ALL HAIL THE RAVEN KING.

Can we just start out with: I love this book. I love this series. Maggie Stiefvater is one of the most talented writers of our generation/of all time. Where is Kanye when I need him? OF ALL TIME, Y’ALL.

Here’s an excerpt of my review of the first book, just so you know what the series is about:

Blue, daughter of a ‘seer’ (a clairvoyant), has a unique skill. Although she can’t communicate with the spirit world herself, her presence amplifies clairvoyant and psychic abilities in those around her. And when she sees the dying ghost of a boy named Gansey on St. Mark’s Eve in the church graveyard, her mother tells her it can only mean one of two things. Either he is her true love, or she’ll kill him by the time the year is out. And those points may not be mutually exclusive.

Set in small-town Virginia, this lyrical mystery weaves the viewpoints of the local “Raven Boys” from a prestigious private school with Blue’s own sharp narration. The boys aren’t like normal rich kids – they are searching for buried treasure in the form of an un-dead historical figure, waiting to grant his finder any wish. Blue is drawn to them, even as she knows that Gansey will soon die. With several twists, this book will keep readers flipping pages well in to the night.

Okay. Now that that’s out of the way…THE RAVEN KING is the last book in the Raven Cycle, a four book series. It was so amazing. Each book builds on the last, creating a fascinating urban/fantasy/magical realist world (depending on who you talk to, I’m sure) that I just cannot get enough of. Part Southern Gothic in the  vein of Anne Rice, part YA teen angst, part just amazing fantasy, you will not be able to put it down. And if you haven’t started the series, lucky you! You get to read all four at once.

I’m jelly.

Blue is a a heroin we can root for, Gansey is so swoonworthy it hurts (OMG he calls her Jane, JANE and I can’t stand it I love it) and we cannot wait for them to get together. Maggie is an absolutely phenomenal writer. She grabs you from the word go, and you will not look away.

I loved the mythology, I loved the setting, I loved the characters.

I loved the CARS. Gosh, there are just not enough cars in books. I loved Gansey’s Camaro, since I have one, too. I loved the details of these books, the complex character relationships…Truly a masterpiece.

In conclusion: Buy all four books. Read them. Tell everyone you love about them. Maggie Stiefvater wins this decade for best series.

Fin.