Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Ravens

This is a great read! I enjoyed the twist on sorority life by having them be a coven of witches. I also enjoyed it wasn't stereotypical sorority girls the entire time, but the girls are genuine and care for one another. This story takes you on twists and turns while going back and forth between a young naive witch and a more experienced witch who while they're dealing with this greater struggle as a group, both witches have eternal conflicts.

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whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘨𝘺𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘧𝘪𝘵?"

Vivi has never lived anywhere long enough to make friends. Her Mother up and moves their life everytime her tarot cards show danger on the horizon. But finally she is free, about to start her first semester at Westerly College. She finds herself pledging to be apart of The Ravens, but she has no idea that these aren't just regular sorority girls, they're witches.

The Ravens is absolutely dripping in witchy shenanigans and girl power. I was just singing "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves' in my head whilst reading. This was just the fun, and engaging read I needed, and once I hit the halfway point, I couldn't read it fast enough.

Vivi Devereaux and Scarlett Winter (now those are some badass witch names) are the two perspectives we switch between in the book. I often find with YA that a lot of the characters can feel a bit samey, but these two girls couldn't be more different. I really loved the contrasting driving forces to both of the narratives, and how their stories came together.

If you love magic academic settings, then you need to add this to your reading list immediately. There's a sequel out early next year called The Monarchs, and I am dying to get my hands on it. I recommend reading this with your own coven, chatting about this one with @littleredlibrary and @bristolianbooks made the experience even more fun.

Thanks so much to Hodder for the gifted copy of this one 🧡

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pagesofquinn's review

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dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a ride.

At Westerly College, a coven of witches hides in plain sight as the sorority sisters of Kappa Rho Nu, known around campus as the Ravens. Rivalry sparks within the sisterhood between our two main characters, powerful new pledge Vivi and Scarlett, the soon-to-be president who is tasked with showing her the ropes despite thinking she doesn't have what it takes. However, old secrets haunt the Kappa house and the Ravens must come together to protect their sisterhood.

This book is the definition of a page-turner: action-packed from start to finish and brimming with magic and mystery. Every plot twist and revelation brought with it just as many new questions as it answered, propelling the story forwards through this blend of fantasy and thriller.

This cast of characters is so diverse and distinctive. The contrast between our two protagonists created such an interesting dynamic in their relationship as 'sisters', especially when we got to see their ongoing conflicts from both sides of the argument. The other sisters, though much less present in the overall story, popped in at perfectly placed points throughout to provide insight and encouragement which contributed so much to Vivi's growth as she struggles to understand her new-found power. I also really loved the whole theme of sisterhood that ran throughout the book and the way that all the girls banded together to face whatever threats came their way. It was really heart-warming to see them bond and learn from one another and, whether it was tricky spell-work or campus party etiquette, they always supported one another through every situation.

My one gripe with this book was the inclusion of the love interests of both Vivi and Scarlett. Both plot lines felt a little weak compared to the drama of everything else going on and, although it was a nice reprieve in amongst all of that, I almost feel it would've been better had they been left out and keeping the story focused on the sisterhood. I did really like both of the love interests individually but their respective romances didn't feel as though they had enough time to grow naturally.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it to anyone after a witchy thriller read with plenty of girl power.

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artsybrea's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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