Good, but a missed opportunity. 3.5/5 stars
The blurb: 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.
My (spoiler-free) take:
I’m sorry the following is so vague: I’m avoiding anything approaching a spoiler!
The Raven King is the fourth and final installment in The Raven Cycle. I enjoyed book 1 – The Raven Boys – and book 3 – Blue Lily, Lily Blue – very much. I wasn’t as keen on book 2 – The Dream Thieves – mostly because it I think the characters are at their best when working together and they spend most of the book apart/not getting on.
My hopes were high for The Raven King. I was hoping for something epic. After sticking with the characters through three previous books I was expecting a grand finale, a mind-blowing conclusion which was both stunning and satisfying.
So I’m a bit disappointed that I can summarize my reaction to this book as “meh” and “eh?”
Don’t get me wrong, it was fine and enjoyable enough, but it could have been so much better. Firstly, I’m convinced this series would have been better as 3 or even 2 books. There’s a lot of treading water. And while Stiefvater treads water in splendid and often beautiful prose, after a while even the high quality of the writing wasn’t enough to stop me longing for her to shift the story along.
Also, while several significant events meant some important plot threads were wound up nicely, I felt too many things were left hanging. Too many questions unanswered. And several times, even though I read the previous three books recently and remember what happened, I was completely bamboozled as to what the heck was going on.
Coming back to those significant events… I thought they were rushed. Almost skimmed over. Things we’ve been waiting for and the author has been building up to for 4 books and then they’re all done in a couple of paragraphs?! I felt short-changed.
Overall: The Raven King is ok and that’s not good enough when the characters and set-up (developed with great skill and care in the previous 3 books) were so promising. I fear those hoping for fireworks, surprises and resolution will be underwhelmed 😦
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
Oh dear! That’s a shame it was underwhelming! I enjoyed the first book but wasn’t in love with it like so many people are- I hoped that the series would get better- but I’ve heard so many mixed things
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It’s an interesting one because I really enjoyed books 1 and 3… book 2 not so much.
It’s weird because The Raven King has SO many 5-star reviews on Goodreads. You start to wonder if it’s just you! 🙂
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Oh that’s annoying- hmm it’s strange- but sometimes people are just swept up in the whole series so it doesn’t matter if the ending’s not as good
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Such a difficult review to write – you did it brilliantly!
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Thank you! It’s always so hard when you don’t want to give away anything about the plot of a book and, in this case, about the rest of the series either
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Sorry you didn’t enjoy it, Claire. I hate when final books in a series prove to be a letdown especially when its predecessors are topnotch. It can be devastating because we become so attached to the characters and the plot and we expect a certain ending for them.
Do you have any way of getting over a disappointing series end?
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The worst thing is, it’s not as though it’s bad. It’s fine, but for the series closer I was expecting something amazing 😦
I’m trying to move onwards and upwards to the next book. I had the same experience with The Maze Runner trilogy. The second book is the best while the third book just feels like the characters running round in circles making up stuff to do and then the end is rushed into about 2 pages!
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Reviewing without spoiling anything is so hard, especially when it’s the last book in a series! You did it well 🙂 I will give these books a try when I’m done with all the series I started.
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Thank you! 🙂
I know! I was worried my review was just a load of waffle… but it’s so hard to say anything specific (I have many specific points I could have included!) because I know I’d hate it if anyone else spoiled the end of a series for me.
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I got spoiled the new Game of Thrones episode last night and I was so angry about it! –‘ so I’m really happy you mastered the non-spoilery review!
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I didn’t read your review…I haven’t read this book yet! I can’t believe it! I need to so badly. I will be back to read/comment when I do. 😉
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I hope you really enjoy it. I just needed more closure! 🙂
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Bummer that this one was disappointing. I was holding off on reading the series until all books were released, as it sounded very promising. But after reading your review I’ll probably skip the series now – or push it all the way to the bottom of the stack. So many books, so little time!! Great review – thank you for your honesty.
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I think there are probably more exciting series out there. It’s such a shame because in terms of the characters and writing, this is a superior series, but I think the plotting and pacing let it down 😦
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Yes to all of this! If it had been some kind of stand-alone book of this quality, I probably would have been totally fine with it, but we were promised so much…!
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Exactly! As you said in your spoilery bits on Goodreads, I was particularly upset by the bit when Blue’s prophecy was fulfilled. That’s been bandied about since the very beginning of book 1 and then we got about 3 sentences?! I wanted violins, the clouds to part and angels to sing… well you get the idea 🙂
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That is disappointing! I’ve been dying to read it, as I loved the first three books, but nothing is worse than a “fine” ending to a series…
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It could just be me! There are so many 5-star reviews on Goodreads, lots of readers are very happy!
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I was the same way with A Study in Charlotte – so many excellent reviews and the book just fell flat for me. And I do find that sometimes people are in love with the idea of book, rather than the actual book itself. Your review is very clear on the issues with this book, so I’ll go into this one with tempered expectations, and see how it is. 🙂
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I haven’t started this series yet but I just got the ebook of the first book and I’m excited to read it. Happy reading!
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The first and third ones are my favourite. I just love the characters, particularly the core group when they’re interacting 🙂
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Oh nooo. Well, I’m braced for when I get to it, at least. Thanks for the heads up so I have time to dial my expectations back.
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It could just be me! But I was expecting more from the finale to such a good series. 😦
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