The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater (audio)

Source: Purchased
Audible, 11+ hrs.
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The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, is the fourth installment in the Raven Boys series of books, and it is a looped and twisted journey that could have readers wondering how much time has folded over onto itself.

***Read this series in order. SPOILERS below***

Stiefvater packs this installment with revelations about Blue Sargent, who is from a family of psychics and who has been told most of her life that her kiss will cause the death of her true love. Noah, Adam, Ronan, and Gansey have become a family throughout the trials of the Raven Cycle, and this tight-knit group learns to make room not only for Blue but also Henry.  They know that Gansey is fated to die and that Blue’s kiss will lead to that death, but they continue to make plans and find a way to prevent that from happening.  Amidst these plans, these young people are falling in love and tentatively walking on egg shells around one another until they can bear it no longer.  Stiefvater does a fantastic job of depicting young, tentative love.

Patton as always is a terrific narrator, and readers will never be lost as to which character is speaking and to whom. His acting skills come alive with Stiefvater’s prose, and he breathes life into the swirling magic that surrounds these characters, much of it wrapped up in the dream-forest called Cabeswater.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton, is a wonderful conclusion to the series, but there is enough of an opening that should she choose, Stiefvater could return to these characters or even just some of them to begin new adventures in magic.

RATING: Quatrain

Other Reviews:

• Shiver
• Linger
• Forever
• Sinner
• The Raven Boys
• The Dream Thieves
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader. All of Maggie Stiefvater’s life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you’re a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she’s tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She’s made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia.