Once in a Lifetime Series

“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.”

This is truly a once in a lifetime series. If Harry Potter was my childhood, The Raven Cycle was my 20's. This series was perfect for me, and I don't think anyone could break the spell that this series and these characters have cast upon me.

“They were both hungry animals, but Adam had been starving for far longer.”

“Depending on where you began the story, it was about..." unconditional love and the power it can evoke. This book is the type of book that makes me want to be a better person. It makes me want to be more appreciative of my friends and family. It makes me so thankful that I have a love for reading and that it was instilled in me from a young age. It makes me feel so blessed that I'm able to read and able to read books like this. I'm eternally grateful to Maggie Stiefvater and her words that somehow penetrated my heart and built this perfect story.

I'm writing this review in actual tears, because this story is so beautiful and means so much to me. I probably sound really incoherent and this review is ending up just like my Shiver review, where I'm just fangirling, but sometimes while reading this series I felt like Maggie Stiefvater was writing this solely for me. Like she somehow got inside my heart and wrote my soul down on paper. I really don't have any words that I can string together to do a review for The Raven King justice; I'll just say that it changed me forever, I'm eternally grateful to have had this reading experience, and that I'll never forget it. Thank you, Maggie Stiefvater.

Blue, Gansey, Adam, and Ronan all have a piece of my heart that I will never get back. In return, they will stay with me forever.

“He closed his eyes and he began to dream.”

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25 people found this helpful

Stupendous

The writing is beautiful Will Patton's voice , timing and expression of each character exquisite. The series has been a delight and although it is a young adult fiction this 52-year-old has been enthralled. I hope there are more to come

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10 people found this helpful

5 Star Series

The final installment of The Raven Cycle that was worth waiting for. There is a richness of detail that is each character; the values of friendship & sacrifice that are woven in several layers throughout; and the magic that is life and creation. These books are not for emotionally limited characters who revel in a vision of dystopian society; rather they are for those who dare to dream of, and reach for, more. Will Patton is absolutely perfect is narrator for the series: the differentiation of characters, the communication of emotion, even the levels of southern accent. 5star all the way.

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6 people found this helpful

Final book of the best series I've read in years

Would you listen to The Raven King again? Why?

yes, I've already listened to it multiple times. I am a huge fan of Will Patton's narration, and I feel like no one else could have captured the mood of these books the way he did.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gansey. He is the heart of all of it.

Which scene was your favorite?

I honestly cannot pick one, the whole thing was magical and I was so caught up that I wanted to live in that world!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

many moments, interactions between Ronan and Blue, Henry and Gansey, Gansey and Ronan, Blue and Mr. Gray, Calla and Maura, Ronan and his brothers, I could go on and on.

Any additional comments?

Maggie Stiefvater is an amazing writer, these books made me feel so many things, I was so spellbound by this world, but I also felt connections to almost every single character. It's been awhile since I have been able to completely lose myself in a story. I want more!

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4 people found this helpful

Sorry to be let down

Since I read this series back to back without time to write individual reviews, I'm summing up the whole series in one review. Lazy? Guilty as charged.

Book 1 - 3 stars. It was different and though set in real time, easily drifted into fantasy time.

Book 2 - 3 stars. Possibly the one I enjoyed most in the series. The concept of a dream thief was fascinating. Plus, loved the action.

Book 3 - 2 stars. What happened? New characters were overwhelming. Something I overlooked in the other books - dialogues that left things unsaid as well as confusing dream sequences - really irritated me in this one.

Book 4 - 2 stars (maybe 1.5). This could have been a trilogy in my opinion. This last in the series dragged. Again, why are all these new characters not fundamental to the tale of the foursome? I was hoping for lots of action to resolve the story but it lacked for me, regretfully.

Narration - 5 star across the board!

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4 people found this helpful

Great ending

Such a great ending to a wonderful series. I loved the characters especially Ronan. The narrator is fantastic; he is one of my favorites.

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3 people found this helpful

beautiful, fierce, wondrous, and painful...

...but most of all, beautiful. The fantastic story of The Raven Cycle is at its most brilliant in this, the fourth installment of the series. Thank you Maggie Stiefvader for creating such magic in a world whose magic is hidden in plain sight. Thank you to Will Patton for so vividly and passionately bringing it to life.

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3 people found this helpful

One of the most amazing series

I can't believe it's over!! Let's start it all over again! Okay, so I don't have the time to do that but honestly I cannot get enough of this series. I mean THESE CHARACTERS. They've fallen so deeply in love with each other and have such an all encompassing friendship and I've fallen so deeply in love with all of them.
Obviously I had so many feelings about starting THE RAVEN KING and finishing The Raven Cycle. I'm sad that it's over and that we won't have any more books with these amazing characters and this fascinating story but I know I'll have many, many more re-reads in my future.
I was actually kind of worried about how the book would end. Not like I didn't have faith in Maggie but you know, when one of your favorite series is coming to a close and you have no idea what's in store, it's a nerve-wracking situation. Especially when the author promises a beloved main character is going to die. I honestly started crying long before anything even happened because I was just so emotionally involved. I also cried during an especially freaky part because A) I was home alone and B) I'm a super chicken. This is why I don't do horror but I had the gang with me as I was listening (LISTENING makes it infinitely creepier, by the way) so as always, I felt comforted.
THE AUDIO! I did my re-reads of the first three books on audio to prepare for my RAVEN KING read and as I started reading my print copies (yes copies with an S. I bought Kindle so I could start on release day and then added audio and THANK GOODNESS because as I started reading my print copies) I just heard Will Patton's voice in my head and HAD to listen to the audio. I listened in the car, I listened at home, I listened for the last three, four, or five hours because I was going to switch to my hardcover but just couldn't stop listening. You'd think it odd to have a middle-aged/older man narrating a young adult novel but I just loved his voicing. Aside from voices, he really just lends an overall FEEL to the book, emphasizing words, singing Gwenllian's songs, spitting malice in Lynches and demons, and adding character to the book itself. I couldn't not listen to this audio and maybe I'll go back and read in print in one of my re-reads but I HAD to have that characterization and bring this book to life even more.
My heart is so full of love for these books and you'd think I was insane if you weren't a book person (you might anyway) but I just have a very special place in my heart for these books and this crew. I wish their stories could go on forever and I'm sad that they can't but also happy that I know it won't get dragged out longer than it should. Maybe someday we can convince Maggie to write an adult Raven Cycle series and we can have hearts full of new Henrietta magic once again. Or maybe I do as the magic of the series does and just relive these moments again and again.

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3 people found this helpful

I am bereaved

I am bereaved not by the ending of this book, but by the ending of the series. Maggie Stiefvater is an amazing writer and her character development is unmatched, especially for a YA series.

One of my favorite lines of the book was about Declan

"He'd learned that lies were only dangerous if you sometimes told the truth."

For me, this book was about Ronan. His heartbreak, his past, his future, his family, and his secrets. No matter where you begin the story, this series is about Ronan Lynch.

There are plenty of revelations in this final installment, but none of them are very shocking (I say that as a good thing?). Perhaps best said by Stiefvater:

"He felt as if he was being told a secret that he’d already been told before. He couldn’t tell if this was because Cabeswater itself had possibly already whispered this truth to them on one of their walks there, or if it was merely that the weight of evidence was already so conclusive that his subconscious had accepted ownership of the secret before the parcel had been officially delivered."

This is how the revelations and twists in the story felt once you heard them. I spent the whole time I listened to this book wondering how they were going to end this plot point or that plot point, but once it was revealed it felt like that was the only answer there ever could have been.

My one criticism of the book is that so much happened in the last hour or hour and a half that it felt hurried, whereas the rest of the book did not.

I thoroughly enjoyed the newly fleshed out character of Henry Cheng. He was perfectly voiced by Patton. I wanted more out of the orphan girl's character though, who felt like a deeper character, it was just never revealed why.

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3 people found this helpful

Stunning finish

This book delivers all that the series promises and more. Maggie's characters are different and real. The story is stunning.

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2 people found this helpful