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Make way for the raven king
Jan. 30th, 2024 06:32 pmIn fall 2013, when I was bored and lonely, I read the first two books of the Raven Cycle. I fell so violently in love with the characters that I made a fresh AO3 account to post fic of them. Three years, twelve fics, and countless stupid tumblr wanks later, I bought the fourth and final book the week it came out, but never got around to reading it because it was 2016 and I had other shit going on.
Until fall 2023, when I was bored and lonely and nostalgic and decided to read the entire Raven Cycle and Dreamer Trilogy back to back. My AO3 account was about to turn ten years old, and I wanted to dive back into the fandom that gave birth to her.
Anything under a cut may contain spoilers, so here's my non-spoilery review of the entire series: mostly positive, still one of my faves. Even the books with a lot of flaws had fun, beautiful moments. I'll always love the rich characters and relationships and settings and language, even when the plot and side quests and villain POV chapters drag. I liked a few controversial plot developments because they weren't the worst possible option, and I loved a lot of elements that the fandom was seething with rage over.
THE RAVEN CYCLE: 9.05/10
The first 75% of this series was my rabid obsession a decade ago, so my ability to rationally review the series as a whole is somewhat limited. I did reread all four books in September 2023, and my overall impression is one of very high highs and pretty low lows. I can still feel the magic I felt in 2013, and I have a different appreciation of some elements ten years down the line.
( Books 1-4 )
THE DREAMER TRILOGY: 9.23/10
If you told me in 2015 that the sequel trilogy to the Raven Cycle would be primarily set in Boston and Cambridge, with Declan Lynch as a tragic passionate woobie protagonist and a major plot revolving around the sensual magic of John Singer Sargent paintings, I would've exploded with glee. I could've used more Gansey and Blue (although their one texting appearance was delightful), but I got plenty of my faves Adam and Declan to make up for it. This series has some of the same flaws as the Raven Cycle, but I think it resolves them in a much more satisfying and well-plotted way.
( Books 1-3 )
I have a few additional thoughts about fandom and shipping, but this is long already and I don't think anyone on my flist is active in this fandom anymore. Might make a part two, or just chat in the comments.
Until fall 2023, when I was bored and lonely and nostalgic and decided to read the entire Raven Cycle and Dreamer Trilogy back to back. My AO3 account was about to turn ten years old, and I wanted to dive back into the fandom that gave birth to her.
Anything under a cut may contain spoilers, so here's my non-spoilery review of the entire series: mostly positive, still one of my faves. Even the books with a lot of flaws had fun, beautiful moments. I'll always love the rich characters and relationships and settings and language, even when the plot and side quests and villain POV chapters drag. I liked a few controversial plot developments because they weren't the worst possible option, and I loved a lot of elements that the fandom was seething with rage over.
THE RAVEN CYCLE: 9.05/10
The first 75% of this series was my rabid obsession a decade ago, so my ability to rationally review the series as a whole is somewhat limited. I did reread all four books in September 2023, and my overall impression is one of very high highs and pretty low lows. I can still feel the magic I felt in 2013, and I have a different appreciation of some elements ten years down the line.
( Books 1-4 )
THE DREAMER TRILOGY: 9.23/10
If you told me in 2015 that the sequel trilogy to the Raven Cycle would be primarily set in Boston and Cambridge, with Declan Lynch as a tragic passionate woobie protagonist and a major plot revolving around the sensual magic of John Singer Sargent paintings, I would've exploded with glee. I could've used more Gansey and Blue (although their one texting appearance was delightful), but I got plenty of my faves Adam and Declan to make up for it. This series has some of the same flaws as the Raven Cycle, but I think it resolves them in a much more satisfying and well-plotted way.
( Books 1-3 )
I have a few additional thoughts about fandom and shipping, but this is long already and I don't think anyone on my flist is active in this fandom anymore. Might make a part two, or just chat in the comments.
