The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Here it is: the review of the final book in The Raven Cycle, The Raven King. It has been my attempt to make these reviews as spoiler-free as possible, but, as usual, there may be a few spoilers here or there. If you don't want to be spoiled for anything regarding this series or its final book, click X now! 

Plot & The End
As this is the last book in the series, everything is wrapped up. Things happen. Lots of things. There's heartbreak and happiness, moments of pain and joy. I really can't say anymore without spoiling a lot, so let's move on to my analysis, shall we? :p

I don't know how to feel about the climax of this series. In the three previous books, the characters have had to deal with murderous teachers, a cave-in, and LITERAL DRAGONS. The villain of this book is a demon, but how the Gangsey deals with this demon is anti-climactic compared to the climaxes of the previous three books. Also, the quest to find Glendower does not end as one would suspect, which also seems anti-climactic. This book has several things happen not as the characters would wish them to, but in a disappointing way. This is a good lesson to learn in real life... things won't always go the way you plan, and The Raven King exemplifies this. I greatly appreciate Maggie's ability to portray real life in her novels, but, at the same time, these are novels. There are enough disappointments in the real world. Over the course of the books, I came to love the characters so much, and I was so invested in their quest, that I wanted more for them in the end. Things do end happily, but I wanted to see them deal with what happened to them rather than skipping ahead several months to see how they are doing. I wanted to know what happened to the women of 300 Fox Way and some of the other minor characters. I wanted a more satisfying conclusion to the plotlines that Maggie has carefully guided us through in the previous three books.

Laumonier
I'm still amazed at how unique and developed and full Maggie makes her cast of characters in The Raven Cycle. In this book, she introduces several new characters, including triplets named Laumonier (yes, they're all named Laumonier!). How in the world does she come up with characters like this?? They're fascinating to read about.

Henry Cheng
is another new character. He is an Aglionby student who proves his worth to Gansey and becomes his friend. Gansey is, at first, distrustful of Henry, which makes the reader distrustful of him, too. Who is this new person who wants to have the same precedence as Ronan? and Adam? and Blue? Whom we've known since book one? But Henry soon proves his worth to the reader, too. At least, he did for me. He's hard not to love, what with his strange way of speaking and his inability to call Gansey Gansey.

He's also a lot like Gansey and Blue. All three of them are like-minded individuals, whereas Ronan, Adam, and Noah are cut from a different mold. I think it's wonderful that Gansey makes new friends (while keeping the old—that's an old Girl Scouts song) because it shows that he's maturing. He's willing to grow new relationships rather than closing himself off to the world because he already has all the friends he needs. I don't know where Henry came from, or if he was a planned character or an accidental discovery along the way, but I'm so glad that Maggie included him in the book because he's a great addition to the Gangsey.

Favorite Lines

His feelings...were an oil spill; he'd let them overflow and now there wasn't a...place in the ocean that wouldn't catch fire if he dropped a match.

"How old were you, Whoop Whoop Gansey Boy, when you were stung by those bees?"

"No." It was satisfying and terrible to say it out loud, a trigger pulled, the explosion over within a second. Ronan looked around for bodies.

Declan swayed; the bullet had clearly at least grazed him near a vital organ. With effort, he got the arterial spray under control.

But it wasn't that Henry was less of himself in English. He was less of himself out loud. His native language was thought. 

The Camaro broke down.

Content Advisory

In addition to the stuff I've already talked about (mostly swearing), there's a literal demon in this book. It influences characters to evil things, it "unmakes" a forest (the first step in unmaking the world), and it possesses people. It's scary to read about, super intense, and clearly evil.

There's also a homosexual relationship that begins in this book. It has been hinted at in the past two books that Ronan is gay and fancies one of the other male characters; that comes to fruition in this book and they begin a relationship and kiss a few times. While the Bible makes it clear that homosexuality is wrong, I do not believe that it is worse than any other type of sexual sin (such as lust, watching pornography, sleeping with someone outside of marriage, etc.). The world is so saturated by sexual sin that it is nearly impossible to get away from it; therefore, though I know that Ronan's relationship is wrong according to Biblical principles, I chose to continue reading The Raven Cycle because I felt that what I could learn from Maggie's characterization and writing style outweighed my concerns about the content.
I want to make it clear that I do not condone any of the unbiblical behavior in these books. It has made me seriously think about not only homosexuality, but also swearing and psychic activity, and how each of those things relates to me as a Christian.

To a certain extent, I think it's important for Christians to read or watch things that we disagree with because they broaden our understanding of the world around us and they encourage us to grapple with the sin of the world. Sometimes, I think Christians look at sin as a contagious disease: any minor exposure and salvation will be lost. But the truth is that we are all sinners. We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, but we are not perfect, and I think it's important to realize that.
How does that relate to The Raven Cycle? Well, the series has extracted me from my Christian "bubble," so to speak. It made me grapple with areas of sin that I normally would not think about. After reading these books and examining issues that I normally wouldn't examine, I have become even more strongly convinced of the truth of God's word.
I think that, when reading books that contain content that is contrary to the Word of God, it is important to examine not only your heart as you go along, but also the Bible to see what it says about what you're reading. That way, you can stay grounded in the truth as you go along. It's a lot harder to deny truth if it's constantly before your eyes. 

In Conclusion
There are many, many good things about The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Her characters, prose, plotting, and pacing should be studied and emulated. But, for all of the good things in The Raven Cycle, there is an equal number of significant content issues for Christian readers. If you are thinking about reading this series, examine these issues, your own heart, your own susceptibility to certain sins, and pray pray pray before making your decision. 

Have you made it to the end of this series review? If you have, good job! We will return to normal (whatever that is) programming on Saturday. What do you think of The Raven Cycle? Have you read it? Will you read it? Why or why not? Let's have a conversation in the comments! 

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome to my review of the third book in The Raven Cycle, Blue Lily, Lily Blue. As with the previous two books, I am trying to write a non-spoilery review, but there will probably be a spoiler or two that slips passed my radar (like the Rebellion onto a First Order ship...), so beware! 

Plot
Maura is missing. The Gangsey goes spelunking and deals with school. Lots of little plot points are moved forward, and the characters grow. Even the search for Glendower moves forward as Gansey, Blue, Ronan, Adam, and Noah find a big, person-sized clue about the king.

As far as plots go, this one is definitely about the build-up to The End, but it is not slow paced. There is a lot of character development, relationship development, and plot development without spoiling the climax of the final book. Maggie is excellent at pacing. She intersperses action with heartwarming (or heartbreaking) interpersonal scenes. Speaking of interpersonal scenes... a few of my favorite scenes are in this book (like when Ronan and Adam go to the store together and crash their shopping cart). Also, this book has Malory, who may not have a huge purpose, but he adds an element of quirkiness and humor that makes an ever-darkening series a little bit brighter.

Maggie Doesn't Care
I think she was losing her mind in this book... Her writing has always featured a unique voice, but she throws out all conventions and does whatever she wants in this book. It's hilarious, and I wish I could have been there to see her editor's face when he first read it. For example: "She slouched back and sighed big enough to make her lips go blbbphhbbbt." This is also the book that gave us "SQUASH ONE SQUASH TWO."

New Faces
We have Greenmantle, the narcissistic, cowardly, supernatural artifacts collector who is rather amusing to read about. We have Jesse Dittley, the extremely tall country man who berates Blue for NOT EATIN' HER GREENS (his dialogue is entirely in caps because his voice is so sonorous... also evidence that Maggie went crazy during the writing of this book). Finally, we have Malory, Gansey's mentor in all things ley line-related. Malory is from England and comes with a Dog (capital D). He likes tea (but not when it's brewed by teenage boys in their bathroom), and he's a big fan of pigeons. He makes cameos in the first two books as a disembodied voice on the phone, but he actually comes to visit Gansey in this book. All three of these characters are as wonderfully written and developed as anyone else in Maggie Stiefvater's universe. She does very well developing large casts and, as I've said before, making all of her characters into real people.

Favorite Lines:

Henrietta and her environs were a paint box of colors.

"It's a terrible word, anxious. It makes one think of wringing hands and hysteria and bodices."

Even now, after the sun had gone down, [the attic] was several degrees warmer than the house, which made it feel small and close, like a jacket.

Really, with these genetics, I should be taller. 
[Abbey Insert: Same girl, same]

Content Advisory 
There's not much to say in this department that I haven't said already. There are still language concerns and rituals. The only differences from previous books is that is contains several acts of possession and a boy-boy crush. I want to talk more about both of those things in my review of the final book, which shall be live on Wednesday!

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome to my review of The Dream Thieves, the second book in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater! Since I went so in-depth about setting and writing style in my review of The Raven Boys, I thought I'd skip that for my other three reviews and focus on other things instead. Once again, I'm going to try to make my review as spoiler-free as possible, but I'm sure there will be some that I miss, so beware! 

Plot
A hit man comes to Henrietta to find the Greywaren—a magical device that can take things out of dreams and into the real world—for his employer, a collector of supernatural artifacts. Gansey, Blue, Adam, Ronan, Noah, and the other characters from The Raven Boys are also involved with the Greywaren, and become involved with the hit man as a result. Gansey and Blue become better friends, Adam is angry and at odds with everyone, and Ronan is getting into trouble with the drag-racing, drug-smoking Kavinsky. And it all comes to a fiery conclusion on Fourth of July.

The Dream Thieves is my favorite book in the series because, for the first time, we get to see life through Ronan's point-of-view, which gives a lot of insight into his character. This book also has some of my favorite scenes from the entire series in it. This book also features my favorite character, the Gray Man. Also, this book has dragons. As far as plot goes, it's not as easy to grasp as the first book. There are a few things that don't make sense and could be plot holes... though maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. It's a book about secrets and fear and how the characters will handle those two things.

The Gray Man
is my favorite character. His career causes him to be cold, calculating, and dangerous... but, really, he has a huge heart, loves Old English poetry (and can recite it. In Old English. Be still, my beating heart), and can be quite oblivious to normality sometimes. I can tell that Maggie had a fun time writing him because every chapter in which he features is written differently the other chapters in the book. They're very nonchalant and matter-of-fact. The Gray Man is very sensible and also quite heroic. I love him.

Blue
We get to learn more about Blue in this book... like, she tries, really hard, to make herself seem different. Also, she's not a tough girl at heart. Someone gives her a pink switchblade, and she's afraid that she'll end up cutting herself instead of enemies (which she does). She stands up for herself, but she blushes furiously as she does it. She knows that she doesn't need to impress people like Ronan or Kavinsky, but she still tries anyway. She is incredibly smart and sensible, but she's also vain. She's got flaws, and that's what makes her human. She's also not just a love interest, and she even says that to Adam (she's a bit of a feminist, but not overbearingly so).

Details
In my review of The Raven Boys, I mentioned that Maggie is great at adding character and setting details but no in an info-dumpy way. She makes every detail count for something, whether it's giving insight into a character, or adding a joke to lighten the mood. I get the strong sense that every word that Maggie sets to paper matters. She doesn't say too much, and she doesn't say too little. She says just the right amount.

Maggie is also great at creating continuity throughout her books. For example, the running joke that Blue hates Gansey's top siders and polo shirts. And let's not forget the continuity she creates by using repetition to her advantage! She uses a lot of repetition to emphasize stuff in her books. The most impressive use of repetition comes in book four when she starts several chapters in a row with "It was 6:21."

Another thing that I love about The Raven Cycle is the linguistic and historical detail Maggie puts into the books. She not only uses English to her advantage, but also Latin, Old English, and French. There is so much Latin in this series! And in this book, a lot of Old English due to the Gray Man. She not only includes many phrases of these languages (often without translation, so you need Google translate near you in addition to a dictionary), but references literary works and events from history also. Maggie must be so smart (and a great researcher!). Serious work goes into these books, and I admire and appreciate that a great deal. If I know that someone has put effort into something, I automatically enjoy it more than I normally would.

Favorite lines

The Gray Man had been called effervescent once, in an article. He was fairly certain it was because he had very straight teeth. Even teeth seemed a prerequisite for effervescence.

Gansey, dangling his arm outside, patted the side of the car as if it were a horse. "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

As he sat, a single mosquito found its way into the car and worried at his ear, a high tremelo against the basso continuo of the rain and thunder.

Blue noticed that the Gray Man was abruptly not interested in who was on the phone. Which was interesting because he had been so interested in absolutely everything else before.

Which Blue took to mean that, really, he was very interested in who might be on the phone, only he didn't want them to know he was interested.

Which was interesting.

The Maura made something with butter and Calla made something with bacon and Blue steamed broccoli in self-defense. 

Content Advisory
Although this is my favorite book in the series, it also has some of the most worrying content. There's a character in this book called Kavinsky and he is the scum of the earth. He drinks, he makes and does drugs, he swears to rival Ronan (it's real fun when the two of them are in a scene together *rolls eyes*), and he's always making inappropriate sexual comments about everyone. There's one scene in particular that is fairly intense where Kavinsky and Ronan get drunk and pop pills together (for a plot purpose, but still, it's not great to read about).
Luckily, the Gangsey (as Gansey and his friends are so affectionately called by their fandom) knows that Kavinsky is scum, but that doesn't stop us from having to read about him and his despicable lifestyle. This is also the first book where we get a hint that Ronan is gay, but I'll discuss that more in my review of book four.
Maggie holds nothing back in her villain creation. She makes them as horrible as she can and does not spare the sensitive reader at all. If I had a hard time recommending book one because of the content, I absolutely cannot recommend book two, yet there is still a lot to learn in this book about writing. Again, before you pick up this series, think and pray about it.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I've wanted to review The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater since I first read them last summer. Christmas Break was the perfect time to re-read them and take notes. Clearly, since I've read these books twice in the past seven months, I enjoyed them, yet there are some content concerns that I would like to discuss also. I am going to try and make these reviews as non-spoilery as I can, but some things will inevitably slip out, so beware! Also, this review highlights several things that I like about the entire series. The next three book reviews will be shorter and more specific. 

The Plot
The Raven Cycle is about a group of friends who—in their search for the body of a dead Welsh king buried somewhere in Virginia—discover that magic is real and more powerful and dangerous than they ever imagined.
Within the first few chapters of book one, The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater introduces readers to her characters and plot. Blue Sargent comes from a family of female psychics who live together in 300 Fox Way, a big house filled with random doo-dads (including a signed portrait of Steve Martin!) and strong opinions. Every psychic that Blue has ever met has told her the same thing: she will kill her true love if she kisses him. Blue, a sensible sixteen-year-old, figures that not kissing people will be easy. Easy, that is, until her life becomes entwined with Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. These four boys are "raven boys" who go to Aglionby, the expensive, all-boys boarding school in Henrietta, Virginia. Normally, Blue would scorn raven boys, but these boys are different. Gansey has been collecting information about Glendower, a dead Welsh king, for seven years. Supposedly, instead of dying, Glendower was put to sleep and carried to the United States via ley line; he will grant whoever awakens him a favor. Gansey and his friends each have different reasons for wanting to find Glendower, but they are all loyal to the cause, and they soon adopt Blue into their group.

As far as plots go, The Raven Boys is a bit slow to start, but it's not noticeable. Maggie takes her time to set up her characters and her plot, but she does not bog down the reader with useless details. Besides which, her prose is so beautiful and witty that I could read her shopping lists and not get bored. This book and it's villain are tame compared to the later books in the series, but that's a good thing because Maggie gives her plot, characters, and villains room to grow. She is excellent at pacing her character's growth with plot developments, and her plot developments with action scenes. She also does a LOT of foreshadowing that you don't notice until you re-read the book!

Characters
The characters are my favorite part of The Raven Cycle. They are not caricatures. They are not archetypes. They are fully developed with pasts, futures, lives, likes, dislikes, and voices. They are real people, and their characteristics are consistently carried out and developed through all four books. One thing that Maggie does to develop her characters so well is slip in sentences or paragraphs of backstory, which shows that her characters existed before this book came into being. They aren't info-dumpy backstory bits either. Usually, they are quirky stories that make you go "ah, so that's why so-and-so is the way he/she is." She also shows her characters living normal lives. Yes, they are searching for a dead Welsh king and messing about with magic that they don't understand, but they still have to go to the store and buy snacks and they still have to go to school, do homework, and (in the case of Blue and Adam) work several jobs. And they still have to sleep sometimes, too, or (in the case of Gansey and Ronan) face the consequences of insomnia. Just because Maggie's characters are on a quest doesn't mean that they forget about real life.

Blue is sensible and vain. She is the only non-psychic is a houseful of psychics, and so she tries to make herself unique in other ways. She sews and crochets clothes together to make new creations, she wears her short hair up with many clips to contain it, and she prides herself on being an enigma at school. She is also a reader. Maggie doesn't make a huge deal of this, but it's there if you look close enough.
I like Blue a lot. I like that she's sensible. I like that she has purpose. She's not just there to fall in love with someone. She's a great example of a strong female character. (She's also got great style.)

Gansey is at once passionate and polite, depending on which Gansey is needed at the moment. When he is with his friends, he is Gansey-driven-to-insomnia from his intense passion for Welsh history and Glendower. When he is with the world at large, he is Gansey-the-heir-to-millions who can talk to anyone about anything.
It's impossible not to love Gansey. At first, he comes off as a naive pretty boy who doesn't know anything about the real world (this is how Blue first perceives him), but then when you get to know him better, you see that he cares deeply for his friends, family, justice, and Glendower. He also has anxiety, though it may not be noticeable to those who don't have experience with it.
Actually, that's something else that I love about Maggie's characterization... Gansey has anxiety, but that's not what the book is about. Blue (and her mother) cares for the environment, but that's not what the book is about. The Raven Cycle is full of real-world issues, but that's not what the series is about. Maggie doesn't make them a big deal. She treats them as normal, which is a brilliant way to make your characters into real people rather than archetypes or poster children for disease or mental health or abuse. She's inclusive, and she does deal with some hard topics, but it's a subplot instead of the main storyline. Kind of how my asthma is a subplot to my life, rather than the main storyline.

Adam is practical and prideful (and a little like Blue in that way). Adam comes from a trailer park and an abusive home rather than from money, like Gansey and Ronan. To pay for his tuition at Aglionby, he works three jobs. And he refuses help from his friends. He insists on doing everything by himself. He doesn't want to owe anybody anything—he doesn't want to be owned by anyone (which is probably a result of being abused his whole life).
Adam's story arc is heartbreaking and hard to read about, but he is also the character who has the most growth in the series. It's interesting to watch his interactions with each of the other characters. You learn to care deeply for Adam in this book.

Ronan is the most immature of all of the characters, at least in book one. He is most what you'd imagine a teenage boy to be. In his grief over the death of his father, he has become an explosion of anger, swearing, crazy stunts, and unhappiness. Glimpses of pre-father's-death Ronan emerge, though, like in his care of Chainsaw (his pet raven) and his fierce loyalty to those he cares about.
In spite of his foul language, Ronan is one of my favorite characters because of his development and because of a special ability that he possesses. There are many more interesting things about Ronan. For example, the language he understands best is action. He's not great at expressing his thoughts or feelings through words (unless they're swear words), but you'll definitely know how Ronan is feeling through his actions.

Noah is the quietest and most awkward member of Gansey's friend group. Nevertheless, he is vitally important to the plot.
Even though Noah is easily looked over, he is one of my favorite characters. He's rather pitiful, and he's as courageous as the lion from The Wizard of Oz, but he's a good friend and his dog-like affection for Blue is adorable.

Blue's family are also important in the story, which is wonderful since so many YA books feature missing parents. Indeed, none of the boys have present (Gansey), loving (Adam), or alive (Ronan) parents, but the women of 300 Fox Way adopt the boys and give them advice as mothers (and psychics) are wont to do. Blue has never met her father, but her mother Maura is an integral secondary character. Additionally, Maura's two best friends Calla and Persephone are important, as are Blue's half-aunt, Neeve; cousin, Orla; and aunt, Jimi. Despite being secondary characters, Maggie has developed each of the women at 300 Fox Way into real people, too. Well-done secondary characters are my favorite, and The Raven Cycle is full of them.

Setting and Such Things
So, Maggie Stiefvater makes her setting INTO A LITERAL CHARACTER. Like, the setting is alive. Cabeswater is a magical forest that lives and responds to the characters' thoughts. How cool is that? There are several other (non-living settings)...
-Quirky and female-dominated 300 Fox Way.
-Henrietta, Virginia, where the characters live.
-Monmouth Manufacturing, a re-purposed factory where Gansey, Ronan, and Noah live.
-The Pig, Gansey's constantly breaking, bright orange, 1973 Camaro.
Maggie's settings are aesthetic embodied. They are so much entangled with the plots and characters that I can't help but think of the settings when I think about the series. I have never read a book where the setting is so prevalent before. Maggie uses the same type of details that she uses about her characters to describe her places. She drops in details like they're nothing, but they really stick in the reader's mind because of her word choice.

Writing Style
If you've heard anything about Maggie Stiefvater, it's probably that her prose is gorgeous. Well, it's true. She is incredibly good at stringing words together in a pleasing manner. She is the Master of Metaphor and a Wizard of Wit. Here are a few of my favorite lines from The Raven Boys to give you an idea of her writing style, since I don't think I can do it justice by simply describing it:

Maura had decided sometime before Blue's birth that it was barbaric to order children about, and so Blue had grown up surrounded by imperative question marks.

Both of them could trot out logic on a nice little leash, wearing a smart plaid jacket, when they wanted to.

...he had the overpowering chemical scent of a manly shower gel. The sort that normally came in a black bottle and was called something like SHOCK or EXCITE or BLUNT TRAUMA.

She is also able to write dialogue very well; it sounds as though her characters are really speaking because she writes dialogue more like actual speech patterns than like grammatically correct sentences. Additionally, Maggie inserts snippets of identifiable truths into her novel in a quiet, unassuming way, just like she does with her character and setting details. One last thing that I enjoy about Maggie's writing is her vocabulary. She uses words like "quiddity" and "striated" and makes you take out the dictionary and expand your word horde. 

Content Advisory
In the words of Hamlet, "Ay, there's the rub" (III.i).
The Raven Cycle has a lot of problematic content for Christian readers.
First of all, the psychics. Blue's family does tarot readings, they scry, they do rituals, they meet with spirits. Neeve, Blue's half-aunt goes a little too far with her rituals sometimes, and the other women in 300 Fox Way know that, so I suppose there is a limit to what they're willing to do... But, according to the Bible, that kind of stuff—however "far" a person takes it—is wrong. I believe that if someone is engaging with spirits/a spiritual power that is not the Holy Spirit, that spirit/spiritual power is of the devil, for if it is not of God, then it must be of the devil. It's a little more complicated than that in The Raven Cycle, however, for the magic system is based in psychic activity (like the magic system from the Mistborn books is based in metal alloys). Thinking of the psychic content in this way made me enjoy and understand the books more, but I still want to caution readers who are wary about psychic activity. This may not be the series for you if psychics and spirits bother you.

Another content issue is Ronan's swearing. He swears. A lot. And not just PG-13 movie swearing... We're talking rated R for language books here, people (and also a lot of taking God's name in vain). Although I don't condone Ronan's swearing, as a writer, I do think it's an interesting character trait to have him swear so much when the other characters hardly ever swear. That's true to my experience of life... I have some friends who swear (like Ronan), but I have other friends who never swear (like Blue). Maggie clearly does not put swearing in her books because she doesn't have a good vocabulary, because she has excellent word choice in her novels. She does it because it's just a part of who Ronan is. If you are sensitive to language content (and specifically the f-word), you may want to skip these books.

There are some intense scenes as well. Adam is beaten by his father several times, and there are a few attempted murders/actual murders.

Overall
I think The Raven Boys (and The Raven Cycle in general) can teach writers a lot about character development, the use of setting as an integral part of the story, and how to use words themselves in beautiful written prose; however, there are also content issues that make me very hesitant to recommend this series. My advice to you, if you are thinking about picking up this series, is to do some serious thinking about what your tolerance for psychics and swearing is. Pray about it. Everyone is sensitive to varying degrees to different things.

Stay tuned for my review of the second book in The Raven Cycle later this week!

I'm curious, have any of you read The Raven Boys? What do you think about serious content issues in novels, movies, or TV? If the story features great characters and great writing, does that make up for content issues? Where do we, as Christian readers, draw the line? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!