I am just not impressed. It is a decent novel, the pace works, the characters are passable if not memorable (other than Scarlet), but the college setting/sorority as a witch coven thing was not used to its fullest potential. It brings nothing new/exciting to the table. We get so hung up on the background mystery of "what did Scarlett DO?" or "Who is going after the witches?!" that the journey from the new witches is barely explored. From one chapter to the next the new witches are able to do ridiculous amounts of things just from memorizing a book of spells in 24 hours. It is a bummer.

The magic system reminded me so much of Charmed. Witches make things happen by making funky rhymes and sometimes (for the major arcana) getting ingredients for spells. I just, wanted a more subversive experience. I wanted an exploration and melding of college life and the sorority lifestyle-I wanted a 20 somethings read and I feel like The Ravens reads very YA, which makes sense because of the author's backgrounds but college is about forging into adult territory. The Ravens could have easily been set in an prep school to keep the kids away from their parents with minimal adult supervision and then it would have read a little truer.

There is romance--it is not great. Vivi (the new recruit/witch) is instantly attracted to Mason, who happens to be Scarlett's boyfriend (shocker). The relationship between Scarlett and Mason is on the rocks after one summer apart though, so you know that ain't gonna last. My biggest problem was Mason, why in the seven hells are either of these girls into this guy? He is the <b>worst</b>. He was flirting with Vivi while still in a relationship with Scarlett, but has no issue in kissing Scarlett and doing other things. But Scarlett is his issue because he is going through a phase and Scarlett is really confused as to where this sudden change came from (girl, so was I and I barely knew the guy). He is also so BLAND, which I guess it would make sense for him to be into VIVI.

CHARACTERS! Vivi is a bland piece of toast. I'm sorry, but her character is so not interesting. I kept wanting to skip her parts just so I can read from Scarlett's POV. On the other hand Scarlett is the f ing best--she tries to work on her relationship but understands that there are things more important than this less than stellar guy, like her standing in the sorority and her sisters. Kick Mason to the nearest moon please. Is she a bit self centered and cares too much about pedigree? YES, but those are flaws that the character can overcome/work around. She has issues with her family putting too much pressure on her; she is a product of her upbringing. It makes her interesting to read! While Vivi's most interesting story line is her "forbidden" romance with Mason, which as I already stated is not great.

I was just disappointed. The Ravens makes for a quick read, if not a memorable one. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and doesn't go too deep into developing the college life setting (other than parties and a VERY short and kind of kiddie "Hell Week"). Maybe I'll pick up the sequel, but probably not.

Ive been on a witchy kick lately and this book definitely didn't disappoint! This is a new favorites witch book for sure can't wait to own a copy

Thank you to the authors, publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! From the very beginning it drew me in and I couldn't put it down! The characters were captivating, the premise was intriguing and the story was well written. I did figure out what was going on fairly early; however it didn't hinder my enjoyment and there was a twist that I didn't expect!

I sincerely hope that there will be a book 2 as I am not ready to say goodbye to this group of sisters! "Magic didn't preach. It gave and took." I hope that this magical story gives another installment in the future!

3 Stars
I was really excited for a book about witches set in college. I feel like there is a dearth of books in the world set in college, so when I requested this I was extremely excited. I was hoping for something that I would love, and while I didn’t end up loving it, I did end up liking it. I felt that overall, this was a generally good book, but I also felt that there was some confusion for me in regards to certain parts. Or perhaps I just missed those moments and things were explained.

Things I liked: the dual POV worked for me. I like that we were seeing two different sides of the story, but I found both characters a little unbearable, but in that sense, they were relatable. I was curious to see how things would intersect in this book, and I think one of my main issues was, was that the book in some ways felt all over the place. I did not enjoy that fact. And because of that, the pacing itself was a little annoying. There were parts that I think were supposed to work together, but just didn’t fit. I’ll be honest, that is where I struggled the most: the plot.

I think that there was so much trying to be accomplished including trying to give enough background, that the important bits weren’t explained. I am more than happy to suspend disbelief, but this one just didn’t work for me in that way.

I did like the writing in this book a lot. I think it was a well written book, and I love the overall concept, and even the small plotlines. It just alternated between being not enough and too much at some points. But all this is just personal preference for me, to be honest.

I think overall, the book was good. It wouldn’t have three stars if it wasn’t. I think there was a twist at the end, that I had guessed, but it didn’t really make the book worse. In the end, I think that the idea of putting a coven of witches as a sorority was a fabulous idea, and using that as a launching point. I think it brings up a lot of commentary about Greek Life, especially how Greek Life is depicted. And this book managed to show a bit of both sides of it.

Overall, I liked the book, and I will be curious to see where this series goes.

It took me awhile to get into this book. Possibly, it's my reading temperament at the moment but part of it was sort of not being captured by the characters until a few chapters in (there was almost too MUCH information about them without creating any depth). But, boy, am I glad I stuck it out. The Big Bad is sort of obvious from the beginning but it is an emotional journey to see how Vivi, who doesn't know that she's a witch, and saddled-with-an-overachieving-witch-family-legacy Scarlett will band together with the other Kappa Rho Nus in order to save them all.
The joys in this book were the way Morgan wove together some familiar themes (sororities, witches, sisterhood, opposites becoming friends) in what feels like a fresh way. Teenage drama with a resolution that still leaves room for a sequel.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out November 3rdARC kindly provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I wasn't sure what to expect from the title of this one, and the cover, but the description caught my eye and I'm so so glad I picked it up! The Ravens are those witches... the kind that will take you down a peg with both their words and their magic. I really enjoyed the way they set this novel on Greek row, and the magic wasn't something that was unbelievable but struck just the right balance between college angst and drama, and the ability to take care of some common problems with some magic. I loved the themes of sisterhood, and the mystery kept me turning the page until the very end!

I'm a huge fan of Kass Morgan (The 100 will forever be in my heart), and Danielle Paige is new to me, but I'm looking forward to reading more of her works! I can't wait to see what comes next from this duo!

Next up for me was another YA book, however, I would personally classify this in the lesser-known New Adult category instead. The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige lingers on the borders of the Dark Academia genre that is currently gaining popularity, mixing it with plenty of supernatural elements and more darkness than you might typically expect from YA.

The Ravens is told from the alternating perspectives of two students at the prestigious Westerly college in Georgia. Vivi is new and hoping to use her move to Westerly as an opportunity to reinvent herself. Sick of being dragged around the country by her eccentric mother, Vivi wants to finally settle down somewhere and make friends. Scarlett is a senior member of the Kappa Rho Nu sorority with her life meticulously planned out in front of her and one main goal – excel at everything in order to impress her mother and sister, both former presidents of Kappa.

Kappa is no ordinary sorority. Rather, it is a convenient front for one of the most influential covens in the world and only the most powerful witches are invited to join its ranks. This year, Vivi is among them (much to her shock) but a series of misunderstandings immediately set her and Scarlett at odds with one another. However, a number of dark events in the sorority’s recent past seem to be coming back to haunt the current crop of witches and the sisters of Kappa Rho Nu are going to need one another’s strength more than ever to overcome the evil they are facing. But are all of them to be trusted?

This dark and dangerous book takes the concept of the college Greek system and its elements of hereditary power and gives it a supernatural twist. Sisterhood is at the core of this story and the support and strength that comes from its bonds form the heart of both the story and the relationships between the main characters. Of course, that means that betrayal within that sisterhood hits hard and we as readers feel almost equally violated when it happens. The male characters are all relegated to the sidelines, allowing women of many types to occupy the spotlight. These are girls who have mostly been coached to aspire to positions of leadership and it’s exciting to see a world where the old boys club is more an old crones coven, even if the witches do still have to hide themselves through fear of persecution.

Despite being set on a college campus, none of the girls ever seem to actually attend more than the occasional lecture or study anything non-witchcraft related, which did seem a little odd – especially when so many of them have career ambitions in law, politics, and hard science. Some of the twists were easy to see coming but a few genuinely took me by surprise too, as did the level of violence here. There are some truly disturbing moments involving dark magic, and every character is at risk – not everyone is going to come out of this alive and those high stakes kept me turning the pages until the small hours.

The Ravens is supposedly the first book in a series but there is no cliffhanger ending here that will have you cursing the months until a sequel is released. I’m sure I will be picking up that sequel if it ever comes to fruition, however, as I’m curious to see what’s next for the sisters of the Kappa sorority.

I received a digital advance copy of The Ravens from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

In Danielle Page and Kass Morgan’s new novel The Ravens, a coven of witches disguised as a college sorority faces off against a mysterious threat that may expose them to the world. Vivi Devereaux arrives on campus looking to reinvent herself after a life of constant moves with her fortune-telling mother and rushes the exclusive Kappa Rho Nu sorority without any idea of the magic she will discover there. Scarlett Winter is determined that her third year in Kappa will secure her place as future president of the sorority, just like her mother and sister before her, but worries that a secret from her past may endanger her ambitions. As strange events point towards someone coming after the witches of Kappa and reignites the mystery of a stolen talisman that disappeared years before, Scarlett and Vivi will have to put aside their reservations about one another to defeat the darkest of black magic.

I sincerely wanted to like this book, but I never quite connected with the characters or the story. This is partly because what I expected based on the publisher description and the actual plot I encountered were very different. The book sets up a rivalry between the two girls that stopped making sense the second I realized that the “rivalry” described in the publisher description is between a junior and a freshman. I assumed from the description that both were freshman and coming into the sorority on relatively equal footing from which to compete, which could have made for a really interesting story of them both trying to find their roles as new members in this coven of witches. Instead, Scarlet is a junior with a strong magical background and an established place in the coven, but is threatened by a freshman who didn’t believe in magic two days ago because Vivi doesn’t come from the same privileged background and Scarlett’s boyfriend keeps hitting on Vivi. I went into this book expecting more “women discovering magic and sisterhood” and less “women in a love triangle with a very bland male lead and engaging in insecure competition to introduce conflict that overshadows the ostensible villain.” The end does show the characters growing past that competition and learning better, but you have to slog through a lot of unpleasantness to get there. The storyline of an exiled witch and the threat of a black magic practitioner struggle to gain traction because something creepy/dark/obviously sinister will happen, a character will point out what a bad sign that is, and everyone else will dismiss it as nothing and get sidetracked by personal drama, which decreases the impact of the event. The story alternates chapters from Vivi and Scarlett’s perspectives, with occasionally jarring transitions and very little sense of how much time is passing during the narrative. I found that I enjoyed Scarlett’s sections more than Vivi’s because her character feels more developed and her backstory and emotional conflicts tended to add more nuance to her reactions and storyline. Overall, the novel starts out well, with the transitions between viewpoints providing a quick pace and an interesting introduction to the characters, but I struggled to stay invested and by halfway through I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to finish it. While I might recommend this to teens who are into everything witchcraft and looking for something new or searching for something spooky but not very scary for Halloween, The Ravens was a frustrating read for me because I kept seeing threads of stories that would have interested me more than the main plot that I got.

OMG, I love this book!!!!!! Everything from the beautiful cover, to the characters, to the story line is amazing! This book grabs you with a sacrificial murder and keeps you hooked throughout the entire story. Vivi spends all her life thinking that her mom is a fraud with her tarot card readings but little does she know magic is real and she's a witch. I've always been a fan of sorority stories and this one did not disappoint. There was an appropriate amount of hazing yet they didn't go too far. And this one had the spooky element of a witch with black magic trying to hurt the girls. Scarlett's character kinda rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning as she comes off as jealous but by the end she grew on me. The twist at the end definitely surprised me, I wasn't expecting it at all. I can't express how much I loved this book, I highly recommend it for anyone who loves a good suspenseful sorority story.

I really enjoyed the story and will recommend it to our customers! I really liked the characters and the fact that Scarlett and Vivi didn't hit it off right away, I thought it was much more realistic that way. The magic didn't feel to over the top for me and placing the story into the setting of a sorority house fit very well. Slightly dissatisfying ending but realistic.

I was very excited for this! Witches! Magic! College life! We definitely need more books with college age protagonists that aren’t just romance novels/erotica. It’s told from two perspectives, Vivi, whose overbearing mother does not want her to leave for college, because she fears bad things will happen, and Scarlett, the Kappa veteran who is hoping to be president this year. While the beginning had quite a bit of info dumping, this was a fun new take on sororities and college life.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book.

“At first glance, the sisters of ultra-exclusive Kappa Rho Nu—the Ravens—seem like typical sorority girls. Ambitious, beautiful, and smart, they’re the most powerful girls on Westerly College’s Savannah, Georgia, campus.
But the Ravens aren’t just regular sorority girls. They’re witches.”

I cannot rave (no pun intended) about The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige enough. I absolutely loved this book! It was a fierce, feminist tale of witches and sisterhood that I could not put down. I love women supporting women and this book was all about that. I don’t even know where to begin, because everything about this book was great.

The characters were incredibly dimensional, and they all had many complexities that made their character development a joy to read. I love it when characters are neither good and pure or inherently evil. People are many shades of grey in real life, and that was reflected in this book. Scarlett and Vivi are very different people with very different struggles. It was a pleasure to see how their stories developed over the course of the book. I won’t say more than that because I don’t want to give anything away.

The story arc was not predictable, at least for me. I thought I had everything figured out but then it turns out I was looking in the wrong direction. The tie-in to Greek life at a college campus was great because it made it seem super realistic that a group like The Ravens could actually exist on any campus at any school. That I could be one of them someday even though I have long since graduated.

I think the magical realism of it all is part of what makes the story so great. The spells and magic aren’t unbelievable or ridiculous. Nothing ever goes outside the realm of possibility.

Overall this was a great read. I would say it’s a great autumn read since most of the events take place around the start of school, but honestly, it would be a great read any time of the year. I highly recommend The Ravens.

Although I've always liked college settings in books, it's been a while since I've read one.  With The Ravens involving witches and having such an awesome cover, I couldn't pass it up.

The whole time I was reading, I kept seeing the witches in American Horror Story Coven - loved that season.  Like Coven, sisterhood is an important theme in this story.  Kappas always put their sisters first and never go against them.  They believe they're stronger together than individually, something that's proven true several times over by the end of the novel.  The different types of witches and their magic are explained well, and I enjoyed seeing their varieties of powers.

While I really didn't care for Scarlett in the beginning, she changed my mind by the end.  Initially she comes off as judgemental, elitist, and kind of a mean girl, especially when it comes to Vivi, but undergoes several changes and easily has the best character arc.  She drives the story.  With Vivi's flighty mother who packs up and moves them at the drop of a hat, she's missed stability in her life and has never lived anywhere long enough to make friends.  Being settled at college for four years and joining the Kappas fills those voids.  I would have liked more explanation about how she's suddenly able to use her power after a lifetime of not knowing she was a witch.    

Some of the relationships didn't feel natural to me.  Scarlett's relationship with another character that develops near the end feels forced and out of place - it didn't seem to fit.  And then there's Vivi, who has a sudden case of insta-love with the first guy who's nice to her.  The strong friendships between the girls are much more genuine.  

While a couple of twists are easy to see coming, there's still plenty of action, tension, and mystery to engage readers.  The title indicates this is a series, but with no cliffhangers, it felt like a natural ending to me.  If there's more to come, I'll definitely pick up the next book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

*Review will be posted to my blog on Oct. 15, 2020*

**3.5 STARS**

Thank you to HMH Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

My Attention: read in 2 days

World Building: Westerly College in Georgia

Writing Style: easy to read

Crazy in Love: some romance

Creativity: Sorority of witches

Triggers: violence, gore

My Takeaway: Don’t mess with a witch.

Likes:
*Love the diversity of these college witches, they come in all skin colors and races. The sisterhood between them shows even between Vivi and Scarlett who have a rough start with one another.

*The story is fun and even creepy at times. Even though these witches don’t mess with black magic, there is a villain who does! The twist is something I guessed earlier in the story but I did like how it took to the next level creepy.

*I enjoyed learning the history of Kappa Rho Nu. The witches being Tarot Card signs is different and it worked!
Scarlett is not as perfect as she seems! She has secrets and they catch up to her and her best friend Tiffany.

*I like the ending when it gets super dark and creepy! Definitely gets me in the mood for Fall reading and Halloween. The story reminded me of The Craft (movie) and Sabrina (Netflix show).

Random Notes:
Vivi was a little weak. She’s this girl dying to get away from her tarot reading/fortune teller mother and a life of always moving around. I liked the reveal at the end explaining why her mom raised her that way but personality-wise, Vivi had strong magic and that’s it! I just wanted a little more from her.

*The love triangle involved Scarlett, Vivi and Scarlett’s ex-Mason. It didn’t overtake the story, thank goodness.

Final Thoughts:
This story made me want to rewatch the movie The Craft so bad! The Ravens is fun, creepy, witchy and we got sisters who have each other’s backs. It’s perfect for the Halloween Fall season.

**I received this book from netgalley in exchange for a review**

"Magic didn't preach. It gave and took. This was the gift. This was the cost."†

If you feel like you’ve read this before, it’s probably because you have. The Ravens is a frankensteins-monster mishmash of every university magic secret society I’ve read/ seen before. It fails to bring anything new to the table. The magic system is boring, and the verbiage of the spells themselves is painfully cheesy. There isn’t even anything interesting about the main characters. They don’t particularly have any personalities, and are more or less interchangeable.

The new-girl-versus-upperclassman-mean-girl (over a boy with the appeal of stale bread) is soooo overdone. I honestly kept wishing this was gonna flip the script and give me some bi-girl f/f, but alas...

Vivi has approximately one (1) brain cell. I’m not really sure about this weird yearning relationship with breadboy since Vivi likes to throw around words like love and heartache when they’ve had three conversations?? Both (all three I guess??) "romances" in this book are, frankly, awful. The long-term relationship established before the start of the novel ended with zero fanfare. I'm so down for emotionally mature breakups, but both of them seemed entirely indifferent to ending things despite past implications that they wanted to spend their lives together? It was just really awkward to read. And then the two new romances developed** from NOWHERE (**i hesitate to even use the word "develop" because that implies there was some sort of organic growth).

Nothing happens in the first half of this book. I almost DNF'd, though I'm glad I didn't. At around 60%, sh*t hits the fan. But, whew, that was a long intro... all of that info dumping could have been condensed in between climactic scenes. The twist was meh, because it was so obvious. I called it in one of the first chapters.

This wasn’t a bad read, but it wasn’t a particularly good one either. I’m not super invested in continuing with the series... but I do like witchy ladies, so maybe someday, if I can remember this amidst a stream of other series doing the same thing (albeit slightly better).

†check against final text

I absolutely ADORED this book. It was a really fun read. The witchy elements felt dark while not reaching into adult territory. This is a really accessible fantasy because it's set in the real world at a college and just feels really familiar. The main characters were really interesting and I love how the two POVs complimented each other. There are a couple of scenes of mild gore, but I don't think they were overly descriptive or too much. Definitely a great read and I highly recommend!

Modern day sorority witches?! Sign me up!!

I was totally hooked by the premise of this book, a coven of college aged female witches masked as a sorority, told from the perspective of one rising senior aiming to be Sorority President who is hiding a secret from her past, and told from an incoming freshman who is trying to find where she belongs.

I could NOT put it down. It’s very campy, and a tad bit cheesy, but they’re 21 year old witches, what do you expect?! It’s Mean Girls but with magic. I loved every word of it, I think it is going to be a huge success for Danielle Paige and Kass Morgan. Thrilled to get to read an advanced copy, thank you NetGalley.

4.5 stars rounded up.

Great dual POV that also has deep POV of the characters. This book has two authors and they do a great job seamlessly integrating all those aspects together. This is a New Adult/college story with a YA feel.

This is for you if you like magical realism, stories about finding your own path, sisterhood/friendship above all else, and/or a good mystery (though I wasn’t surprised by the end).

A great first book in a new series. If you love witches, betrayal, and secrets then look no further. A wonderful collaboration between these two well known authors.
Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and HMH Books for Young Readers for the opportunity to read and review The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Page.
#TheRavens
#MustRead2020YA

Although I don't like sororities, I love ravens, so this YAFF book was a must-read for me. Bestselling authors Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige cleverly take a twist on the fact that cliquey sorority girls are often called 'witches,' and literally turned their characters into them!

As a cross between The Craft and Mean Girls, reading The Ravens is some of the most fun I've had in awhile. The pace is easy, the characters well-developed and loveable, and their adventures spooky yet hilarious.

The Ravens will definitely be a favorite among readers who love to read about bffs, college experiences, and dark secrets.

Thank you Anna R and HMH Books for the ARC!