This is the fourth and last book of The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. It was published by Scholastic Press in 2016 and is a Paranormal YA. This review will be filled with a review of the last book and a review of the entire series at the end.
The story is filled with philosophical question with no answers. Like what is unmade? unmade from what? Who is the Raven King? If you wanted the answers, then think them up for yourself for this book is vague at best.
Both going back to the beginning, the plot is about stopping a demon from unmaking, what I can assume is the magic of their town. Gansey finds his long-lost king and they have to face reality and a sacrifice need to be made in order to save their world.
All while there is a ridiculous amount of perspectives and plotlines. Blue finding out who or what she is. Adam coming with terms with his feelings both for Ronan and his parents. Ronan revealing all his secrets and powers. Gansey finding his king, facing his destiny and most of all, his feelings towards his destiny. Piper is back, and she is arrogant, dumb and frankly just not necessary. I’m not sure why she is there. I found her more annoying that frightening. Her father and his two identical brothers enter the picture as well and they are just as useless but Gray Man needs something to do.
Artemus is there, hiding in a closet to then speak with Blue for a scene and then left. Yeah, the entire third book was to find him so he can tell her what she is. Like no one else could do it. We also have a new character, Henry. An Asian boy who is everywhere and nowhere. Everyone likes him because… Soulmates? I did not like him and considering how many damn perspectives the author has crammed into this book I really didn’t want her to put in even more.
This is a book for those who enjoys mysteries who doesn’t spell out or answer all your questions. It leaves a lot to the imagination and I do not like it when I become even more confused by the end of a book than before.
Such as one of the big plot points was that the guy Blue loved and kissed would die but it turns out that is not really what happens. She just happens to kiss him when he decides to die which would not happen if she hadn’t known the prophecy and detained from kissing someone. So, what was the purpose of that plotline and why did the author pull on it so damn much? Constantly thrown it in our face. I just didn’t like it.
That said, I did enjoy the characters. I enjoyed the group and would enjoy them in other books with a more focused plot searching ancient ruins, searching for magical treasures.
All in all, I would give it a 6 out of 10. I did not enjoy it, it was too messy and to confusion. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on and not even the intriguing lore and interesting characters could save the story for me.
Now for the entire series.
No one can complain about the creativity in this series. I can fully say that I have never read a book series like it and probably won’t again but I had a hard time with the philosophical part of The Raven Cycle. Often leaving more questions after giving answers. I want my stories neatly, I can handle plotholes but I want answers, even if they are half assed. This is about the journey and the question meant to be answered by the readers. Speculated.
Such as what is Cabeswater? Where did it come from and why is Ronan able to shape it? Did he create it? They touch upon this but never answer it fully because the reader is meant to answer what the author will not. Frankly, I often sum it up as the author has created something she can’t explain and that is why there is no answer.
So, I would recommend it for people who enjoys that kind of stories. But this series are filled with different people’s perspectives. Here are some of them, Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, Gray Man, Maura, Piper, Henry, Colin Greenmantle and Calla. That is just a few of them and it makes the story unfocused and messy.
There is a rule that you should keep to one or two perspectives, three at most but for each person you add, the others will lose their character. They get less light in the spotlights and it might damage them. Blue was a clear victim in the books, mostly just being there with no clear purpose other than being the girl in the group.
Maggie Stiefvater has ignored that rule entirely and I think the story, especially the second and the last book, suffers for it. They are confusing and many characters aren’t given much attention. For example, Gray Man is introduced as a father figure to Blue. I’m fairly certain they get two or three scenes together throughout all of the books. That is not much to go on, certainly not enough to call him a father figure.
So, the reader will have to imagine more scenes that will allow us to see the characters like the author want us to see them. Frankly, this is not a good thing. At least not for me. I shouldn’t have to imagine up an entire book for me to actually believe the connections the author as lined out but that is the result of trying to show too many characters’ perspectives.
So, the story is unique and has a good atmosphere. Haunting and I will remember the book but I will not read it again. It was not for me. That doesn’t mean that I’m not happy to have read it, because it was unique and creative, and it is not unlikely that I will not read another book by this writer to see if I like them better. This is a book I wanted to like more than I did, and if the television series comes out, I will see it.
All in all, the entire series will get a 7 out of 10. I did not like it, but it was to creative and unique for me to give it a lower rating. I will recommend giving it a read if only to test it out yourself. Maybe it is more for you than for me.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
Read with Senefer 