Review: The Raven King – Maggie Stiefvater

Posted 8 June, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 30 Comments

Review: The Raven King – Maggie StiefvaterThe Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #4
Published by Scholastic Press on 26 April 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 439
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
5 Stars

Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

The Raven King made me want The Raven Cycle to be circular, never-ending, always continuing, the mystery always just around the next corner…

Review - (un)Conventional Bookviews

The Raven King is a beautiful, emotional culmination of Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle series. Most things truly do come full circle, the characters continue to grow and evolve, and the overall plot makes complete sense. And I’m wondering, weeks after I finished reading, if I really have to make sense with my review? Or can I just mostly squee and say that everyone in the world who enjoys reading needs to read The Raven Cycle? Can I just say that Stiefvater is a literary genius? One who knows how to weave words together so that they make a flawless story, showing off a shiny plot, sharing characters that we should all get to know?

I had the pleasure of listening to Stiefvater talk about her audiobooks when I attended BEA in Chicago, and what she shared about The Raven Cycle in general, and The Raven King in particular made me promptly buy all four audiobooks as soon as I left the conference room. This story is amazing, set in a place that we can all recognize, with characters that make sense and seem realistic – even if they exist in a fantasy world, and they have strange powers and capabilities. In the audiobooks, all the music included is Stiefvater’s music. How awesome is that? I really, really need more hours in the day, so that I can listen to these beauties now that I have read, fallen in love with, and been emotionally drained (both happy and sad) by them.

I’m not going to share a single detail from The Raven King, because if you haven’t read it yet, I want you to be able to enter this story with completely new, innocent eyes, where you can walk alongside Blue and those Raven Boys and make each discovery at the same time they do. And to squee, be afraid, laugh and cry with them – and possibly with all other readers, too – as you go on this last leg of the fantastical journey Stiefvater has created for her own – and all her readers’ – great pleasure.

Fave Quotes - (un)Conventional Bookviews

His mother’s father had been a diplomat, and architect of fortunes, his father’s father had been an architect, a diplomat of styles.

Onward and upward. Had there ever been any doubt? Yes, actually, always, ever, because the Ganseys did not demand favors. Often they didn’t even ask. They did unto others and silently hoped others would rise to do it unto them.

He breathed in. He breathed out. He forgot how to exhale when he wasn’t at home. 

He didn’t know if it had been real. Real was becoming a less useful term all the time. 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,077 other subscribers

30 responses to “Review: The Raven King – Maggie Stiefvater

  1. I never thought that I would say this about someone’s review, but I am so glad that you didn’t share any details about the story. I won The Raven King on audio in a giveaway and that was the very thing that finally pushed me ovdr the edge to committing to read/listen to this series. I’m so ready too because reviews like yours have me giddy for what I hope are some amazing stories.

  2. So so true about the ‘squee’ thing-I find my most difficult reviews are ones where I just want to say. ‘Just read it. Honestly. Just read it. It’s all amazing!’;)

    • Ha! I think that it’s sometimes actually easier to explain why I didn’t like a book than why I did like it. However, with series instalments – like this one being the last – I really do try to not spoil anything, even for those who haven’t started reading it yet.

  3. Oh man, I also wish that The Raven Cycle was circular and never ending. I finished this like a month ago and I’m still not over the perfection, the FEELS, all of it ♥ Maggie Stiefvater totally IS a literary genius though…and now you’ve guaranteed that I’ll be checking out the series on audio too XD

  4. I completely agree that Stiefvater is a literary genius! And I’m so thrilled the series’ ending made you so happy, Lexxie. I’m going to make time for it, both in book and audio format. I promise!
    Happy Wednesday! I have no Internet at home right now so I’m on my phone while out with the kids. 🙂 Fingers crossed the Internet is back when we get home. *BIG HUGS*

  5. I did skip over your review because I haven’t read this book yet. I want to read it so badly, but at the same time I’m TERRIFIED! I don’t know if I can take the emotion. Glad you loved it!

  6. That’s awesome the music included in the audiobook is her own music. I haven’t read any of this author her books, but everyone seems to love this series, so I might pick it up once. i also have to give audiobooks a try once as I haven’t listened to an audiobook so far. It sounds like this last book made you go through a lot of emotions. It’s impressive when an author can make you feel so much. Great review!

    • I know, right? I can’t wait to start listening! If there is a specific audiobook you’d like to listen to, it’s possible for someone who is already an audible client to give you the gift of an audiobook, and the first book is free – both for you and me!
      Stiefvater is always able to make me feel a lot 🙂

  7. The cover of this book is so pretty. I can’t wait to read this, I love Maggie Stiefvater’s book. Great review!

  8. Ok, ok, I can see how much you’ve enjoyed this series, so I need to pick it up. I actually have the first book! I just need to make time to get into it!

  9. This series has been on my TBR for a while now. I’m not a fan of other sounds in audiobooks. I prefer just a narrator and the different voices that they make. I don’t like any additional sounds, music, voice alterations (change the sounds for phone calls, etc). I just prefer a good narrator. That being said, it is really neat that the music they use is her music. I do plan to get to this series soon. So many books, so little time.

    • I haven’t really listened to many audios where there was music involved, but depending on how it’s done, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. And this is just one of the reasons why I’m so excited about listening to The Raven Cycle after having read it 🙂

  10. Lekeisha
    Twitter:

    I started TRB, and haven’t picked it back up yet. It’s not that I don’t like it, I have just been not feeling like reading anything; which I haven’t done in four days. Hopefully, I will pick it up and finish it soon.

  11. This is a lovely review, Lexxie!

    I haven’t reviewed The Raven King yet, because I would have no idea what to say. It was such a perfect conclusion to The Raven Cycle, and I am so, so happy with everything that happened. This series is so incredibly beautiful, and I will never stop recommending it.

    I am so envious that you got to see Stiefvater! That is the dream. I pray that she comes to Australia one day, so that I can tell her how amazing TRC is, and how much it means to me.

    Great review, Lexxie. I think keeping the details out of it keeps the book special for anyone who hasn’t read it yet!

Thanks for commenting - chat soon!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.