Long Live the King

YAY for YA!  Another sneaky admission - I love reading YA books.  Yes, I get tired of reading about vampires and werewolves and love triangles, so I try to avoid the titles with these tropes (sometimes it's cursed hard), but what I love about reading YA books is that there is no limit to what can happen in them.  As a general rule, YA authors aren't out to win awards or critical acclaim - they just want to tell a good story.  And I love that.

I have met my goal of three teen titles for my Reading Resolution, and herein is the review for the first title, The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater.  This is the final book in the Raven Cycle quartet, and I found it to be well worth the wait.  Maggie Stiefvater is, in my opinion, a brilliant author.  She had been well-received and reviewed, and people love her books.  Her first series, the Wolves of Mercy Falls quartet was a miss for me, because it highlighted - you got it - both werewolves and love triangles.  Just wasn't my thing.  But then I read The Scorpio Races, and thought it was brilliant.  So, when the first book of her newest series came out, I strapped in for a wild ride with the Raven Boys and their Blue.  I found the series completely unique, creepy, and mesmerizing.  From the character development to the world building to the gorgeous way Stiefvater writes, I was hooked.  This was a five-year investment, but never a waste of time.  This series is something akin to Edgar Allan Poe meets Dead Poets Society - mystery and darkness mixed with privilege and antique.  So, then, without further adieu, The Raven King.  

 First of all, look at that gorgeous cover.  If that doesn't make you want to pick up the book and at least give it a look, there's something wrong with you.  (Not really, but yeah.)

So, a little background- because there are three books that have come before this one.  There are five main characters - Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, and each of them has something, well, odd about them.  It is their differences that set them apart from everyone around them, and bind them together.  The overarching mystery of the series is their search for the long-sleeping Glendower, a mythical Welch king with centuries-old magic.  As for each of them - Blue is a seer, Gansey is a scholar, Ronan is a dream thief, Adam is a magical conduit, and Noah... well, spoilers.

What I liked about The Raven King:
*The low-hanging sense of mystery that never really goes away.  Oft times with books (or a series) like this, at the end, the mystery is solved, and everyone goes about their merry ways.  Not so, here.  Our adventurers are left with a bit of disappointment, but also with hope in a bittersweet non-so-resolved resolution.  There are definite loose ends - but that's ok with me.  It makes me feel like Stiefvater trusts me enough as a reader to get it.
*The characters.  The characters.  The characters.  Oh, and the characters.  I cannot say enough about the individual personalities that Stiefvater created for this series.  They develop slowly, their unique traits and talents being revealed only when needed, and not before.  Just when I started to get frustrated because I was feeling like I didn't know what was going on, Stiefvater revealed the perfect amount of information to both alleviate my frustration, and bring me back into her confidence.
*The setting.  So well does Stiefvater integrate details, that I (feel like I) know exactly what this world looks like from Gansy's factory loft to Blue's rambling house, to the town, to the mystical Cabeswater.  And she does all this without "telling".  Rather, she allows her characters to do her talking for her, so we see these locations through their eyes, rather than through the author's.

What I didn't like about The Raven King:
*I'm hard-pressed to think of anything at all.  I had this finale so built up in my head that it would have been easy for it not to measure up to my expectations, but it certainly did.  If I have one complaint, it may be that the ending seemed a little rushed after such a long build-up.  But honestly, I don't know if there is any way this series could have ended differently.

So, that said, I would recommend this book for teens and adult alike who like moody mysteries tinged with a little bit of magic.  Don't be fooled - it's a four-book investment.  But definitely worth it if this type of read is your cup of tea.  Those who also like strong characters (particularly female ones) will not be disappointed.

If you liked the Raven Cycle books, you might try:
* Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor - These books are atmospheric and compelling and, though they are a bit more imaginative, they also feature strong characters (particularly female) with some unnatural abilities.
* Fallen series by Lauren Kate - These are definitely dark and moody books, but they feature an interesting cast of characters who are working together - though they may not really like it - to solve an ages-old mystery.
* Goddess War series by Kendare Blake - Though a little more action-forward than the Raven Cycle, these books also bring mythology into reality and integrate the historic with the contemporary, while also featuring a romantic element.

In my next review, I will be featuring the second book in a series I've become completely obsessed with, so standby for The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith.