Pages:
438
Publisher:
Scholastic
Release
Date: 26th
April 2016
Edition:
UK paperback,
review copy
Other
Titles by this Author: Lament,
Ballad, Shiver,
Linger,
Forever,
Sinner,
The
Scorpio Races, The
Raven Boys, The
Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily
Blue
For
years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn
others into his mission: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no
longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a life; and Blue, who loves
Gansey … and is certain she is destined to kill him.
Nothing
dead is to be trusted.
Now
the endgame has begun.
Nothing
living is safe.
Dreams
and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest
refuses to be pinned to a path.
SPOILER
WARNING! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR ALL FOUR BOOKS, INCLUDING ‘THE RAVEN KING’,
IN THIS REVIEW.
It feels like I waited forever
for ‘The Raven King’. I had to have a re-read of the first three books so I could
savour the final instalment in all its glory.
I can honestly say that I've never
gone into a book feeling so damn scared for a group of characters. There were
so many books that I had to put the book down and walk away for half an hour
just to collect myself; I even felt a bit sick when I noticed that Gansey was
wearing an Aglionby jumper and it was getting wet from the rain… It was kinda
traumatic, actually. Part of me just didn’t want to read it because I didn’t want
to know!
But guess what I 100% did want to
know about? Blue and Gansey! I really am all in with them and I was so pleased
when they finally revealed to Adam and Ronan that they were together. It was
sweet and awkward and lovely. And that almost kiss at the toga party completely
took my breath away – that kind of delicious, romantic tension is something
that Maggie Stiefvater really does beautifully. I would have liked to have seen
a bit more of it if I'm honest.
There was some with Adam and
Ronan to a degree, but I have mixed feelings about their relationship. Up until
‘The Raven King’, I had only ever seen Adam as appreciating Ronan having a
crush on him – he liked to feel loved and wanted and searched for Ronan’s
approval, but I’d never gotten vibes of him actually returning his feelings. And
I still didn’t until they kissed and then Adam was all confused about whether
he felt anything for Ronan or not. That was never resolved or even really
discussed again until the epilogue and Adam was driving Ronan’s BMW and his
parents mentioned his ‘boyfriend’. Did I miss something? Although I love them
together, I really do, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a pandering to
the fans.
The ending of the novel was just
as heart-wrenching as I expected and I really liked the way that everything was
worked out. Well, relief is a more accurate feeling than like… But I did feel a
little underwhelmed by the epilogue. I was still left with lots questions: Can
Blue and Gansey kiss now? Is the curse fulfilled, or is it a lifetime thing?
Did Adam decide if he actually has feelings for Ronan? Did Noah pass over? It felt
rather like it was all being left open for more, and while I'm completely up
for that, I was expecting a bit more oomph from an ending to such a glorious
series, and a book we waited 18 months for.
Thanks to Scholastic for the
review copy.
Sophie
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a message, I'd love to hear from you!