The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater: Review

4 stars

A flawed finale that ultimately left me rather unsatisfied, but was well worth the read.

Firstly, the cover was gorgeous. It summed up the magic and the dreaminess of a fantasy world very much entwined with the mystique of nature. We have the motif of ravens, which of course features prominently in a novel named 'The Raven King', and a beautifully ethereal colour scheme. And best of all, a really cool stag. Because who could say no to that?

Now we've got my drooling over the aesthetics out of the way, let's talk about the actual book.Things are taking a dark turn after Persephone's death, and the happy whimsy of previous instalments is mostly absent from 'The Raven King' (apart from some notable exceptions). A demon is amok, determined to destroy Cabeswater. Time is running out for the Raven Boys and the women of 300 Fox Way. Glendower must be found soon, or they may all pay the price.

The writing was beautifully-crafted, as one would expect from Stiefvater by now. The sickness invading Cabeswater was fantastically-evoked by her description of the black ooze poisoning the trees. At times her writing was magical and fairy-tale like, similar to Laini Taylor's style, but this didn't occur as often as in previous instalments. 'The Raven King' is more plot-driven than the other novels, and consequently the writing is written in a more abrupt, frenzied style occasionally punctuated with intensely lyrical interludes.

As I've always said, what I love most about these books is the characters. And as befitting a final novel in a series, 'The Raven King' is the crystallisation of their growth into something more, as Blue would say. Adam's evolution into a man at ease with his past, his present, and his future is one of the high-points of the series. He gradually overcomes his bitterness, his fears, and his insecurities, transforming into someone I'd want to be friends with. Gansey doesn't showcase significant development as he always had been a strong character, but the reader was given more insight into his vulnerability (the fear of his personal harbinger of death, bees). Ronan learns to accept happiness, by creating dreams rather than destroying reality. These characters are real and loveable. Maggie Stiefvater has created some of the best characterisation I've read in all my years as a reader. What did disappoint me, however, was the lack of Noah. I love Noah's character and yearned to see more of him.

The plot was where the novel fell down for me. As the novel neared the end, certain events seemed anticlimactic. The conclusion felt rushed and abrupt. I don't normally mind loose ends in a novel, but this was just too messy for me. Everything was confused and disjointed as if I'd been tossed from the whirling vortex of a tornado, rather than having simply emerged from a surreal dream. Haruki Murakami's novels have the same dream-like quality to them as Stiefvater's, and the same inconclusiveness. But the difference is Murakami gently walks you in and out of his dream-world, allowing you to come to terms with the fact you don't understand all that went on: whereas Stiefvater promptly evicts you just when you're getting somewhere.

Overall, I love The Raven Cycle as a series, and really enjoyed The Raven King as I did with all the other instalments. But I was frustrated by the messiness of the ending, which I believe could have been executed slightly better if a little more resolution had been sprinkled in.

SPOILERS- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED

On to the juicy stuff! (A.K.A disjointed thoughts on Pynch and the warping of time)

Adam and Ronan. How could I not start off with their romance? The best part of the book was their romance finally coming to fruition. As Cabeswater's dual care-takers, they have to rely on each other to survive the evil infecting it. Throughout the series they have bonded through the enormity of the tasks they have undertaken together, and 'The Raven King' consolidates the intimacy of their relationship. It was wonderful to behold.

As I said in my review for 'Blue Lily, Lily Blue', I struggle to get my mind round time-bending concepts. And this book was one big timey-wimey stir fry. Noah's role in Gansey's death and rebirth was puzzling, but I'm glad that Noah was the one to have helped Gansey along all these years.

The abrupt gap between Blue telling Gansey to wake up after they attempt to bring him back to life, and the epilogue, did not work for me. We learn nothing of the fate of The Gray Man, of Maura and Calla, of Noah and what the others think about Noah being lost forever. We are left not knowing whether Laumonier is still out hunting for strange supernatural artefacts.We just switch to Blue, Gansey and Henry proverbially walking off into the sunset. Although I appreciated the happy image, I needed a little more of a narrative bridge between Gansey's rebirth and the trio going off travelling in their gap year.

I did love the very end of the novel, however. The final line was perfect.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater: Review

4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Marathoning this series has been so much fun. I desperately need to read The Raven King but my Amazon order is taking a long time to dispatch... Ahh!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES! And warnings for incoherent rambling. 

I grew to like Adam once again in this book. Finally. He started off so well in the first half of The Raven Boys and then it all went downhill from there; I could barely tolerate him. Thank goodness he has improved in 'BlueLily, Lily Blue': his lessons with Persephone have helped refine his character. Plus, his interactions with Ronan are giving me hope for a happy ending for them (a fully-fledged Pynch romance would definitely make my week). 

Jesse Dittley, a new character with a minor part in the novel, also warmed my heart. He speaks entirely in capital letters, a stylistic reference to his gigantic height, and this was surprisingly endearing. The subtle humour and camaraderie between the characters is one of my favourite aspects of the series: little happy interludes between the action, such as The Gray Man's almost paternal relationship with Blue, Gansey's late-night phone calls with Blue, and Noah and Blue's ever-adorable friendship, are just as entertaining as the clan's magical adventures. The alternating chaos and harmony at 300 Fox Way when the worlds of Blue's psychic family and The Raven Boys collide is so much fun to read about. For example, Calla's yelling at Gansey: "GO BUY US PIZZA. WITH EXTRA CHEESE, RICHIE RICH.", was a lovely, silly glimpse of normality in the midst of all these wild escapades. 

The mystery in this novel is still killing me and my brain feels like mush, but I don't mind as the fantasy world is, as always, wonderfully-encapsulated by Stiefvater's prose. The fluidity of time is such a confusing concept for me; all the discussions in this book about the collisions between past, present and future were intriguing but also too elusive for my tired mind. It reminded me of that enigmatic quote from 'True Detective' when Rust Cohle says; 'Time is a flat circle'; as in, these ideas about time are hard to wrap my head around. 

Overall, this is a great series that I am both excited, and scared, to finish

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater: Review

4 stars

I preferred the first book, but I still really enjoyed this instalment, despite some pacing issues and my frustration with the repetitive story arc of Adam's character (although later on in the novel, Adam grew somewhat interesting).  'The Dream Thieves' primarily explores Ronan's story, which I greatly appreciated as Ronan is possibly my favourite character in the series. He's just awesome. It also introduces a new character to the table, the enigmatic Gray Man, who I wasn't fully invested in unfortunately, although I really liked the way Stiefvater described his off-kilter yet pragmatic thoughts. Although the mystery was frustratingly vague at times, I appreciated how gradually some magical elements came together to shine a light on what exactly is going on this weird paranormal world. Though of course many questions are left unanswered. Beautifully written as always, and I can't wait to read the 3rd book and see these wonderful characters again

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Review

4 stars

Ancient myths? Ley lines and ghosts? Talking trees? I'm in!

'The Raven Boys' is one big adventure. It reads in places like a mystical, sinister variation of The Goonies. There's a friendship group (the titular Raven Boys), whose bonds with each other far surpass the familial; a psychic's daughter whose destiny becomes ensnared with this enigmatic troop; and an all-consuming quest to wake the revenant of a long-dead Welsh king. It's all about the essence of magic itself.

Gansey, the leader of the Raven Boys group, has searched all over the world for Glendower (the awesome moniker of this Welsh king). He frequently goes on expeditions with his dowsing stick, dreaming of unearthing something magical. When Blue, the psychic's daughter, sees Gansey's spirit one night on the Corpse Road where ghosts of the soon-to-be-dead congregate, she knows that he will be dead within the year. Their fates are inexplicably linked, but she does not yet know the dangers of this entanglement.

The characters were beautifully rendered in this novel. Gansey, Ronan, Noah and Adam, the four Raven Boys who work together to turn Gansey's dream into reality, are the focal point of this first instalment. Their love for each-other was heart-warming, and I felt like I got to know them as if they were real people.

Although very little is revealed about the fantasy world in this novel, what we do see is wonderfully-crafted. Stiefvater uses the ominous, fae beauty of the forest to conjure up a truly atmospheric vision of the paranormal. At times the gorgeous imagery ("the air moved slowly around his body, somehow tangible, gold flaked, every dust mote a lantern") of the woods reminded me of the eerie Godswood in George RR Martins 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series. Trees, to me, have a looming aura of innate power and magic, therefore I enjoy this type of utilisation of nature in fantasy. The whole section at Cabeswater was amazing in my eyes, primarily because of the spooky atmosphere!

My issues with the book were thankfully very small. Unfortunately, the fantastic development of the Raven Boys eclipsed the characterisation of the other weird and wonderful people populating the novel. Most problematic of all, I did not feel very connected to Blue. Furthermore, the glimmers of romance between Blue and Adam grated on me. Yet these 'flaws' did not significantly detract from my enjoyment of the novel.

This foray of mine back into the YA genre after a couple of years out of the loop is proving to be very fruitful. After reading the wonderful Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor, I was worried that all other YA books would seem lacklustre in comparison. However, The Raven Cycle, while not currently quite at the level of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, is shaping up to be very promising.