Are Blue’s lips made of some magical cyanide that’s tailored only to Gangey? Is her spit deadly because of her unique half-breed nature? Is she doomed to never be able to kiss anyone? WE DON’T KNOW. I don’t think it’s any kind of spoiler to note that it does happen, and it does what everyone’s afraid it will do.īut WHY? No attempt at an answer is given. The tension that had been so skillfully maintained between Blue and Gansey in the previous three books comes to a much-anticipated head. But as he also brought along some cringey moments of self-hating racism, I don’t know how much more readily. A bonus Raven Boy who, unfortunately, felt tossed in as an afterthought-(perhaps to add some needed cultural diversity?) Had he been significantly threaded in through at least one or two of the previous books, I could have accepted his presence more readily. He’s simply a last-minute add-on to the Gansey entourage who doubles as a plot device. But as it turned out, it was a more straightforward case than that. I spent most of this book suspecting he was some terrible infiltrating foe-a last-minute addition to the evil badguy list. But the most memorable things I take issue with are entirely worldbuilding and plot-hole related: The scene arrangement was disjointed, and the pacing lagged at several points. In a lot of ways, this book felt different from the previous three books in the series. And supernatural aspects are granted a pleasantly eerie weight. Emotions are well threaded, yet subtly presented. Stiefvater’s prose, as usual, maintains her uniquely ethereal style. With the close of this series, he’s the character I’m most sad to say goodbye to. >.>)įor all his faults, Ronan is loyal, fearless, unconventionally loving, and very much his own person. (And if you’ve now joined me in this revelation and can’t help reading Ronan’s dialogue in Buford’s voice… you’re welcome. In this book, it finally occurred to me that the reason I love him so is because he’s basically a late-teen version of Buford from Phineas and Ferb.

His chemistry with the other characters, as well as with the Raven Boys as a unit, is what kept me reading-even when the answers we finally received seemed less than satisfying. Still endearingly foul-mouthed and attitudinally maladaptive. The highlight, as it has been since book #2, was Ronan. Not everyone is making it through this alive. Glendower is nearly found, and the evil awoken in book #3 is on the move. The fourth book, and conclusion to The Raven Cycle series.

The raven cycle book 4