The Raven Cycle series REVIEW

MY REVIEW: (spoiler-free!)

I finished The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater!!! *cheering and applause*

My best book-loving friend, Angel from https://invisibleinink.wordpress.com/ , and I buddy-read the entire four-book series over the past month and a half, which was SUPER FUN! I really enjoyed discussing each book and all the characters with her!!

When I’m binge-reading an entire series at one time, I’m not a huge fan of doing separate reviews for each book, because I just don’t have that kind of time, and I’d rather talk about the series as a whole! But, I will be going over my thoughts for each book separately in this review.

Anyways, I LOVED THIS SERIES. It’s definitely on my list of favorite series now. The characters were SO lovable and unforgettable, and the writing… oh my gosh THE WRITING. It was just gorgeous.

I wish I could write like Maggie Stiefvater. Her writing is just so lyrical and magical. I wrote down so many sentences in my writing journal, because they’re just all crafted so beautifully. I can’t even describe it – her writing was very show instead of tell, which I love. And she hid a lot of things about the world from us readers, so that we had to uncover it as the story progressed, which was so interesting to read. Of all the things about the series, the writing has to be my favorite thing.

Overall, I give this series as a whole 4.5/5 stars. I loved it as you can see! And now for each book:

Book 1: The Raven Boys

I actually only rated this first book 3.5/5. I really liked it, but it definitely wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be, and I wasn’t as engaged in the story as I would have liked to be. I was already in love with the characters, that’s for sure. But the plot was just a little too mysterious for me, and I wasn’t completely loving it yet. So the series didn’t start off very strong, in my opinion.

This first book follows Blue Sargent, who lives in 300 Fox Way with a bunch of psychics, including her mother. She’s always been told that if she kisses her true love, he’ll die. She ends up seeing the spirit of a rich boy named Gansey and eventually gets caught up with him and his three friends – Ronan, Adam, and Noah. They are all on a search for a dead Welsh king, and Blue joins them as they find a magical forest and discover lots of mysterious things about their town of Henrietta.

Like I said, I fell in love with the eccentric characters from the very first book. Blue is so quirky and independent and dresses in odd clothing without any care of what others think about her. She’s honestly such an inspiration. Gansey is so caring and devoted to his search for the king. Ronan is fierce and hard, but on the inside, he has a warm heart. Ronan is my favorite character, and I love him with all my heart. Adam is the smart, responsible one of the group, and he undergoes a major character arc throughout the entire series. Noah is just the sweetest and I love him, even if he doesn’t make as many appearances as I would like!

Book 2: The Dream Thieves

5/5 stars. LOVED THIS ONE. It was a million times better than the first one.

This book is actually focused more on Ronan and his ability to pull things out of his dreams. I loved reading more about Ronan and the Barns. It was amazing.

The plot in this one is SO much better, and I was on the edge of my seat (not literally of course) the entire time while reading it!! We also get introduced to a new character named Mr. Gray, who I freaking LOVE. We also get a lot more magic in this book, which was so cool. The magic is not like any other normal fantasy…it’s very beautiful and gentle magic (if that makes any sense lol), and I love it.

I also wanted to mention how much I love 300 Fox Way, the weird, disorganized house of psychics that Blue lives in. I love Maura, Blue’s mother, and her friends, Calla and Persephone. They are some of the most unique characters I’ve ever read about. Another of my favorite things about this series was reading about the psychics and their ways.

Can I just live at 300 Fox Way, please?

Book 3: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Jesse Dittley is the best, ok? He’s my favorite really tall man and I just want to cry when I think about his sweet relationship with Blue.

I rated this book 4/5. It was really good but not as good as The Dream Thieves. This one had a really interesting plot that was a lot more complex and darker than the previous two. It really delved deeper into the magic system and Cabeswater, specifically Adam’s role in this. I also fell more in love with Gansey and Blue and their relationship in this one!! I just love all the characters SO MUCH.

It’s also been really cool to read about the history and legends behind King Glendower. Did anyone else feel like studying Welsh history after reading this series?

Book 4: The Raven King

This has to be my favorite book in the series. 5/5. I freaking loved it.

The end destroyed me. I was sobbing. But I loved every minute of the book. It was exciting and magical, and the plot got darker and more complex.

Although it made me sob, the ending was perfect. Just perfect. There are very few other series that ended as perfectly and as satisfyingly as this one, which was just what I needed after crying all those tears.

*******

I’m so sad to see all my favorite characters go. I fell in love with Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, Henry, Mr. Gray, Maura, Calla, and Noah. They have captured my heart and soul. I think that’s the markings of a good book – when you finish and you know that you’ll remember those characters forever. I also know that I’ll remember Maggie’s writing forever. Did I mention how much I loved her writing?

ALSO, there have been mentions of Maggie writing a trilogy about Ronan. All about Ronan!!! I’m totally here for that, so it had BETTER happen!!

Have you read this series? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Thanks for reading my bookish babblings (I feel like I was really babbling this time and my thoughts were kind of everywhere in this review, so I’m sorry about that) and keep reading!!

~Rebekah