Books: The Raven King
Every year I tell myself to use this journal for more than just Yuletide, but I am a) lazy and b) really busy, so my good intentions always seem to crumble. But! I really wanted to write a post about The Raven King, even though I read it so long ago now and thus this post is terribly belated. This post is really going to be my distilled thoughts about it, as my reading was so long ago.
The Raven Cycle has been very important to me. When The Raven Boys came out, I had decided to stay in the UK after two years of living abroad. I had just got a job in a very new company and there were already little warning flags going up about how toxic that office was going to become. When The Dream Thieves came out, that job had deteriorated to the point that I was excruciatingly anxious, unable to sleep and constantly nauseous, but reading The Dream Thieves was the thing that motivated me to get up in the morning. When Blue Lily, Lily Blue came out I wasn't at that job anymore. I had started a new job, in my dream company, and I was seeing a counsellor for the anxiety left behind by the old job. It took time, so much longer than I had expected, but it felt like slowly returning to myself. The Raven Cycle was the first thing I had felt fannish about in ages. I was reading fic regularly. I was writing - though most of it is still sitting entrenched in my laptop. I made friends though it and met some of my absolute favourite people.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Raven King had a lot hanging on it when it came out. It simultaneously benefited and suffered from that - the series has been so important to me that I was prepared immediately to love it and to overlook flaws. But I was also hoping for so, so, so much, with years worth of hope.
So here are my thoughts, which I am bulletpointing for ease of reading:
( The Raven King - cut for spoilers )
The Raven Cycle has been very important to me. When The Raven Boys came out, I had decided to stay in the UK after two years of living abroad. I had just got a job in a very new company and there were already little warning flags going up about how toxic that office was going to become. When The Dream Thieves came out, that job had deteriorated to the point that I was excruciatingly anxious, unable to sleep and constantly nauseous, but reading The Dream Thieves was the thing that motivated me to get up in the morning. When Blue Lily, Lily Blue came out I wasn't at that job anymore. I had started a new job, in my dream company, and I was seeing a counsellor for the anxiety left behind by the old job. It took time, so much longer than I had expected, but it felt like slowly returning to myself. The Raven Cycle was the first thing I had felt fannish about in ages. I was reading fic regularly. I was writing - though most of it is still sitting entrenched in my laptop. I made friends though it and met some of my absolute favourite people.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that The Raven King had a lot hanging on it when it came out. It simultaneously benefited and suffered from that - the series has been so important to me that I was prepared immediately to love it and to overlook flaws. But I was also hoping for so, so, so much, with years worth of hope.
So here are my thoughts, which I am bulletpointing for ease of reading:
( The Raven King - cut for spoilers )