you also are terrified of that same thing.  It wrings you heart all up for sure.  Plus with that we also get to see more of Gansey and his panic attacks, more of who he is which is always desired.

                Noah is fading and it breaks your heart to see him sometimes.  Still his presence is always welcome and wanted.

                Ronan is….well he’s Ronan.  I don’t know how else to describe him.  He is who he is and after learning about him in the last book and seeing things from his perspective, seeing him again from others eyes really shows more.  He has so much more to him than being angry and jerk like.  He is there for his friends no matter what and he will take on any punishment or pain to protect those whom he deems friend.  So much depth to him, I mean he has been through so much.

                Adam was a character who in the last book kind of had me wavering on him as he was so quick to anger and his pride was too strong that it hurt him in many cases. But in Blue Lily, Lily Blue he really came back around for me.  He seemed to open up more as a character and grew so much.  He also started to see past some of his issues which I loved him for.  The majority of the scenes he shares with Ronan and the combination of them really works on balancing one another off.

                We also had some other great characters in this we got to see Greenmantle and Piper who were flat out insane.  I wanted to hate them because they were just so down right bad but they were so damn funny about it I kind of wanted to see more of what they would do next.  The back and forth between them was just on point.  Plus Mallory came for a visit with Dog which not only gave a view into the Gansey of the past but gave a more contrast of ideas.  Jessie Dittley and his curse and constant yell speak to Gwenllian whom is crazy and also due to the audiobook why I keep repeating “Blue Lily, Lily Blue” in a sing-song voice.  To all the women at 200 Fox Way.  Cabeswater is a character in and of itself between working through Adam and learning more and more of what it is and what it can do it just draws you in as a real living thing. 

                The story continues to draw you into the world.  You want to keep on the search for the sleeping king but motivations and desires change at every turn.  Why you searched in the start and why you still search.  So many subplots all working together for a much larger picture.  The audiobook was amazing for me in that it allowed me to simply close my eyes, when I wasn’t driving that is, and just envision it.  Let Stiefvater’s words flow over and into me in that magical way like I was there with Blue and the Raven Boys.  So many things happened throughout and the deaths and twists came as a shock and brought a tear to my eye even while I felt conflicted by some.  I was eager to dive right into book four when I finished and that is just what I did.  I highly recommend. 

                Until next time…

~Waiting on Wednesday~ The Raven King

                “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.  Basically books that are not yet out that we are dying to get our hands on.  This week’s pick is:

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Out:  4/26

Book 4 (final)

From Goodreads:

                The fourth and final installment in the spellbinding series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love’s death.  She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in a strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

In a starred review for Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Kirkus Reviews declared:  “Expect this truly one-of-a-kind series to come to a thundering close.”

Why I’m Waiting:

                 Okay so I’m behind on this series.  I LOVE her writing style and the beauty of it all and the story of the first book was intriguing for sure.  When book two came out I was in between jobs and didn’t have the money to spend on it right away.  Once I got settled again and I was able to purchase it I decided to wait until closer to book threes release so I could read them together.  Then I found it was a four book series not a trilogy and given I had other books to read and really wanted to re-read the first book as well I decided to wait and read them with a friend of mine and with our Goodreads group, Perpetual YA Bookworms, the month of the release and read all four books back to back!  It seems like the best idea then there is no waiting and everything will be super fresh between books!  Plus come on these covers are awesome!  I’m also still waiting to get the tarot cards Maggie made with the series, so beautiful!

                What are you waiting on?  Tell me below what you think of this title and leave a link to your WoW as well so I can check it out!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

My first real decorating job!
Pretty proud of it.

I got my signed copy of The Raven Boys for Christmas from a wonderful friend, and sadly I only just finished it (more like last week but I had a family event and a Bachelorette party to bake for).  Though part of the delay for reading was purposeful, me trying to hold off and have less time to wait for Book 2.  I made it what 4 months, that's it, but hey that's 4 less months to wait.

I'm a big fan of Maggie's other works so I was of course ready to check this one out, on past history alone but seeing the beautiful cover and the summary sealed the deal. 

"There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said.  "Either you're his true love…or you killed him."

Interested yet?  Well this is made even more interesting because for as long as Blue can remember she has been warned that when she kisses her true love she will cause his death.  Talk about killer cooties!  Still when Blue meets Gansy and his crew of 3, Adam, Ronan, and Noah all four of them, Blue and the Raven Boys, so called because they are students at the school for the local boys private school Aglionby.  This also makes them off limits, not just because of her rule, no boys, but especially no Raven Boys.  But meeting him, after she saw him on the Corpse road, she is drawn to him.

Despite her rule, Blue joins the boys in their quest to uncover something of myth and legend.  A non-seer in a family full of them, she feels left out but strangely perfectly at home with the boys on this adventure. 

                One of my favorite parts of this book as with all of Stiefvater's books, are the complex characters.  Each one has a different personality and motivation for everything not just moving the store along, you feel like they are doing things for a deep purpose.  Gansy, the leader of the pack, beyond rich, privileged, good looking, devoted friends, he has the perfect life yet he is restless always seeking something that to most is impossible.  Then you have Adam, a poor kid from town attending on scholarship working his behind off both in school and work and trying to help in the search, even as he struggles with a rough life and some resentment issues of those with money.  Ronan, is also a rich kid who goes back and forth from anger to despair who has dealt with more than his fair share of darkness.  Last but not least, it Noah, the quite one who doesn't say as much but somehow sees more than anyone else and holds them all together and so much more.

The book centers around their search for the sleeping King and what finding him would mean for each of them.  I don't want to give anything away, but this book is full of mystery, adventure, suspense, magic, and just the right amount of creep thrown in with amazingly complex characters and plotline.  Pick it up and check it out, though be warned you must wait till September for book 2!  I give this book 5 Ravens!

The Raven Boys­ Trailer

                So this is just a quick post about a book trailer.  Now this isn’t just any book trailer to get excited about but this book comes out the week after my birthday.  Okay so that’s not a real reason every one should excited I just happen to be a bit partial to that one.  This book is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.  Yep and not only does she write awesome books, she is also an artist and musician.  Talk about multi talented.  Maggie uses her other talents to create an awesome trailer for this book and haunting music to accompany it.  So I implore you to check it out.