Title: The Raven King

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 11 hours 34 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: June 4, 2019

Read Finish Date: June 16, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads:
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 the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

My Review: This is the fourth and last book in The Raven Cycle series. My review of the first book, The Raven Boys is here, my review of the second book, The Dream Thieves, is here and my review of the third book, Blue Lily, Lily Blue is here.

Once again, I am giving a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Am I the only person on the planet who is not in love with this series? I mean, my overall opinion is WTF did I just read? There were things in this book that hit me like a mac truck, and that I did not understand, because there was NOTHING in the previous books to indicate that this would happen.

On the other hand, all the magic and stuff is fun (which is why I gave 3 instead of 2 stars), but at the end of the day, it just does not save the series.

And the dialogue. Don’t get me started. I am sure the author meant it to be “funny”, but sometimes I had to turn the audiobook off because the dialogue got so dumb, that I could not stand it anymore and needed a break. Especially Gwenllian — the author tries to portray her as “crazy” I guess, but her rants are just SO STUPID and annoying. She is my least favorite character.

And the ending, ugh the ending. I am left wondering, what was the point of this series? We spend FOUR books on a search for Glendower and then…pointless!! I won’t give anything away here other than that.

Maybe I am the only person in life who is not crying over the last page, but I am not ashamed to say that I am just glad this ride is over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 10 hours 3 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: May 27, 2019

Read Finish Date: June 4, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads:
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel.

My Review: This is the third book in The Raven Cycle series. My review of the first book, The Raven Boys is here, and my review of the second book, The Dream Thieves, is here. I am giving it a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Although this book was certainly better than the second book, I still overall find this series lacking as a whole. I like that the story gets back on track, and the pace is a bit faster — but at times the plot really drags on. Sometimes I wonder whether 4 books were really necessary.

It is really hard to write a review of this story because there are so many twists and turns to the plot, that sometimes I get a little lost. I wonder whether all of this detail is really necessary? What is this series actually about? Sometimes it all just seems so pointless.

Sure a few themes run through out, the search for Glendower, and that Blue will kill her true love with a kiss — but that is where it ends. Each book seems to be its own creature, and with only thin strings attaching each to the other. And some of the characters are just plain annoying, don’t add anything to the story, and the dialogue in places surrounding these characters are just plain stupid. I can’t really say much more without giving away the plot, so I won’t.

I am curious how this series will wrap up.

 

 

 

 

Title: The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 12 hours 45 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: May 19, 2019

Read Finish Date: May 27, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

My Review: This book has been on my TBR list since 2012. It is the 2nd book in the Raven Cycle Series. You can find the review of the 1st book here. I am not sure whether I really liked this book or not; what is for sure, is that I liked it less than the first book. I read a lot of review of people who L.O.V.E.D. this book, and I am personally scratching my head and wondering why. Did I miss something here? Why am I not getting that this book is like the best thing since sliced bread? I even read one review who basically said she liked how the author dumbed down the conversations between the characters so that it would resemble what a teenager would say. The review didn’t say it in those precise words, but that was the jist.

Here’s why this book, for me, was only “meh”:

A lot happens in the book, but nothing happens at the same time. It’s like being busy all day at work, but feeling at the end of the day that you have accomplished actually nothing. The Goodreads summary of the plot is a bit vague, but essentially this book is all about Ronan, and his ability to pull things from his dreams.

Apparently, there is another boy in town who can do the same thing, and there are long and boring sequences of the book where Ronan and this boy have what can only be described as pissing contests to see who can pull things out of the dream better. There is also some weird platonic love triangle going on between Blue, Gansey, and Adam. A character is introduced, the Gray man, who goes around town telling people he is a “hit man”. And everyone goes, oh, okay, like that’s normal or something. I mean, huh? No one recoils in fear, no one calls the cops, and Blue’s Mom even starts dating him…

After nearly 13 hours of listening, only the last few minutes actually progresses the story, which I can’t tell you about because it will ruin the story. Sigh.

Lastly, I really hated the audiobook narration. Most of the book it was okay, but the narrator’s impression of a character who was supposed to be Eastern European sounded like he was some Italian thug straight outta the Sopranos. It’s like, if you take the time to change your accent for ONLY ONE character in the WHOLE book, make sure you do it correctly!

What I did like:

Okay, so maybe there was some character development happening (but did we need 13 hours of it?). I will wait and see how this development brings the plot forward in the 3rd book, which I am reading now.

Stay tuned for my next review of this series!

 

 

 

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 11 hours 8 mins

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: April 11, 2019

Read Finish Date: April 18, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

My Review: I first read this book back in 2012, when the other books in the series had not yet been published (there are 4 all together). I had put the second book on my TBR list on Goodreads, and there is where it languished for 7 years. In an effort to clean up my TBR list, I wanted to finally read the second book, but since I hadn’t read the first book in a while, I read it again.

Since I didn’t really remember the book from my 2012 reading, it was like reading the book again for the first time. My overall impression of the book was very positive, and I would recommend the book for the following reasons:

Interesting and Addictive Plot. Even though this is a Young Adult novel, as an adult I enjoyed it immensely. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I will just say that the plot was rich with Welsh mythology, history, ghosts, ley lines, psychics and just every amount of weird and crazy that you can think of. It really kept me engaged in the story, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next. At times though, the plot was a bit difficult to follow, as there were always several moving pieces–but it all came together in the end and there were several plot twists which I was not expecting, which made the plot even more interesting.

My only criticism is that after the “big finale” (you will just have to read the book to find out what I mean), the book has a sort of “Epilogue” (although it is just another chapter). There is a gap in time between the “big finale” and when the book ends, which isn’t explained very well. The book was so well paced throughout, and then all of a sudden BAM! a very fast ending, as though the author didn’t want to take the time to really explain what had happened. Maybe it will be fleshed out in the next book?

Overall, I cannot wait to see what happens in the 2nd book!

Well Developed and Likeable Characters. The characters are very well-developed, and the characteristics of each really support the story line. For example, Blue’s mother, and her mother’s friends are all psychic or mystical in some way, and each of their powers, including Blue’s, is important to the plot. The characters are simple on the surface, but somehow complicated underneath the surface–the author reveals these depths through out the story, and with each new reveal you become more invested in the story.

If you like paranormal / fantasy books, this book is definitely for you, and I would highly recommend it!