Cover Image: The Ravens

The Ravens

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Member Reviews

I absolutely loved this book! To be truthful while I am familiar with both authors I never have read anything by either one. Sure , I had some or their books saved on my Kindle in my TBR list and some books listed on my for later shelf at the library but never took the time to read any of them... until now and I am so glad I did.

The Ravens is a split narrative of Vivi and Scarlet. Scarlet is one of the Ravens, a coven of witches disguised as a Sorority and in line for future president. Vivi is a new college student who joins the sorority and later discovers she also is a witch.

Of course no Young Adult fantasy drama would be complete without its share of drama, girl 'rivalry' , and magic and The Ravens does not let the reader down. From the 'love triangle' of Vivi,Scarlet, and Mason to the 'who is after the Ravens' plot the book holds its own. Someone is threatening the Ravens, someone from the Ravens past returns and one of them ends up missing . It is up to Scarlet and Vivi to join with the rest of the Ravens to find out who is behind it all.

Honestly I really liked this book and eagerly look forward to the sequel. I loved how detailed the characters are and would love to see more of the Ravens powers. It would be nice to have more stories of the other Ravens too. Until next time!

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The house of Kappa Rho Nu is the home of The Ravens, a group of sorority girls, who also so happen to be a coven of witches. Hopeful pledge Vivi, has never stayed in one place long enough to feel like she belongs, but hopes that she's finally found a new home. Scarlett is part of a legacy family and wants nothing more than to become the new president of Kappa. But, she is hiding a big secret that may threaten her position in the house if anyone finds out.

I absolutely adore witches, so I was so excited when I heard about this book. Not to mention, the cover is gorgeous. There is a bit of an info-dump at the beginning of the story, but as it progressed it was hard to put down. It's very fast-paced and fun to read. It's told in alternating perspectives between Vivi and Scarlett, which was an interesting way to tell the story. I loved trying to figure out the mystery of what happened in the sorority and who was responsible for what. The biggest complaint I had was one of the romances, it felt forced and unnecessary and honestly the love interest was just so bland and boring. It also definitely didn't feel as though this was set in college, more high school in my opinion, but it was still super entertaining and a very quick read!

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Love the authors and will happily give this book to certain patrons who I know will enjoy it. Found it a bit too common for my tastes... I wanted something a bit more unique personally. But I can see many teen readers enjoying this!

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The cover and blurb made it seem like The Ravens would be awesome... Sadly it wasn't. I'm pretty bummed because I was so looking forward to this book

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I was so looking forward to The Ravens, a witch story set in Savannah?? Yes, please. Unfortunately it didn't grab me as much as I hoped. This is a DNF for now, I'm hoping I'll be able to pick it up again at a later date!

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Vivi Deveraux wants to leave her vagabond lifestyle and mother for a chance to have a clean slate. Being accepted to Westerly College may just be the chance she has been waiting for and rushing Kappa Rho Nu may give her the portal to her past she never expected to need. The Ravens is Sabrina's witchcraft and sisterhood mixed with Pretty Little Liars drama. Paige brings the deep loyalties asked of sororities and the dangers of untrained magic to the college campus. The two main protagonists are flawed and strong but do lack some depth in history. While the plot does absorb readers into the power and drama, the characters lack a concrete foundation. Paige superficially explains the mother daughter dynamics between Scarlet and the women in her immediate family. exploring this dynamic could have added depth to the overall arch and been a powerful theme. One theme I struggle against is the relationship trope that seems to always overtake YA literature. Paige did a great job in displaying sisterhood and maturity, giving an ok balance of relationship between the sisters and male relationships (although I wish it was slightly skewed to the sister side).

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Man oh man, do I wish I could go back, apply to Westerly, and become a Raven! I had so much fun reading this book, and Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige did an excellent job writing it.

This book takes place in Savannah, GA, where Vivi is ready to separate herself from her phony tarot reading mother and finally make some real friends and start her life at Westerly. Once she arrives, she attends the welcome party of the most exclusive sorority on campus, and quickly learns that there is much more to this group of amazing girls than meets the eye: they're witches. And if she's lucky, Vivi will get to join them and not only have real friends for the first time, but harness a power that she has never known about.

Scarlett, a junior at Westerly, is a Raven and witch. She comes from a long line of Ravens, and she hopes to be next year's president. Her life is pretty amazing--she's got the most gorgeous boyfriend on campus, she shares a room with her best friend, and has magical power all her own. But when an old enemy makes herself known and turns Scarlett's life upside down, Scarlett will need the help of all of her sisters to fight the darkness.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. I had so much fun reading it. The characters were really well crafted, and the setting was marvelous. This is definitely what I would call YA-candy, but those are some of my very favorite books. I know so many teens who will love this and I can't wait to get it into their hands. I am so excited about this one!

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A witch book set in a Savannah college?! I was instantly intrigued when I first heard about this book but I think maybe I over hyped it in my brain. It definitely wasn't bad but, to me, it read a little like a soapy teen drama and I think I was hoping for something a little edgier.

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The concept for this book caught my attention immediately as it had promise to be very entertaining. For the most part it was! It did come across as a bit high school rather than university, and the two male characters seemed interchangeable. Now that the groundwork has been laid it’ll be interesting to see where the next book goes,

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I was really hoping for more atmosphere, or more magic, or both. It did inspire me to re-watch "the craft" mid-read, which actually, somehow, lent the book a bit of nostalgic charm.

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***2 Stars***

The cover was the lure and the blurb was the hook. The idea of a group of witches using a sorority as a cover for their coven definitely appealed to me. And while there were aspects and characters that I did like and enjoy, in the end this book just didn’t capture me the way I’d hoped it would.

Scarlett: She may have been the stereotypical sorority girl, but she did evolve and grow as the book progressed and I found that I really liked her in the end . I thought that the way the authors used the Tarot was quite interesting and I really enjoyed getting to experience the friendships between the girls. BUT...I know the dreaded “but” everything else was just OK ~ and that includes Vivi, Mason and the romance part of the story. I just didn’t really care about any of that.

I really do wish that I had enjoyed this book more. It had the potential to be a fav, but just fell short of the mark for me.

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

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Not my usual read, but it was good for maybe a younger YA. The ending definitely threw me so that was a good surprise.

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This was an engaging book! I love to see a book set in a college environment, which it doesn't feel like happens very frequently. I enjoyed how different the two POV characters were, so it was easy to tell them apart. I did feel like the pacing was off a little, and the two main characters did sometimes have pretty extreme moon swings but they are teens, haha. :) The mystery snagged me from the beginning, and I would!d read the next book in the series for sure.

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Modern day college witches! Sororities and secrets! The Ravens told an amazing story that forces you to keep turning pages to see what's going to happen to these characters next. There were areas I thought could have been fleshed out and some side characters didn't pop as much as I had hoped, but this was definitely a great read — though I could've guessed as much just from THAT COVER.

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I really wanted to like this book. A college story whith a dark sorority and witches? Yes please! Sadly this just did not hold up.
For a book about witches and girl power major parts of this book really did not convey that message. For starters characters are first described by skin ton which I do not love. If you are going for a book that empowers woman maybe your first descriptor shouldn't be physical. Also a love triangle is not the best way to show solidarity between woman.
Over all this book had a really solid premise but it did not play out. I see what they were going for but over all this book focused to much on a romance and felt very high school. This could have been great book but sadly it just fell flat.

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What a good read! I hope that this series continues. I loved reading from Vivi and Scarlett's points of view, though Scarlett was my favorite of the two. Vivi is an ingenue, and Scarlett is a Slytherin with a heart of gold. (Speaking of, there are plenty of Harry Potter and other pop culture references in this one.) It was interesting to watch the dynamics of their relationship slowly shift.

While the characters were great, the plot was interesting, too. Some parts of the mystery were easy enough to solve, while others kept me guessing, which is the predictability level I like best when it comes to books like this one. There's also a light dash of romance for both characters which promises for interesting love stories to unfold in a sequel. Despite the characters being young adults, by which I mean actual adults, presumably 18-21, I would say this is more of a YA novel than a New Adult one. SLJ says it's for ninth grade and up, and I can see a high schooler or college student really getting the most from this novel. The romances have a very low heat level, while most NA novels are pretty smutty. (Which I like!)

The only reason this wasn't a perfect read for me was because I was in a sorority in college. I could be wrong and the authors could be sorority women too, but it read to me like this was a researched take on Greek Life, but not researched enough. Some of the language is off. While the pledges aren't fully initiated, they are referred to as members of the coven/sorority - wrong - you aren't a member until initiation. A fraternity member talks about quitting his house - you don't quite, you disaffiliate. And Hell Week takes place right after the pledges accept their bids, when Hell Week is the final week of the pledging process. Two of the sisters are in a relationship, when most, if not all, organizations forbid two active members from dating. (You're sisters/brothers, after all.) For someone with experience in Greek Life, these little things annoyed me.

However, I must note the overall positive representation of sororities and fraternities in this novel. So often in the media we see the worst of Greek Life, when there are so many good things about it. While there's some hazing shenanigans and a little cattiness, overall this book shows the true meaning of sisterhood and the lifelong friendships that can be found in Greek Life, as well as the side that isn't all about partying - philanthropy and helping out around the university, for instance. I loved my years as a sorority member and am still best friends with two girls from my chapter. I keep in touch with many others, and follow what the current members are up to almost a decade later. I also remain friendly with members of other Greek organizations from my college days. It was so cool to see my experience reflected in this novel with a witchy spin.

Overall, this was a 4 star read for me and I am excited for more books in this series, whether there's only a sequel or we get to see all of Vivi's four years at Westerly! My thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

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This was another fun story about witches! I have been loving all these witchy reads lately! This one has a coven hiding out at a college as a sorority. I loved the setting for this and the way the coven keeps secrets.

The magic was a lot of fun, and overall, this was an enjoyable read that is perfect for YA lovers and witchy readers!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

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Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to get a copy of this book! As a former sorority girl myself, I was first intrigued by the book description but check out that cover! So pretty!

Right from the start, I knew I was going to enjoy reading The Ravens. The writing was so good which made it very easy to get swept away in the story. I love the idea of sorority girls actually being a powerful witch coven! It is a very fun read.

I also liked how this story is told in two POV, Vivi and Scarlett, respectfully. Starting off, Vivi is a pretty easy heroine to root for. She’s very new and innocent and down for being a part of something in order to form relationships with others. She has a wildness about her that makes it fun to see where exactly the wind is going to blow her. Scarlett, on the other hand, is very grounded, centered, and focused. She knows what she wants, has a map of her goals laid out in her mind, and knows exactly how long it will take to achieve them. In the beginning Vivi comes off as a little immature, and Scarlett comes off as a mean girl. However, both Vivi and Scarlett learn and grow so much in this book and I really enjoyed their character developments.

I felt the pace set for this book was very good. I never got bored while reading, although there were a couple of times I had wished a scene had a little more “meat” to it. Overall, I thought this was a great book. It was an easy read that kept me entertained all the way to the last page.

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Loved the premise of this story! And I loved the characters too. The cover is perfect. My students will devour this story for sure.

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I must admit that I did not want this story to end from page one I was on to this book and could stop turning the pages. The storyline was intriguing and captivating and the characters are deeply enjoyable and you feel like your friends with each one of them

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