What a ride! I've been meaning to update this review for ages, but can a girl find the time? I adored this follow on from The Ravens, raising the stakes of the drama, continuing the world-building of both the witchy hierarchy and the magic system as a whole, twisting ideas and subverting expectations like a good mystery should. I loved that the girls got to have their happy ending, and the plot twist with witch hunters was fantastic! Loved this!

This is the second book in a series. It is a very fast paced read with some witchy vibes. I found this book confusing and I was disappointed

So this book was absolutely fine. If you want a witchy, dark academia, fantasy- and are new to any of these genres- then I think you'd like this. If you are looking for a unique take on these elements, then pass this one over.
I felt it was fairly predictable- I knew who the antagonists were going to be fairly early on, while I didn't guess all the twists, I knew to expect them because the plot beats were very simple. This is a perfectly nice book, it's not anything special, but it is not bad.

As the second book I had high expectations, but ultimately disappointed. There was much in way of story continuation, and felt slow.

<i><b>ARC provided by Hodder & Stoughton via Netgallet in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own </b></i>

I’m coming to you with a review of this book almost a year late, but life has been strange and terrifying, and all manner of crazy this past year, and there’s really nothing else to say other than that I’m glad I’m finally getting around to doing this again.

I picked up The Ravens at the beginning of this year because I was looking for something fun and adventures and preferably rooted in the genre of Supernatural/Urban Fantasy. The setting of this sweet little college town in Georgia hiding a coven of witches in a sorority just seemed too good to pass up, and boy was I right! I enjoyed the first book in this series a lot! It was just what I wanted – lighthearted, and fun, and just the right amount of crazy and magical. I managed to snag an ARC of The Monarchs from Netgalley when I was finished with it, so. Here we are!

The Monarchs picks up a little after where we left off in The Ravens. It’s the new semester, everyone’s had a pretty uneventful winter break, spring is in the air, and the coven is recovering from the tragedy of the past, and is excited for what’s to come. Scarlett is elected as the new president of the sorority following the death of the previous one, and Vivi is just super excited about her Big, and to learn all that she’s going to teach her, and about her new boyfriend. And just. All baby witch things in general. Things seem to be going great, but they’re none the wiser about the evil thing that crawled out of the wreckage left behind after their showdown with Tiffany in the previous book. Things start to go wrong, but it’s super small at stuff. A bad spell, someone noticing the bad spell, people getting in trouble around them, etc., It all escalates rather quickly, however, and well. PLOT.

I read this book a while ago, like I said, but I do remember absolutely enjoying it when things started picking up pace. My major gripe with this book is more or less the same as the one with the previous one – the romantic arcs in these books are just. So. Absolutely. Unnecessary. I know it’s about sisterhood and all, but there’s more chemistry between Scarlett and Vivi, than there is between Vivi and Mason or Scarlett and Jackson. I get that they have their own roles or whatever, but these boys seemed absolutely redundant to me. Jackson ATLEAST contributes to the plot in SOME way, but Mason was just practically useless and the story could definitely do without him,

The characters and the magic system in this book are really fun, and I also just love how even though the book is set in an environment that is conducive to the Not Like Other Girls and other misogynistic tropes, it tries to do something to subvert them instead. The girls are never irrationally jealous or self-righteous or narcissistic. They’re actually trying their best to prop each other up, actually, and it’s just. Really nice to see!

There were definitely bits where I found myself getting frustrated with Vivi or Scarlett because they do something monumentally stupid and easily avoidable which just. Makes everything that much worse. But, like, even though it’s a little on the nose, the insecurities of these characters and the stakes of the situation they’re in are pretty well-defined, so it all makes a weird kind of sense, in a way. It’s frustrating, but not a deal breaker at all.

The plot of the books moves pretty fast once you pass the 40-ish percent point. It’s definitely in the un-put-downable category for me, not because the plot is shocking or anything, but because it’s just really entertaining and interesting to see where the authors are going with it. Even the themes are not really something to write home about, all things considered, but sometimes it’s just about having a fun time, and this book is definitely that!


All in all, this was a super fun duology, and if you’re someone who likes dabbling in the genre of urban fantasy, and have a liking for witchy shenanigans, you should definitely check this out! It’s like a mellow-er version of Scapegracers, you know what I mean? Also, it has a happy ending, so yay for that!

Some sequels do not need to be written. Unfortunaltey this was one of them.
This past week I binged both books in this duoogy. While I found the first book to be ok - enjoyable in the way cheesey witch movies from my childhood are enjoyable, this sequel just frustrated me to no end. The blatant ignorance on behalf of the characters who refused to see a problem when it was staring them in the face, the predictability, the complete 180 with character personalities to force friction and cause problems. All of it frustrated me. I think Scarlett was the only character I liked and that was just out of pity because her so-called sisters decided to stab her in the back.
There were parts of this book I really could have enjoyed (the mystery behind what was wrong with Jackson? The big-bad villain? The Ravens scrambling) but I couldn't because of how the characters chose to act.

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

When I finished reading The Ravens, I found myself wondering how this story could continue and where it would go from there so I put off finishing the duology mostly because I really enjoyed book one and didn’t want to be disappointed. As it turns out, that would a stupid decision because I liked The Monarchs even more. It’s a worthy conclusion to a fantastic duology.

As with the first book, the writing was great. I always worry when I see two author’s names on a book because, often, the writing can feel disjointed which then leads to a strange pacing and an overall messy finished product. These two authors, on the other hand, blend together seamlessly and manage to give both protagonists a unique voice while maintaining a cohesive style and flow. If I had read these books not knowing who wrote them, I would never have guessed there were two of them.

The characters became even more vibrant and rich in this book, with both Vivi and Scarlet desperate to prove themselves in different ways. Their stories almost mirror each other which I thought was nice considering they’ve always had a special connection. I also liked how they were so desperate to show everyone that the coven was fine and stronger than ever after the events of book one that it took them far too long to acknowledge that there was more danger afoot. Their own single-mindedness led to their downfall. The steps that Vivi takes in this book were particularly interesting for me and I feel like she went on the biggest journey throughout the two stories. From not even believing that magic was real to doing almost anything to feel the strength of that very power could have felt like a big leap but it didn’t. It was expertly planned and executed and my only critique is that she comes back down from that latter position a touch too quickly for me. But the heart of this book is the relationship between Vivi and Scarlet and, quite honestly, I would love to read a novella about them going on a road trip or something because I love them both so much.

I won’t go too much into detail about the plot as it's a sequel but I will say that the stakes definitely felt higher here and the tension was impeccable. There were so many times when I genuinely believed that The Ravens might lose because they were in such dire straits.

The heart of these books are the characters and the themes of sisterhood and female-friendships which I don’t feel like we get enough of.

The Monarchs picks up a short time after The Ravens end.

I enjoyed The Ravens, it gave me just about what I expected: a fun book about a group of girls at a university campus, trying to find their way in between magic, romance and friendship. The Monarchs is a direct continuation of that. It didn’t offer a whole lot more, but gives you exactly what you’ll expect if you’ve read the first book.

Nothing mind-blowing, but just a fun read.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me a copy of The monarchs. I loved The Ravens and i flew through it and i was excited to get to this one however i just couldnt get into it the way i was invested in the first book. It is a dnf for now but i will try and read it again in the future.

I received an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

This is about witches, mystery and drama. It was more or less like watching a chickflick college movie, and I allso got those vibes from this book. It's an allright series when you want some easy and light, with a pinch of girl drama, then this is the book series to read.

Personally i didn't feel much for this book series, it's abit mainstream, cause you know what will happen when you finally get the feel of what kind of book are you reading.

But i was entertained, but not blown away. There for my rating

This was an intriguing sequel and was filled with several interesting plot twists and a gorgeous cover. It also has a very strong female friendship arc.

One of the biggest points of frustration with me in this book was actually something that frustrated me in The Ravens too. The way Scarlett is characterised is mostly fun to read, a powerful and passionate witch who cares about her sister above nearly everything else. I love that, in principle, and the budding friendship between Vivi and Scarlett in The Ravens and continuing friendship in The Monarchs is a delight. But the way Scarlett acts with her love interests? So fucking annoying. In book one, she gets annoyed at Mason and Vivi for kissing – even though she was trying to date Jackson. In The Ravens, Jackson has another love interest and Scarlett gets annoyed and jealous again – even though she’s flirting with a new character and agreeing to dates. This hypocrisy is beyond irritating to me, and it made me less interested in Scarlett’s romantic arcs. In The Ravens I loved the way that Scarlett was challenging the way that she was raised and her family’s beliefs. In The Monarchs, she seemed to lean back into her elitist beliefs with no hesitation.

Half of the conflict in Vivi’s section of the book was entirely caused by her refusing to explain things or answer questions. This was miscommunication taken off the scale because the book didn’t even attempt to justify why Vivi didn’t just… answer questions. Instead she kept secrets with no explanation and it caused her conflict with Mason and her sorority sisters, even though at the start of the book there was a whole passage where she talked about feeling as though she can tell Mason anything. Why didn’t we get to actually see that, then? Instead, the way she reacted leads me to my biggest gripe with The Monarchs.

I repeatedly had some like, consent ick issues with this book. There’s a love spell sub-plot, which obviously has some super squicky consent issues, and I don’t think that this was addressed enough in the end, but I could accept this. It’s seen as a horrible use of magic and manipulative abuse. But on the other hand, Scarlett and Vivi both use their magic in ways that I found equally manipulative and gross, and that was just seen as ‘I shouldn’t do this, oh well’. Scarlett attempted to read a guy’s thoughts on their first date, and Vivi used magic to make Mason forgive her for something instead of having a conversation. The fact that this wasn’t challenged because it was done by the good witches? Ick.

There was a lot going on in this book. By the time I reached a third into the book, there were so many plot lines going on that it kind of felt like things were just being thrown at the wall to see what sticks. Ultimately, they did resolve into a kind of cohesive ending, but I did feel like we had several aspects suddenly brought up that weren’t mentioned at all in the first book – demons?? witch hunters?? companions?? – so it felt like I had missed a whole book in the middle of a trilogy, rather than going into the second part of a duology. The blood magic was super interesting and totally underutilised, and it took over 50% of the book for me to start actually feeling invested in the plot. Even then, I managed to guess the plot twist about halfway through. Once we’d reached the halfway point the book got a lot more interesting and I enjoyed the second half enough that I felt like I was racing through it and I’m definitely glad I finished the book.

This wasn’t a terrible book, I guess, but I was disappointed. The first half was significantly poorer than the second, and as a result it felt like the second half was badly paced. If we’d had those plots seeded throughout the book then it wouldn’t have felt so rushed. Ultimately, this series is a fun magical romp but I wish that there was more focus on the magic than the weird not-quite romantic subplots.

If you've read The Ravens, you're probably going into this with high hopes. This isn't quite as character driven, quirky and intriguing as the Ravens but still a solid witchy YA read.

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and to NetGalley for the opportunity.

The Monarchs is the second book in a duology about a witch coven hidden in plain sight as a sorority house on a college campus. Aimed at young teens and tweens, these books are spice-free, though relationships with boys do feature. You will need to read the first book to fully understand what is happening in the second.

Written from the dual perspective of Scarlett Winter and Vivi Devereaux, the Monarchs picks up shortly after The Ravens ended. Scarlett is now president of Kappa Rho Nu and Vivi is the new Social Chair responsible for organising events which this year will include an alumnae reunion. Very quickly, though, spells start to go awry and the Kappas are placed on notice after a party goes disastrously wrong.

I loved the exploration of family in this book. Scarlett’s relationship with her mother and sister are complicated by their respective places in the coven. Meanwhile Vivi is on the hunt for her unknown father. It was good to see a book, aimed at teens have examples of them questioning their place in within their own family and the world in general, and finding resolutions to those questions.

The alumnae or Monarchs of the title are the elders of the coven. I loved that they are strong confident career women however I did worry that there didn’t seem to be many consequences for misuse of power. The Kappa witches, old and young, would frequently ‘influence’ others and this felt to me, like a slippery slope that someone should have slid down and then had to climb back up. Another part of the plot involves a love spell and while it is made clear this is very wrong, there are no obvious repercussions on the caster, which I felt was a flaw in the story.

While these stories have no great depth, they would be ideal for a younger teen who likes to read about magic in a real world setting. These are clean, inclusive books that show images of powerful women. As a pair they would make a great gift and though this story is concluded I could see further books coming out of this universe.

The Monarchs is an ambitious sequel to The Ravens that is a well-written and concise follow-up. While I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book, mainly due to the love triangle as I hate it when two female characters are pitted against each other, I really enjoyed reading the sequel. There was less petty squabble and more focus on the magic, making it a great dark academia-esque magical novel.

We're back at Westerly and the witches of Kappa Rho Nu are in for a wild semester! New rivals, even greater evil forces and unexpected allies - they really can't catch a break.

This book was such a fun ride but I'm also sure it gave me stress acne. I was so happy to be reunited with Vivi and Scarlett but this book really doesn't pull any punches with the problems it throws at them. At any given time I could see 5 different plot strands on the horizon and all the ways in which everything would (and did) go terribly wrong. Seriously, I wish I could've reached into the book and protected all these characters. I'm too non-confrontational to deal with this much conflict!

Possibly my favourite part of any sequel is the introduction of new characters and enemies! And The Monarchs delivers on that front in a truly delightful way. Our return to the Westerly campus feels familiar, but there are new faces and forces in play, too. This keeps the story fresh and allows us to look at the ravens and their world from new perspectives. A rival sorority and the possibility of demons and witch hunters are in the mix, making The Monarchs a truly nail-biting story. There are so many players on the board and Vivi and Scarlett aren't sure who they can trust.

Of course, I am just as in love with Vivi and Scarlett as I was the first time around. What can I say, I love ambitious girls! In The Monarchs, both of them are shaped by their traumatic experience the previous summer. All the death and destruction have left their mark. But mostly, it has made them more eager to prove themself.
Both Scarlett and Vivi make some absolutely terrible choices, led by their desire to be impressive. The book doesn't demonize their ambition, but it also doesn't shy away from the consequences. Sure, using a spell from a random old tome in the library that asks for your blood is definitely not going to have unwanted side effects! As a reader (and a young woman), I find Vivi and Scarlett deeply relatable. They come from very different backgrounds but are both shaped by expectations - both society's and their own. They are willing to go to incredible lengths to prove themselves as witches, sisters and daughters. And while I often find myself wanting to protect them from their bad choices, I couldn't help feeling like I'd choose the same way.

One thing I love about the Ravens duology is the focus on sisterhood. The chosen family and the connections not by blood, but by choice. Building and maintaining those relationships takes work and trust and the Ravens are reminded of this stronger than ever. They are more powerful as a unit when they lift each other up.

Ultimately, I really loved this conclusion! It upped the stakes in new and exciting ways, which is really what I want from any sequel. I was also a big fan of the expanded world building we got to see! The Monarchs opens up previously unexplored corners of the magic world and gives us little glimpses at life beyond Westerly. While at times I wish it hadn't been quite so fast-paced and we'd gotten more time to explore these newly opened corners of the world, I had a great time! This remains one of my favourite series and I am only a little heartbroken that it's over.

If The Ravens was your favourite book of all time, you will definitely enjoy this sequel.

Unfortunately, despite rather liking the first book in the series, I feel like this second instalment missed its mark completely. The characters seem to have retained nothing from the lessons learnt in the first book, some of them have ostensibly undergone complete personality transplants.

As far as the story goes, most plot twists are telegraphed from so far in advance that they work less as shocking moments and become more of a nice pat on the back for figuring out the ending 150 pages into the book.

This was an unnecessary sequel, to be honest. The story from the first book maybe hadn't tied up all the threads into a nice little bow, but it worked perfectly as a standalone. This sequel, and the inevitable third instalment we'll surely get next year, are little more than a waste of ink and paper.

TL;DR:
A bit grey in a world that should have been filled with beautiful, colourful magic.

THE JUICE:
Right, if you’ve got this far and you HAVEN’T read The Ravens, then I highly recommend you stop as you pretty much need the background deets to have a clue what’s going on with this book. If you have, well hello! Keep going. Ta.
Here’s what you’re in for with The Monarchs:

✨ More Witches
✨ The continuation of sororities melting this poor Scottish gal’s mind
✨ Overbearing adults melting those poor girl’s minds
✨ Scarlett Winter finally getting what she wants: The Presidency of Kappa Rho Nu

Given that the last president went a little bonkers, plotted against the entire sorority and ended up very dead, I imagine normal people might shy away from that position. Not Scarlett. She’s worked hard for this and it’s what her family does so there’s no way in hell she’s going to give up this opportunity no matter the risks. Armed with her sisters and her newly appointed and 100%-out-of-her-depth Social Chair, Vivi, she had that power complex swooshing through her veins.

But you know… Sometimes risks just ain’t worth it.

Things start going tits up pretty quickly. And when I say things, I mean the one thing they love more than themselves: magic.

Their parties lose their charm. Glamours fail. Things go on fire?!

Whilst all of this is happening, rival sorority and non-magic-wielding gang, Theta House, are ramping up their efforts to steal the elusive Spring Fling from them, The Monarchs (the matriarchs and stuck up bints of the witch world) are meddling because won’t anyone think of their reputation and Vivi discovers she has a half-brother so chaos is the overarching theme here.

Given how much I loved The Ravens, I was so unbelievable ready for the sequel. Yet this just didn’t quite land for me. My main love, Vivi, faded a little into the background, made really, REALLY dumb mistakes and all the progress with her confidence seemed shattered.

Scarlette and Jackson’s relationship fell a wee bit flat. And the only other Raven I can really remember is the one that could change her appearance through glamours. Everything was just a little… grey?

Basically, my expectations were insanely high from the first book and that’s probably on me.
That being said, this would make a banger of a TV show.

Did I love this book? Not particularly.
Would I buy another book by these authors? Absolutely.

I was so grateful for the early copy of this book as I really enjoyed the first book (the ravens) and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into this one and I definitely wasn’t disappointed!! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book early! Another book to add to my collection!

If you loved the first book “the ravens” I bet you’ll like this one as well.
I love myself a good witch book (plus the sorority, which is a trope I enjoy) so I was really excited to read this sequel.
I recommend everyone to read it!