The Raven Cycle

(The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and The Raven King)

By Maggie Stiefvater

5/5

As I have mentioned in a previous post, Maggie Steifvater is one of, if not, my favourite author. Her books are incredibly poetic and despite being fantasy novels, are so realistic that you believe that magic and the supernatural is possible, if not the norm. I began reading this series around this time last year and I purchased the final book in the series, The Raven King, as it came out and this past week I have been re-reading this first three in preparation for the final book which I read today.

This series is incredible and so unlike anything I have ever read before. I love every single character and my favourite Raven Boy changes with each book (my heart currently belongs to Ronan Lynch). Every single couple in this book is perfect but I love a certain couple that little bit more (not to give too much away but the pairing does involve my love, Ronan).  I honestly don’t know how to review these books without just gushing about how brilliant they are. The characters are vibrant and alive, the story is unique and imaginative and the setting is magical and mysterious. There is a third person narrative throughout which I don’t usually like but each chapter tends to focus on a particular character or characters so you get to understand and really know them as individuals. I think my favourite of the four books is Blue Lily, Lily Blue as I believe the characters go through the most development and we really get to know them in this book.

I don’t have anything negative to say about this series and so I recommend for everyone to read it, no matter what genre of book you’re usually interested in.