The Ravens is the story every witch-obsessed teenage girl wants to read (and quite a few young adults too). It is simply the story of two college girls who are part of a sorority which actually turns out to be a coven. We have Scarlett, the more experienced and older sorority member who is keen to fight for her place as leader (and also for her failing relationship with her boyfriend) and Vivi, the new girl who is discovering she is a witch for the first time (among a blossoming romance with none other than Scarlett's boyfriend). Tensions rise when the use of dark magic is suspected and a girl from the sorority goes missing.
I was lucky enough to be given both an audio and an e-ARC of this book, so I'm in the unique position of having listened to 75% of it and read the other 25% physically. I will say, I wish I had listened to less of it as I connected so much more with the written version. The audiobook is fine and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but this book has a very specific style of dialogue and I think it got lost a bit in translation. When I was listening, I found that the characters blended together more. I could tell Vivi and Scarlett apart but I had no idea there were even two male characters until I read someone else's review on Goodreads. The dialogue being very stylised also means that it comes off a bit awkward when it is read out loud.
As soon as I switched to the ebook though, I was hooked. Instantly the characters and plot came to life, and I desperately wanted more of this world. I think this is a fantastic set up for a much larger, Buffy-esque series focusing on this sorority fighting the powers of darkness and I really want that. This is a solid fantasy story with a cool use of magic, interesting worldbuilding and great characters to populate that world.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I definitely have plans again to read it entirely in print as I think it will get a higher rating from me. As it is, it still has a lot of strengths and I want to be clear that my view of the audiobook is mostly down to personal taste and preference. If you enjoy witchy stories and like a focus on exploring the supernatural through college-age characters, you should definitely give The Ravens a try.
Overall Rating:
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