The Ravens

I am not the target market for this book. I read it as I received it as part of my Illumicrate subscription, which has introduced me to some books I enjoyed that I might not have read otherwise. This book unfortunately is not one of those.

The key setting of a sorority of witches immediately puts me in a less than thrilled place. Fraternities/Sororities are such an American thing that other than through film I have no real reference for them in my own experience. What I have seen of them from film and TV make them seem uniquely elitist and populated by particularly obnoxious people. This book does nothing to change that opinion. I honestly found myself disliking every character in this book. The teenage angsty love triangle stuff also is a huge turnoff for me.

The prose was passable enough, the plot line derivative but workable, but ultimately the setting just made this a book that I struggled to enjoy.

Books, Coffee & Passion

The Ravens had a promising premise: a sorority that is a coven of witches; the two main characters are Scarlett Winters, a legacy Raven, and Vivi Deveraux, a freshman that is pledging in it. Scarlett's purpose is clear: she wants to be the sorority's next president following her mother and sister's footsteps. Vivi is excited to be in college and away from her mother. She's not interested in sororities and she's shocked when she gets an invitation to pledge in the very exclusive Kappa.

I was excited about this book. The premise sounded amazing but the execution had its flaws. Apart from Scarlett and Vivi, the other characters weren't very fleshed out. The characters' descriptions were also a little weird. The story is told from Scarlett and Vivi's point of view. Scarlett was my favorite POV, by far. She was a great character and the only one who had significant character growth in this story. I liked her. She had a backbone and a strong personality. Her POV kept me engaged. Even when she wasn't nice, that happened a lot in the beginning, she was still the star of this story.

Vivi was the “Not like other girls” perspective. I didn't care much for her. She was too naive, boring and I didn't enjoy being in her mind. Her relationship with her mom was the only thing interesting about her. Her mom was way more interesting than her. It didn't help that she became infatuated with another character very early on. It came out of nowhere. Literally, after a 2-minute random encounter and a few words exchanged, she was daydreaming about this boy. The boy in question, Mason, was also annoying so maybe they do make sense together.

I appreciated how Jackson, another character related to a girl that used to be a sorority sister, was intertwined in the story. I wish his character had been more developed. Some of the other girls seemed promising characters but the character development wasn't there. I liked Mei, even though we don't get much of her in the story. I think that adding her POV would have been more interesting. The magic system was very uncomplicated. I enjoyed it a lot. The story had its mysteries which kept me intrigued. Especially Scarlett's secret. I guessed the big reveal a little early, so I wasn't surprised in the end, apart from some minor details.

The Ravens was an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the sisterhood and how the girls supported each other. I liked Scarlett and was intrigued by where the story was going. Vivi was the major letdown in it and considering that half the book was her POV, it did lower my enjoyment of the story. All that said, I'm still interested in the second book. I'm hoping that after everything these girls went through, Vivi will be less insufferable in the next book.