The Raven King: The Raven Cycle, Book 4

This magical finale is so good readers will laugh; cry; scream, "Finally!"; and want to reread the entire four books again. Even skeptical young adult readers should take a chance on Maggie Stiefvater's four-part masterwork, the culmination of more than 10 years of dreaming and writing that resulted in a series that gets better and better with each installment. This final volume is even more firmly rooted in the magic, the dreams, the relationships that Stiefvater has cultivated. While the twisting plot may at times feel slightly anticlimactic, it's purposeful, because this story isn't about the plot but about the characters, and the characters once again shine so brightly your heart will ache with the power of their love for one another. Yes, Blue's curse and Gansey's foretold death that Stiefvater introduces in the very first chapter of the very first book are on everyone's minds, but ultimately there's so much more to this book than whether that is true or not.

What's certainly true is that each of the boys becomes a King in his own way. Blue finds out more about her past, especially her father, but it's the boys' character arcs that breathtakingly come full circle. After teasing at the Ronan-Adam connection for two books, these two at last come to terms with the obvious attraction. Early on Adam remarks that "making Ronan Lynch smile felt as heated as making a bargain with Cabeswater," and in one of the book's most evocative lines Ronan says that "his feelings for Adam were an oil spill; he'd let them overflow and now there wasn't a damn place in the ocean that wouldn't catch fire if he dropped a match." Of course, there are a few aspects of the book some readers will undoubtedly take issue with, such as the reintroduction of charming, rich Gansey-like Henry Cheng as a much more prominent ally and fast friend to Gansey and Blue (and eventually Ronan and Adam, since to befriend one is to befriend all). But in this case, a new (and overtly diverse) perspective helps them all and reminds them that they can indeed care about other (new) people, such as Mr. Gray or Jesse Dittley. Overall, there's so much to love about The Raven King that, despite it being unputdownable, you won't want it to end.