With a good ending to conclude both the story overall and the Raven King, this book could have gotten 4 or 5 stars from me. But the way story was wrapped up felt so slapdash, it's almost like there was a character limit and the author had already met that and couldn't mention some of the most important characters. I really wanted Noah to have a better closure, as one of the Ravens from the start and someone without whose sacrifices the story wouldn't exist. I want to know what happened to Artemus, Maura and the Gray Man. To Gwenllian. To Henry's mother, Seondeok, to Matthew and Declan, to other residents of 300 Fox Way... Even without all these explanations and closures I could've liked it more if only there weren't a "happy ending" where everything and everyone is okay. What these kids have done are grand in the scheme of things and they just move on to enjoyable gap years and beautiful summers? I would have expected a more realistic ending from this overall amazing series and I think this would be achieved with Gansey's death as it was foretold.
Another thing that I didn't like was the treatment POC or immigrants received. We have two parents who aren't American and both of them (Henry's mom and Kavinsky's father) are associated with the mob. Do I even need to explain why it made me angry??
The ending and the representation aside, this series is still one of the best I've read this year and I believe it's going to continue to be among my favorites for some time for all its magic, creativity, and most importantly amazing CHARACTERS.
With a good ending to conclude both the story overall and the Raven King, this book could have gotten 4 or 5 stars from me. But the way story was wrapped up felt so slapdash, it's almost like there was a character limit and the author had already met that and couldn't mention some of the most important characters. I really wanted Noah to have a better closure, as one of the Ravens from the start and someone without whose sacrifices the story wouldn't exist. I want to know what happened to Artemus, Maura and the Gray Man. To Gwenllian. To Henry's mother, Seondeok, to Matthew and Declan, to other residents of 300 Fox Way... Even without all these explanations and closures I could've liked it more if only there weren't a "happy ending" where everything and everyone is okay. What these kids have done are grand in the scheme of things and they just move on to enjoyable gap years and beautiful summers? I would have expected a more realistic ending from this overall amazing series and I think this would be achieved with Gansey's death as it was foretold.
Another thing that I didn't like was the treatment POC or immigrants received. We have two parents who aren't American and both of them (Henry's mom and Kavinsky's father) are associated with the mob. Do I even need to explain why it made me angry??
The ending and the representation aside, this series is still one of the best I've read this year and I believe it's going to continue to be among my favorites for some time for all its magic, creativity, and most importantly amazing CHARACTERS.