Review: The Raven King

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This just about sums it up – how this feels to me:

He was a book, and he was holding his final pages, and he wanted to get to the end to find out how it went, and he didn't want it to be over.

I have seen a lot of reviews for The Raven King and many of them are disappointed fans – I didn’t get that feeling. Maybe it was because I read the series from start to finish in a matter of days so that all of it was so very fresh in my mind when I got to the final instalment. Maybe it was also because I didn’t expect the demon to be that overtly threatening.

C’mon, let’s face it, Piper Greenmantle was something terrifying in her own right before the Unmaker decided to favour her, she was probably one of the antagonists that seemed the most despicable in my books. LOOK WHO SPAWNED HER!!!!! The man who kidnapped poor Henry Cheng (I have a terrible soft spot for him now, you have no idea!) when he was an itty bitty child because of his robo bee. Niall Lynch, you asshole! *coughs*

So, let’s get to this then…

Adam & Ronan

Adam smiled cheerily. Ronan would start wars and burn cities for that true smile, elastic and amiable.

Oh no, no, NO! That’s not all!!!!

When Adam kissed him, it was every mile per hour Ronan had ever gone over the speed limit. It was every window-down, goose-bumps-on-skin, teeth-chattering-cold night drive. It was Adam’s ribs under Ronan’s hands and Adam’s mouth on his mouth, again and again and again. It was stubble on his lips and Ronan having to stop, to get his breath, to restart his heart. They were both hungry animals, but Adam had been starving for far longer.

I do... I just have a lot of feelings! So, soooooooo many feelings!!!! This is what I was waiting for - this confirmation of love from Adam and Ronan, this confirmation of need and attraction. We knew Ronan loved Adam for so long, to know the state of how deeply he felt:

His feelings for Adam were an oil spill; he'd let them overflow and now there wasn't a damn place in the ocean that wouldn't catch fire if he dropped a match.

HE BURNS FOR HIM!!!! That my friends is so damn fiery, passionate lust! And yes, it is a FOREVER love and that is all that I ever wanted for them!

Blue & Gansey

There’s going to be life after he dies. You have to think about what you’re going to do after.

Life after... Life after he dies... Sometimes word choices are excellent, and Maggie Stiefvater does an amazing job of choosing her words throughout this series. Blue and Gansey are fated since the first time we see his spirit on the Corpse Road, but they aren't just fated for her to watch him die and to bring about his end with a kiss. Oh no, they are fated for more - so much more!



This one is it - this one ends with all the feelings, it ends with all the hopes and it leaves a door open that this may not be the very last time that we see Gansey and his magicians. That's what I'm hoping! Somewhere down the road, there's something else that ties them all together again. That is a day that I will dream of...


View all my reviews