The Raven Cycle: A Complex and Emotionally Charged Finale

As I finished reading The Raven King, I couldn't help but feel both satisfied and disappointed at the same time. The series has been one of my favorites for a while now, and I have to admit that I was not looking forward to the finale. However, despite some disappointing elements, I still enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of the series.

The character development in The Raven King is undoubtedly one of its strongest aspects. Blue's attitude towards Gansey has been a source of fascination for me throughout the series, and her actions at the end of the book were both surprising and believable. Her throwing of the dagger at the end felt like a true expression of her emotions, and it was a moment that I would never forget.

On the other hand, there were some plot points in The Raven King that left me feeling underwhelmed. One of the most significant issues was the handling of Gansey's death. While Blue had been adamant about how she felt towards him throughout the series, his actual demise still came as a shock to me. I think this is because her words and actions had made it clear that she wouldn't let Gansey die, so when he ultimately did, it felt cheap and unearned.

Another aspect of the plot that disappointed me was the handling of the demon. In a series that has explored some truly dark and complex themes, the demon's role in The Raven King felt somewhat diminished. While I understand that the author wanted to focus on the characters' emotional journeys, I couldn't help but feel like something more should have been done with this powerful creature.

Despite these criticisms, I still found The Raven King to be a compelling and emotionally charged read. The character development was as strong as ever, and the relationships between the characters were expertly woven throughout the story. Noah's absence was particularly noticeable, and Persephone's departure left me feeling sad and melancholic.

One of the things that struck me most about The Raven King was its ability to balance darkness with hope. Despite the many challenges faced by the characters, there were moments of beauty and wonder that made the book a joy to read. From the stunning descriptions of the natural world to the intricate plotting, this series is truly one of the best fantasy series out there.

However, as I finished reading The Raven King, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Despite its many strengths, the finale felt somewhat unfulfilled. There were elements of the plot that didn't quite add up, and the pacing could have been tighter in some places. Overall, while I would still recommend this series to fans of fantasy and romance, I couldn't help but feel that The Raven King was not the strongest conclusion possible.

In comparison to other fantasy finales I've read, such as Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab, The Raven King felt somewhat lacking in terms of tension and stakes. While both books featured powerful villains, the way that these villains were handled differed significantly. In Conjuring of Light, the antagonist's actions were relentless and terrifying, making their defeat all the more satisfying.

In contrast, the villain in The Raven King seemed almost too easily defeated. While I understood the author's desire to focus on the characters' emotional journeys, I couldn't help but feel like there was an opportunity missed here. The stakes felt somewhat low, and the tension that should have been building throughout the series was never quite achieved.

Ultimately, while The Raven King was not perfect, it was still a compelling and emotionally charged read. The character development was as strong as ever, and the relationships between the characters were expertly woven throughout the story. Despite some disappointing elements, I would still recommend this series to fans of fantasy and romance, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Blue, Gansey, Noah, and the rest of the gang.

As a side note, I have to say that I'm really excited about the spin-off series that is set to be released. The Fox and the Wolf are going to be so good at this, I just know it. And please, for the love of all things good, give me more books about Blue and Rowan's relationship. They are my absolute favorite couple in the entire series, and I would love to see more of their adventures together.

In conclusion, while The Raven King was not without its flaws, it was still a compelling and emotionally charged read that left me feeling satisfied and hopeful for the future. Despite some disappointing elements, I would still recommend this series to fans of fantasy and romance, and I look forward to seeing what the author has in store for us next.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys it's Sam and this is my spoilery gush for the Raven cycle by Maggie Steve honor and I said this video will have spoilers in it so if you have read this series go ahead and check out my spoiler free review that I will link on the screen so I had an interesting reading experience with this because I started out reading this series before I ever got on anxiety medicine and some of my triggers are paranormal things so when I first started this series I wasn't sure if I was even going to continue it because it's just eerie enough that I didn't want to be on edge my entire reading experience so I end up reading the first two books in their physical copies and then I got the third book for a gift and just kind of let it sit there so I read the first two books really enjoyed them but just was like I don't know this makes me nervous in the inner room when I wasn't ready to the series's when I got out anxiety medicine and it made my whole reading experience so much better so I listened to the last two books on audiobook within the last month or so and I really enjoyed both of those as well and it was so interesting for me because there's stuff in there that would been incredibly triggering to me like even it's a three years ago two years ago so I would've been in a downward spiral for months and I had no issue I was like driving to work it wasn't this this time but this is not bothering me and it would usually bother me and I just want to say that medication for some people is amazing so that's my Testament right there but it gave me the really interesting experience of having the physical copies as well as the audio books and I really liked both reading experiences I feel like the atmosphere is what can be kind of tampered with in audio versus physical and I end up really liking that atmosphere in both and I felt it in both and it wasn't like the audio gave that more than the physical copy or anything like that so I loved that whole reading experience I really liked the audio books total I listened to all the my audiobooks I realized the voices that the guy did but both were totally fine for me and I liked nimble's so some people are probably gonna ask who my favorite of the Raven boys is I couldn't even tell you my favorite character in the series really like I it's so difficult I think my favorite of these side characters or at least of the Fox way characters is probably Kayla like I just love her a lot but I like all of their just interactions and stuff and then my favorite villain because there's kind of this villain of the week thing going out with all the books which I wasn't expecting my favorite villain is Kavinsky hands-down my favorite book is the dream thieves and my favorite villain is Kavinsky and I just loved him so much he's such a trash son and I just loved him and he did horrible things and I just Lord loved him so he was great I think that the other villains weren't quite as good like Piper felt just like a little two-dimensional at times like I didn't really get everyone else's motivations like I got Kavinsky but everyone else was kind of like why are you doing what you're doing you feel a little bit moustache twirly and not as fleshed out some of the other characters like every other character is so fleshed out and that's the other thing is like with this series the fandom for the series is so extra in the way that they will be obsessed with the most minor of characters like what I was taught in the series because of the fandom because I used to see stuff on tumblr all the time and everyone was talking about Declan Lynch and I was thinking that you play a much bigger role in the series no but there's some people's are like oh my god declan's like my favorite character I'm like he why I could just beat down the vacant he says but that just does speak to how like amazing these characters are and how much she does flush them out and how interesting they are I do think I'm so torn with like who my favorite Raven boy is because in the first book I think my favorite was Adam and then Adam I so look I love all of them to be very very clear but I think my two vapor were Adam and Noah in the first book and then Adam started he's where those characters that like I like but he's difficult and that's it's kind of like the point and he's going through so much and he can be so just like stubborn so at times it can be annoyed by him but I also love him and then no I just started to kind of like fade into the background a little bit more and he didn't play as big of a role like this third and fourth book and then the second book on Gansey is like probably Gansey and Ronin are my two favorites Gansey run it are safely my two favorites at the boys and then flip between both of them that I like them both for different reasons and you can tell like Maggie rifle them I mean she rides all the character you play such affection but like Ronan is like her right so like you're sort of like you almost have to love him I just really enjoy him I liked how the audiobook marry or did his voice I think I just really liked him and then Gans he's just like endearing and just an old soul so I really like him as well man I write after it now at the series I finally went on tumblr and went through the tag and stuff and I've been waiting to do that and I'm still so obsessed with the dream thieves like I just love it I would've liked a hole it was like a lot of people complain because it was like they went off of the main plot not there's much of a plot with a series anyway we don't get to but they kind of beard off and did like Ronan's thing and I was like that's totally fine I would like a whole series about that which might be what we get with this like continuation series as on the film in this video we don't really have any information on the continuation series are on the spin-off series or whatever is happening with like the books that are revolving every room boys so we don't know much right now but if we just have one of their own and focus I'm fine with that and supposed to be like a ronin series so I'm cool with that what was interesting with me and the shipping in this series too is I went in again knowing about some of the ships that people really liked but in the first book I really liked Adam and blue like I really liked them and then in the second book I was really and I still ship Ronin and kaminsky like a lot I know it's that it's problematic but I really I really like it and then you were starting as the books go on to get hints so like that was one like the blue sea stuff started and I started really like them but then halfway through blue Lily Lily blue like that started to get really good like the inks was like blue and Gansey man oh I really I really liked that and then you got hints of Roden and Adam in blue Lily and then you really got it in the Raven king so beware asking me before at the end of the year if like I loved pinched and whatever which is Ronin and Adam it was like I've only read up to blue Lily and they haven't really been confirmed in that book it's like sort of hinted at very very barely hinted eyes even one sided and you don't really get stuff from them until the Raven king so that's exciting although now as of the filming this video and I haven't looked into this a ton meg is doing some possibly problematic stuff whatever straight women are writing queer characters especially men it's it can be can be a little weird and they can do some stuff it's like really crossing some lines so I don't know what about that right now though it's because I haven't looked into it I'm not like deep in this fandom and that's probably gonna be like a constantly evolving thing so who knows but that's a thing that I just want to recognize that I know what's happening I don't know a lot about it and but that being said I just really liked a lot of these romantic interactions how again how Inc do you a lot of it was even like Moira and the gray man uh speaking of I would just love it I measure this my review I would love a series just with the adult women a fox way like can we have an adult series about them because they're basically a girl gang of psychics and I love them a lot and I love how the series well and especially the last book she was like you know no matter depending where you start this story it could be about someone so and I like how the series feels like each of them is living out their story and it's not just about these main characters that any of them are like the star of the story I really enjoyed that I think all the characters developed really well that like I said before they're all really fully fleshed out characters I really enjoyed Adams character arc of being this paranormal magician thing going on with him and then like his real-life traumatic stuff and how at the end he's just like he's okay makes me so happy and like how Noah's like send off with like he's the one time time continuum stuff with poor Noah and just like they're all so pure than it like UEFA's you know about like the ronan finds the tire but they haven't been there yet and just it's all mind-blowing and I'm really excited for that spinoff series because there's so much you can do with this and it just makes me very happy and just like rolling as a character and how much he's like evolved from being just like so self-destructive like still self-destructive but like and I just love all their friendships to like I talked with the relationships and romantic relationships but the friendships man mean a lot to me I love all the boys love one another love how blue loves all the Raven boys my favorite friendship and that group is blue and Rodan blue and Ronin like their banter especially in the last two books was so good like I just I love them like when they're just like say little things to another it's so subtle but just like okay you guys are best friends like you guys need to admit that you're best friends because you are speaking of friends the one thing I thought was kind of weird this is kind of like a plot thing is the breeding in of Henry Chang towards the end and a lot of people in the fandom will include him as like one of the Raven boys in the edits and I'm like he was barely around like I liked him at the end and he's a good character but I'm just like he's not he's not like one of the group well I guess like if a person came into the golden trio in Harry Potter in book seven no that's crazy but that's why I'm saying about the fan of logistic attached into every single character like what but I liked him but he was kind of like thrown in for like the mom his mom's plot and stuff and that's something about this series that I think is weak is the plot like the plot she forgets about it for most of the book up and she throws it at the end that happened with every single book and especially in like blue Lily at the very end when it's like we just covered a demon and then and then it's over what and even just the end of the Raven king it's like you had all these character things which are great and I loved it and then it's just like everything gets wrapped up and I know like that's the thing - at the Gansey death thing feels very cheap because she was so adamant about how she's in the kill Gansey Lola to the point where like in it has been a four shot of the whole time that I'm like okay he's not gonna die because you've been saying it so blatantly this whole time like he's he's not that like something's gonna happen where they're gonna figure it out so I never got like super upset about the potential of him dying so like there's no way because it's been so heavily talked about that they're gonna work out some way around it I mean I thought that the way that was done was interesting and that's why I rated this finale higher than I rate a lot of finales because even though everything did end up generally okay there still are like some things that happen you know like Noah's not around Persephone's not around like they did lose some people but ultimately I think like you're facing a demon I think something more should have happened like I you know Rowan's mom died like I get that but they're also minor and I would have liked like a little more like I almost like I hope can see does die which is horrible because I love him but it's just like you've been saying so much that I don't believe you and that's why it's like okay yeah I knew that he was gonna die and get like brought back or something you know so that was a little weak too and also like I feel like the demon didn't really do much of anything like yeah it was sort of like unmaking but like overall it's like put this to be honest like horrible black magic death creature and it doesn't really like do that much that was a little odd like I feel something I'm comparing it to because I'm reading it right now is I'm currently reading conjuring of light by ve Schwab I'm not gonna talk about any of spoilers for it but there is a like really evil creature in that finale and that finale he's like messing up and that makes sense I feel like the demon wasn't really doing that much like I feel like I should have had more impact like the rest of the world not just the magical parts of it like I feel like there was more that needed to be done with that and knows more just like kind of being creepy and like you know doing some of that stuff so I feel like if that's just another example of the plot just being a little weak and just kind of like thrown together and a lot of things just like thrown in so yeah and a lot of I mean you kind of have this like dos ex machina kind of thing happening with the fact that like Ronan can dream like anything and like the B and stuff that was his dad's dream that Chang brought in and stuff like that you have this element of like they can dream anything and and so it's kind of like I don't feel like there's a ton of risk here they still did a pretty good job again I gave like the whole overall series four stars and the last book four stars and a lot of finales for why fantasy series I give like three and two stars because they're so disappointing so this overall isn't that disappointing because the character stuff is so strong but there are some element of the plot I'm just like okay this isn't as strong as it could be this could be five stars and for me it's not so yeah I will continue to read any books dealing with these characters because I love them I love the atmosphere I love the world I love like everything that it's set up for that it could be like they could have more they're all like so magical and I just really adore them I just wanna know what they're doing because it because I feel like they're characters that are truly existing like out there in the world so I want to like know what they're up to so I'm excited about like the spin-off series I want a book of the Fox play women please give it to me I want it so yeah overall really good series very pleased with it and I'm really glad that I ended up finishing it because for a while there I wasn't going to the dream thieves are still the best I will die on that petit hill it's the best one so comment below let me know what you thought of the Raven cycle thank you all for watchinghey guys it's Sam and this is my spoilery gush for the Raven cycle by Maggie Steve honor and I said this video will have spoilers in it so if you have read this series go ahead and check out my spoiler free review that I will link on the screen so I had an interesting reading experience with this because I started out reading this series before I ever got on anxiety medicine and some of my triggers are paranormal things so when I first started this series I wasn't sure if I was even going to continue it because it's just eerie enough that I didn't want to be on edge my entire reading experience so I end up reading the first two books in their physical copies and then I got the third book for a gift and just kind of let it sit there so I read the first two books really enjoyed them but just was like I don't know this makes me nervous in the inner room when I wasn't ready to the series's when I got out anxiety medicine and it made my whole reading experience so much better so I listened to the last two books on audiobook within the last month or so and I really enjoyed both of those as well and it was so interesting for me because there's stuff in there that would been incredibly triggering to me like even it's a three years ago two years ago so I would've been in a downward spiral for months and I had no issue I was like driving to work it wasn't this this time but this is not bothering me and it would usually bother me and I just want to say that medication for some people is amazing so that's my Testament right there but it gave me the really interesting experience of having the physical copies as well as the audio books and I really liked both reading experiences I feel like the atmosphere is what can be kind of tampered with in audio versus physical and I end up really liking that atmosphere in both and I felt it in both and it wasn't like the audio gave that more than the physical copy or anything like that so I loved that whole reading experience I really liked the audio books total I listened to all the my audiobooks I realized the voices that the guy did but both were totally fine for me and I liked nimble's so some people are probably gonna ask who my favorite of the Raven boys is I couldn't even tell you my favorite character in the series really like I it's so difficult I think my favorite of these side characters or at least of the Fox way characters is probably Kayla like I just love her a lot but I like all of their just interactions and stuff and then my favorite villain because there's kind of this villain of the week thing going out with all the books which I wasn't expecting my favorite villain is Kavinsky hands-down my favorite book is the dream thieves and my favorite villain is Kavinsky and I just loved him so much he's such a trash son and I just loved him and he did horrible things and I just Lord loved him so he was great I think that the other villains weren't quite as good like Piper felt just like a little two-dimensional at times like I didn't really get everyone else's motivations like I got Kavinsky but everyone else was kind of like why are you doing what you're doing you feel a little bit moustache twirly and not as fleshed out some of the other characters like every other character is so fleshed out and that's the other thing is like with this series the fandom for the series is so extra in the way that they will be obsessed with the most minor of characters like what I was taught in the series because of the fandom because I used to see stuff on tumblr all the time and everyone was talking about Declan Lynch and I was thinking that you play a much bigger role in the series no but there's some people's are like oh my god declan's like my favorite character I'm like he why I could just beat down the vacant he says but that just does speak to how like amazing these characters are and how much she does flush them out and how interesting they are I do think I'm so torn with like who my favorite Raven boy is because in the first book I think my favorite was Adam and then Adam I so look I love all of them to be very very clear but I think my two vapor were Adam and Noah in the first book and then Adam started he's where those characters that like I like but he's difficult and that's it's kind of like the point and he's going through so much and he can be so just like stubborn so at times it can be annoyed by him but I also love him and then no I just started to kind of like fade into the background a little bit more and he didn't play as big of a role like this third and fourth book and then the second book on Gansey is like probably Gansey and Ronin are my two favorites Gansey run it are safely my two favorites at the boys and then flip between both of them that I like them both for different reasons and you can tell like Maggie rifle them I mean she rides all the character you play such affection but like Ronan is like her right so like you're sort of like you almost have to love him I just really enjoy him I liked how the audiobook marry or did his voice I think I just really liked him and then Gans he's just like endearing and just an old soul so I really like him as well man I write after it now at the series I finally went on tumblr and went through the tag and stuff and I've been waiting to do that and I'm still so obsessed with the dream thieves like I just love it I would've liked a hole it was like a lot of people complain because it was like they went off of the main plot not there's much of a plot with a series anyway we don't get to but they kind of beard off and did like Ronan's thing and I was like that's totally fine I would like a whole series about that which might be what we get with this like continuation series as on the film in this video we don't really have any information on the continuation series are on the spin-off series or whatever is happening with like the books that are revolving every room boys so we don't know much right now but if we just have one of their own and focus I'm fine with that and supposed to be like a ronin series so I'm cool with that what was interesting with me and the shipping in this series too is I went in again knowing about some of the ships that people really liked but in the first book I really liked Adam and blue like I really liked them and then in the second book I was really and I still ship Ronin and kaminsky like a lot I know it's that it's problematic but I really I really like it and then you were starting as the books go on to get hints so like that was one like the blue sea stuff started and I started really like them but then halfway through blue Lily Lily blue like that started to get really good like the inks was like blue and Gansey man oh I really I really liked that and then you got hints of Roden and Adam in blue Lily and then you really got it in the Raven king so beware asking me before at the end of the year if like I loved pinched and whatever which is Ronin and Adam it was like I've only read up to blue Lily and they haven't really been confirmed in that book it's like sort of hinted at very very barely hinted eyes even one sided and you don't really get stuff from them until the Raven king so that's exciting although now as of the filming this video and I haven't looked into this a ton meg is doing some possibly problematic stuff whatever straight women are writing queer characters especially men it's it can be can be a little weird and they can do some stuff it's like really crossing some lines so I don't know what about that right now though it's because I haven't looked into it I'm not like deep in this fandom and that's probably gonna be like a constantly evolving thing so who knows but that's a thing that I just want to recognize that I know what's happening I don't know a lot about it and but that being said I just really liked a lot of these romantic interactions how again how Inc do you a lot of it was even like Moira and the gray man uh speaking of I would just love it I measure this my review I would love a series just with the adult women a fox way like can we have an adult series about them because they're basically a girl gang of psychics and I love them a lot and I love how the series well and especially the last book she was like you know no matter depending where you start this story it could be about someone so and I like how the series feels like each of them is living out their story and it's not just about these main characters that any of them are like the star of the story I really enjoyed that I think all the characters developed really well that like I said before they're all really fully fleshed out characters I really enjoyed Adams character arc of being this paranormal magician thing going on with him and then like his real-life traumatic stuff and how at the end he's just like he's okay makes me so happy and like how Noah's like send off with like he's the one time time continuum stuff with poor Noah and just like they're all so pure than it like UEFA's you know about like the ronan finds the tire but they haven't been there yet and just it's all mind-blowing and I'm really excited for that spinoff series because there's so much you can do with this and it just makes me very happy and just like rolling as a character and how much he's like evolved from being just like so self-destructive like still self-destructive but like and I just love all their friendships to like I talked with the relationships and romantic relationships but the friendships man mean a lot to me I love all the boys love one another love how blue loves all the Raven boys my favorite friendship and that group is blue and Rodan blue and Ronin like their banter especially in the last two books was so good like I just I love them like when they're just like say little things to another it's so subtle but just like okay you guys are best friends like you guys need to admit that you're best friends because you are speaking of friends the one thing I thought was kind of weird this is kind of like a plot thing is the breeding in of Henry Chang towards the end and a lot of people in the fandom will include him as like one of the Raven boys in the edits and I'm like he was barely around like I liked him at the end and he's a good character but I'm just like he's not he's not like one of the group well I guess like if a person came into the golden trio in Harry Potter in book seven no that's crazy but that's why I'm saying about the fan of logistic attached into every single character like what but I liked him but he was kind of like thrown in for like the mom his mom's plot and stuff and that's something about this series that I think is weak is the plot like the plot she forgets about it for most of the book up and she throws it at the end that happened with every single book and especially in like blue Lily at the very end when it's like we just covered a demon and then and then it's over what and even just the end of the Raven king it's like you had all these character things which are great and I loved it and then it's just like everything gets wrapped up and I know like that's the thing - at the Gansey death thing feels very cheap because she was so adamant about how she's in the kill Gansey Lola to the point where like in it has been a four shot of the whole time that I'm like okay he's not gonna die because you've been saying it so blatantly this whole time like he's he's not that like something's gonna happen where they're gonna figure it out so I never got like super upset about the potential of him dying so like there's no way because it's been so heavily talked about that they're gonna work out some way around it I mean I thought that the way that was done was interesting and that's why I rated this finale higher than I rate a lot of finales because even though everything did end up generally okay there still are like some things that happen you know like Noah's not around Persephone's not around like they did lose some people but ultimately I think like you're facing a demon I think something more should have happened like I you know Rowan's mom died like I get that but they're also minor and I would have liked like a little more like I almost like I hope can see does die which is horrible because I love him but it's just like you've been saying so much that I don't believe you and that's why it's like okay yeah I knew that he was gonna die and get like brought back or something you know so that was a little weak too and also like I feel like the demon didn't really do much of anything like yeah it was sort of like unmaking but like overall it's like put this to be honest like horrible black magic death creature and it doesn't really like do that much that was a little odd like I feel something I'm comparing it to because I'm reading it right now is I'm currently reading conjuring of light by ve Schwab I'm not gonna talk about any of spoilers for it but there is a like really evil creature in that finale and that finale he's like messing up and that makes sense I feel like the demon wasn't really doing that much like I feel like I should have had more impact like the rest of the world not just the magical parts of it like I feel like there was more that needed to be done with that and knows more just like kind of being creepy and like you know doing some of that stuff so I feel like if that's just another example of the plot just being a little weak and just kind of like thrown together and a lot of things just like thrown in so yeah and a lot of I mean you kind of have this like dos ex machina kind of thing happening with the fact that like Ronan can dream like anything and like the B and stuff that was his dad's dream that Chang brought in and stuff like that you have this element of like they can dream anything and and so it's kind of like I don't feel like there's a ton of risk here they still did a pretty good job again I gave like the whole overall series four stars and the last book four stars and a lot of finales for why fantasy series I give like three and two stars because they're so disappointing so this overall isn't that disappointing because the character stuff is so strong but there are some element of the plot I'm just like okay this isn't as strong as it could be this could be five stars and for me it's not so yeah I will continue to read any books dealing with these characters because I love them I love the atmosphere I love the world I love like everything that it's set up for that it could be like they could have more they're all like so magical and I just really adore them I just wanna know what they're doing because it because I feel like they're characters that are truly existing like out there in the world so I want to like know what they're up to so I'm excited about like the spin-off series I want a book of the Fox play women please give it to me I want it so yeah overall really good series very pleased with it and I'm really glad that I ended up finishing it because for a while there I wasn't going to the dream thieves are still the best I will die on that petit hill it's the best one so comment below let me know what you thought of the Raven cycle thank you all for watching\n"