The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater

Seeing as we finally got a title for the fourth and last book the best series in the world today, I figure it seemed appropriate to write a quick series review for the books out so far in this gorgeous series.

My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.

This book is glorious and that is all.

Stats:

Genre: Paranormal 

Feelings: YES

Happiness: YES

Cuteness:SCREECHES

Fast pacing: No

Series: Praise the Lord, yes.

Read if you like: Beautiful angst, beautiful characters, beautiful concepts.

Content: Swearing.

In one sentence... Rich boys with lots of problems and a psychic’s daughter team up to find Glendower, a Welsh king from centuries before.

Thoughts: An orange camaro, a pair of frayed gloves, a green dress and an old church.

Overall:

Rating: 5/5

This review is SPOILER FREE

 The Lovely Bits:

Um the whole book? This book is snark. This book is witty characters, and sassy dead people. This book has adorable and sad, angsty and "What am I supposed to do now," 

Maggie's writing. She writes with this style I have never seen before. It's so unique and easy to sink into. She spends so much time with detail, that you really can't skim her books. You have to read them step by step, enjoying every moment. And you do. 

Blue is pretty much my favorite female main character in all of fiction. She's sassy and fierce, without being anywhere close to stereotypical. She's actually...sensible. And funny. Ah, the sass-off's. They are glorious. And Gansey? And NOAH? And Adam? And Ronan? Basically you love all the characters, even if you don't.

The Less lovely Bits:

As said before, these books are slower. They really unfold slowly, so you have to take your time with them. 

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them.

Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness.
Her raven boys.

Stats:

Genre: Cars.

Feelings: I screamed four times, threw the book, squealed, and jumped up and down reading this.

Happiness: Yes. 

Cuteness: SOBS AND SCREECHES.

Fast pacing: No.

Series: I wonder...

Read if you like: The first book? Even if you didn't, actually, keep reading. It's good for you.

Content: A lot more swearing.

In one sentence... Street racing, dream thieving, ghosting, angsting, hunting, crying, not kissing, almost kissing, pretend kissing, sad feelings, happy feelings, confused feelings.

Thoughts: Phone calls. Voices. A table in a diner.

Overall:

Rating: 5/5

This review is SPOILER FREE

The Lovely Bits:

This book gave me about a hundred more feelings than the first one. I loved finally seeing the group together and being way too cute together. I loved the development and back story. I loved....the book. I honestly can't say much without giving spoilers.

Basically, we get new characters and fall more in love with old characters. And there's crying and angry things.

Sequels can very quickly become boring. That, I believe, is what makes these books so amazing. It's easy to assume that popular authors make books trilogies sometimes just so they can get more out of one story. That's not a bad thing, but often that means the sequels are less good.

But The Raven Cycle is not that. This story is so complex. It's got so many secrets yet uncovered, and mysteries still unsolved, that it makes sense that it's a four book series. I don't ever think it gets boring, even with it's slow storytelling.

The Less Lovely Bits:

This one was a lot more confusing than the first one? It was a little hard to follow what was actually going on, really. It's one you need to re-read to grasp everything.

There is no good word for the opposite of lonesome. 

One might be tempted to suggest togetherness or contentment , but the fact that these two other words bear definitions unrelated to each other perfectly displays why lonesome cannot be properly mirrored. It does not mean solitude, nor alone, nor lonely, although lonesome can contain all of those words in itself. 

Lonesome means a state of being apart. Of being other. Alone-some.

Stats:

Genre: Glue. (Gansey+Blue)

Feelings: No one touch me I'm upset.

Happiness: No one touch me I'm elated.

Cuteness: No one touch me I'm conflicted.

Fast pacing: No one touch me I'm reading.

Series: No one touch me there's only one book left.

Read if you like: Gansey's face. Adam's face. All the faces.

Content: More swearing? Idk, no one touch me I'm still upset.

In one sentence... Blue Sargent: "NO ONE TOUCH ME. Except Gansey. I want to hold his hand"

Thoughts: A cave, a coffin, a secret.

Overall:

Rating: 5/5

This review is SPOILER FREE

The Lovely Bits: 

We get even more development. We get even more Gansey. And more...suspense. I flew through this one faster than the second, so I would consider it to be better? The relationships already built got tested, and even more new characters came. But there was loss. 

It was a solid book. It had some eh parts, but it was a really well done story, which is to be expected at this point. 

I really like the development we got with Gansey and Blue. They were tested, and also cute. That as well. 

I honestly cannot think of much. I just really love this series? It's really stuck with me. The characters speak to me. I feel like there's someone for everyone to relate to.

The first two books have been slow. They've been characters and set up. But this one just poured out the preparation for the last book. You get even more secrets, even more questions. The character arcs are amazingly written out. This book did a phenomenal job of making you desperately want to finish out the series...but still not want it to be over.

As said earlier, this is a complex story. So that fact that these stories have not yet become muddles with all the content is amazing. More proof of Maggie's skill.

The Less Lovely Bits:

The fact that it ended?

I feel like there should be something. I can't just give a five star review to every book and have nothing wrong with it. But I do?

These are books you really have to be in the right mind for. You have to be okay with some slightly weird things and slow, deep prose. But if you let yourself get into these stories...ah, what an adventure you have ahead of you. 

Also we have a title for book four!