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ronanlynchusurper · 8 days ago

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I'm not saying that I'd love to hear your thoughts on Adam's relationship with his sexuality but actually that's exactly what I'm saying please share I think about it *all the time*

(don't have to no pressure but please consider this an open invitation 🙏)

hello hi yes! i would love to tell you my thoughts on this! first off, i love your character analysis posts so i am lil nervous sharing this haha but i would also love to know your thoughts on this topic too because i actually really struggled to put all my thoughts together like you do!

also disclaimer this turned into me just pointing at info from the books (or how i remember them at least) and going 'i think he knew he was bi the whole time and was toeing the line of being open about it" more than anything haha but yes eee i’m excited ok! also sorry it ended up so long there is a TL,DR to sum my rambling up so no pressure to read it all!

so firstly, i think it's interesting that we never (to my memory) see any 'discovery' or 'acceptance' journey for adam in regards to his sexuality like we do for other canonically queer characters. we see ronan's journey to acceptance and how he struggled with that and we also see kavinsky acting in a way that is a response to his sexuality discovery whether he accepts it or not. and while these kind of narratives aren't applicable to all queer people or characters I find it very curious that someone of adam's upbringing wouldn't have had atleast SOME struggles in relation to sexuality upon discovery. He has grown up with a father who is likely homophobic and racist and has been working blue collar jobs amongst men who in many cases typically have similar ideologies about masculinity etc since he was very young and its early 2010s in a small town. (im australian so i dont know tonnes about which areas are conservative in america but i got the vibe based on some comments in the books that henrietta wasn't super welcoming to minorities). adam makes some racist 'jokes' in the later books which implies to me that he still has residual prejudices from the way he has grown up, therefore you would think he would have similiar things to say about sexuality etc but he never does. this makes me assume he was either aware of his sexuality long before the raven boys starts and had come to terms with it a while ago or we just don’t see that aspect of his journey on page (which if thats the case thats a whole other thing to discuss). Also he clocks ronan as gay in book 1 with his 'thats the biggest lie youve ever told' comment and adam is too aware and analytical of himself and others to not be aware of his own attractions if he noticed ronan's. i also see this moment and when he jokes about piper not being ronans type in book 3 (? maybe 4?) as kind of an 'i see you' type of thing, like this is the type of shit i would say to queer friends im out to.

theres also moments when they are in school that imply people think he is gay, which on my first read i thought was typical boarding school boy behaviour of calling other guys gay as an insult or a jibe. BUT on my second read i noticed that the comment although still meant insultingly, is more a statement about thinking he's gay than anything else and although adam doesn't like tad (who its implied makes the comment) he doesn't seem particularly phased by the comment and when tad actually comes over to (in my opinion) flirt with him, rather than poke fun at him it kind of solidifies that. ALSO there are much easier and more obvious ways for them to make snide comments at adam, for example his financial situation. AND adam is a fairly masculine character although described as 'pretty' and skinny on different occasions, so it makes me wonder if the leap to him being queer must've been prompted by him either being open or not actively hiding it rather than stereotypes being projected onto him.

also ronan is sitting right next to him and doesn't seem phased at all by this discussion of adam sexuality, not to say that i think he would stand up and say something because he and adam don't ever need to fight each others battles but i think he would look atleast a little bit annoyed at the insinuation if he thought it wasn't true. (or maybe he’s just used to aglionby bullshit who knows)

which also brings me to the fact that ronan never claims that he thinks adam is straight. ronan doesn't say either way what he thinks adam identifies as BUT pretty quickly after ronan acknowledges his feelings for adam, he starts doing some overtly romantic gestures such as the mixtape, moments at the barns, the lotion etc. that's not to say i think he has done these things because he is expecting anything in return in fact i think ronan shows his love through actions & gestures whether he wants to or not and part of the reason adam accepts it is because he’s one of the few who doesn’t expect anything back, but these are still very deliberately romantic actions. ronan is very careful when in comes to relationships and i think he would feel very vulnerable putting those feelings out there without atleast a little bit of knowledge about adam’s sexuality especially when they are close friends its not a risk you want to take without precaution. most of his uncertainty about what is happening between them seems to be about whether adam likes him, not about whether adam likes boys.

that leads me to adam's thoughts about men (mainly ronan when he first starts noticing the shift in ronan's feeling towards him and his own attraction to ronan). there are moments when adam openly admires men and their appearances, the most obvious being gansey and greenmantle, but again adam doesn't seem to have any shame or surprise or confusion about those thoughts. its similiar when he comes to terms with his feelings about ronan. although some of adams thoughts about his feelings can be interpreted as confusion about his feelings towards a boy, his thoughts are more focused on if his feelings are actually love or not. its his first real experience of love and he also has concerns about if his want is strong enough to act on especially because he knows ronan is serious about it. the thoughts never focus on concerns of about being attracted to a boy or the risks of that (except for saying he knows ronan is the hardest option, which goes beyond him being a boy and seems to also be about ronans powers etc). also im mentioning the comment that adam had been starving longer,that comment alone is a whole other thing too get into but i definitely think is speaks to adam's relationship with his sexuality and love, touch and being known and how deprived he has been for so long.

I think for me the bit that surprised me the most about his relationship with his sexuality when first reading, was that him and ronan appear to be quite open about their relationship post trk as robert makes a comment about him driving his boyfriends car. whether or not him and ronan are officially out as boyfriends or just hanging out so closely to the point that a rumour has spread, it's more than likely they actively made that choice.

i think i found this pleasantly surprising when i first read it because until this point adam has been conscious of trying to fit in with the other aglionby boys e.g. making sure his clothes look neat and well taken care of, paying his own way, hiding his accent etc. he resents them for all the ways they are different when they talk about their holidays and money etc and the reason he makes the sacrifice to cabeswater is so he feels equal to gansey (i know he grows from this but still).

when looking at the basic traits of adam its easy to assume he would want to be the type of character to hide his relationship or atleast not be open about it as a way to protect his options and make life easier for himself where he can, because of how hard he has struggled,and so its interesting that he then actively chooses to 'alienate' himself (in some perspectives) further from the other boys at aglionby. as someone who is constantly considering his actions in regard to his future and just having the personality he has, he definitely would've considered the cons of being out at aglionby and how that could effect his opportunities, e.g. at this point in the story all we know about what he wants for the future is the fact that networking with republicans at a gansey event would be helpful, being queer and poor wouldn't be easy to navigate in those spaces and still thought it was more important to be open in his relationship.

he is also a character that values having control over how he is perceived and being openly queer or even just being publicly in a relationship in general has so many elements you cannot control e.g. what other people say and think about you based on your partner of choice, how the scrutiny or openness can effect said relationship etc. this makes me think he would want to hold it closely to his chest to protect it and yet he defies that.

anyway i struggle to explain in words what im getting at ig but i just love that he deviates from character stereotypes that he would have some similiar traits with in that regard. he knows how treasured his connection with ronan is and considers it a privilege to be loved by him and wants to show that to the world regardless of the uncertainty. it becomes increasingly obvious especially in dreamer trilogy that despite his hard work for career and education based goals there isn't much he wouldn't sacrifice or atleast compromise for ronan, which is potentially unhealthy but idc they are codependent and its fine fight me on it.

i think i also find his relationship with his sexuality interesting because it’s easy to read him as a character who cares for his relationship and accepts being queer without actively seeking out the queer community, so adam going to harvard and lying about everything in his life except his sexuality and relationship with ronan is quite telling of his relationship with being queer, especially because he then seeks out whats implied to be an openly all queer friend group when he could've gone and befriended anyone and made himself into anyone. he finds his relationship so important to who he is and his life that instead of hiding it he wanted to exist and be amongst people who understood that, even if he wouldn’t let them understand anything else about him.

i just love him so so much i feel this hasn't really explained my thoughts whatsoever i've just rambled about parts of the book but yeah i just think its really intriguing how he approaches his sexuality so much differently to how he approaches everything else ig.

TL, DR

adam's relationship with his sexuality is fascinating because it doesn’t follow the typical 'realisation → internal struggle → acceptance' arc even though his upbringing points to this a reasonable arc for him. he seems like he’s already accepted his queerness before the raven cycle even starts, and it’s one of the only things in his life he doesn’t overanalyse, repress, or try to change. he’s a character focused on control, appearances, and social mobility, yet when it comes to being queer and loving ronan, he’s surprisingly open. it’s like queerness and his romantic love is one of the few parts of himself he feels certain about. instead of hiding it, he protects and celebrates it. and that choice is quiet interesting for someone who’s worked so hard to be palatable to the world and be successful by society's standards

#i am so sorry yall i basically wrote an essay #this is too fuckin long im sorry #also I don’t even know if I agree with myself half the time so take everything I say with a grain of salt #i just love adam parrish so much #also if any of this reads as me projecting it probably is lmao #talking about adam parrish is my love language #adam parrish #the raven cycle #trc

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kidspawn · 7 days ago

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hi! i see you posting about the raven cycle like, pretty much daily. i’ve Tried to read it but i wasn’t really sure if i was digging the vibes so i moved on to something else. but like dude i keep seeing your posts and it makes me feel left out lmao. i would be most grateful if you gave a few reasons as to why someone should read the raven cycle/why You like it

AHHH THIS IS EVERYTHING TO ME. Permission to gush about The Raven Cycle? God, this is like a special little present. I'll do anything to about these books. ANYTHING. That you'd come to me means everything, actually.

Buckle up, get some tea or pop or water or just your attention this will be quite a bit.

The Raven Cycle is a very specific vibe and it isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is unfortunate but it is a matter of discerning what you enjoy about media or what you like to take away from books. I try to stray from just going "oh here's a handful of literary tropes which make this worth reading" cause I could talk about how it's got gorgeous queer rep, or it's found family, or disguises itself as dark academia but it's just identity exploration under the veneer of a magical realism story. But that doesn't do anything to convince someone to read it, imo. So here goes:

So, here's like... my ultimate brainrot in this regard. Starting with tone/structure, which is where people get lost I've noticed. Because I think this series is a slow build to something gorgeous. I'll say the first book is meant to raise questions, introduce conflicts and the overall energy of the series. You'll encounter red herrings, false leads, etc. It's kind of an acclimation to the world. If you're hooked about halfway in, that's the point. The plot takes a minute to kick in, but please remember it's not all about the plot. The plot is here to carry the characters and their themes and magic and journeys. This carries throughout the series. The plot is to transform the characters not the other way around. This is a character driven series. More on that later. The second book (The Dream Thieves) FUCKING BANGS. I would argue it's the best written of the series, even if it isn't my personal favourite (BLLB my beloved) i want whatever Maggie Stiefvater was on writing it. I'd describe the series like having an incredibly vivid dream. You'll wake up and something feels different, you've been affected, but the details might slip by. Which means periodic rereads to immerse yourself again. And as you reread, the more foreshadowing and details you pick up on. So structurally, it's great for annual rereads. You'll see people call it all vibes, little plot. Which... fair.

So here's a breakdown of things I personally enjoy. Because I love organizing my thoughts into structured lists. I'll keep it as spoiler free as possible, because I went into this entirely blind and I was rewarded heavily for it.

1. Plot

I know I just went off about how the real plot is the friends they made along the way but actually I love the plot. The initial conflict you're told to worry about (remember what I said about false leads lmao) is the idea of the MC kissing her true love and killing him. And this informs a huge piece of the story, of course. It's pretty uhhh it's a pretty big deal. But this aspect of the plot, I think, works better for individual characterization and future conflicts. It's touched by the real plot, but not as entwined as you're lead to believe.

The real plot is more of a quest, a venture into a lost king who our ensemble cast (once again, false lead, it's not about one person it's about the entire group) is looking for. They uncover decades of history and magic, and form a beautiful friendship along the way. The plot is not the destination, it's the journey. Don't focus entirely on how they're going to find Glendower, focus on how they get there. Learn WHY they want to find Glendower. What are their motivations? Why do they want to aid Gansey (one of the character)? What is the draw, the appeal? Why is it so important to them? And how does the search shape them as people and shape their relationships with each other? I see people go into The Raven Cycle expecting a typical adventure book and so they hone in on the wrong details - which is not their fault, the book was poorly marketed. Just remember it's less about Glendower, it's the friends they made along the way.

2. Characters

"If the plot isn't important these characters have to be revolutionary to carry seven books" is a statement I'm sure has come across your mind. If it hadn't prior, now it has! I've put it in your head. Because YES. That's the point.

These characters so multidimensional. There are crevices and flaws and beauties and diamonds in the rough. Each character dances with YA tropes but breaks from that mold. A giant piece of the series is how characters present to the world, how they feel about themselves, and who they wish they could be. And as readers, we are tasked with peeling these layers back. Brief overview and its not a proper character analysis because I don't want to go on for 100k words.

So, say, this character who presents himself as very prim, presidential, composed. He is always, to the surface, in control of the room. Yeah, he's actually a ball of anxiety. He is obsessive and probably autistic. He is taken over by this quest, he has honed in with a singleminded focus on this search for Glendower. He seems condescending and pretentious - he doesn't even register he is doing this half the time, and a huge piece of his character is the power of his words and how he uses them. He doesn't mean to hurt with his words, it just spills out. He cares, and he cares so much it inadvertently hurts and offends. He speaks like a grandpa. He was on the rowing team. He builds towns out of cereal boxes. Another character seems like your typical "omg dark and broody he's so cool and mysterious". He's actually like that because he's coping with some intense mental health issues, he is scared of being left behind especially after some very specific familial trauma. He's also very sweet, possibly the most softhearted in the group. He saves a baby bird. He loves with every bone and synapse in his body. He's catholic. He has a nut allergy. He swears every other sentence. He is a pack animal and he snarls because he protects the people who mean the most to him. He doesn't do casual, in friendship or romance or in his day to day. He's a perfectionist. He hates school. He's top of the class in Latin. Our main girl, the one you've probably read about already, looks like a manic pixie dream girl. She could've easily become your stereotypical YA bland female read. She has so much personality it spills over to everyone else. She is teeming with it. She's practical and sensible and wishes she wasn't. She sews her own clothes and has a peculiar haircut. She is a teenage girl. She is very sure of who she is. She has nuanced female relationships with incredible heft and weight. She loves nature and trees and her boys. She meets a cute boy and has a very realistic response to this. She's a feminist and calls out people who mistreat her. She has boundaries and stands by them. She's stubborn and a little judgemental. She is so sixteen year old girl in that beautifully complex and confusing and tumultuous way. Another character is a mess of contradictions. I can't even begin to explain him he's so djsjdjsj. He's an asshole. He's quiet. He's notably off putting. He's not shy he's methodical. He believes in the tactile world but he believes in his friend more. He's honest, but only because he isn't very good at lying. He wishes he could be himself. He feels trapped. He wants to be his own person. He values his autonomy over anything. He'd be a villain if he didn't love his friends so much. He's not an uwu soft boy he's a fucking menace. He has the most moral flexibility in the cast. He has a strong sense of justice but he defines that on his own terms. He is horny. He is pragmatic. He works three jobs. He's top of his class. He hates rich people. He wishes he was one of them. He's unknowable. He's a mechanic. He has boyish hands. I can't talk about the other two because they're spoilers - all I can say is one tells you exactly what the fuck he is from the start, and the other is the MC of another series who got plopped into this one and made it everyone's problem. Also robobee.

These characters are so... they mean everything to me. They are so multifaceted and realistic and raw. They're teenagers and you KNOW they're teenagers. They've all been through unspeakable trauma and trials. This book demands you go on this journey with them and you accept them for their flaws, their delights, their triumphs, their sharp edges. They are the most characters of all time. I am not doing them justice. They are so REAL. There isn't a "fan favourite" because there's something appealing about each of them. There's so many minute details to read too much into. And it's fun to analyze characters with these miniature context clues. I read these books as a high schooler, and to this day Adam Parrish is one of my favourite characters ever point blank. There's a rawness to these people that sticks with you.

We read the books and the more we learn about the characters the more real they become, almost like you're earning their authentic selves. I'd say the characters are the strongest piece of these books, by a LONG shot.

3. Writing Style

Just taking a more technical stance, I think the most appealing part of the series for me is Maggie Stiefvater's writing style. It's, put simply, absolutely breathtaking. I think specifically she has a tremendous ability to make what should be a very mundane sentence feel magical. I think there's a fine line with flowery writing where it can feel pretentious if it doesn't work for what the author is trying to do, or if they don't pull it off. She pulls it off beautifully. So let me just share a few of my favourite (spoiler free!) passages I keep in a notes app on my phone:

My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.

He was full of so many wants, too many to prioritize, and so they all felt so desperate

He'd chosen his weapon well: only the truth, untempered by kindness.

Being Adam Parrish was a complicated thing, a wonder of muscles and organs, synapses and nerves. He was a miracle of moving parts, a study in survival. The most important thing to Adam Parrish, though, had always been free will, the ability to be his own master.

Because I am overfull on secrets and underfull on friends.

Consider this a sampler platter. She has a way with words i can't even begin to describe, one that has influenced my writing style substantially and I imagine many others. Saying a phone "fussed for attention" is such a unique way to turn a common phrase on its head. This series was MADE to be annotated.

(For reference, these are my annotation copies)

She's so deliberate with her word choice, she cycles through and repeats phrases to make a point. When I call a writing style something like poetry, this is what I mean. She changes her narration structure to illustrate how characters comprehend the world. She does a very specific thing that i can't say without spoiling you, unfortunately, but involves the repeating of a word or phrase or concept to drive a point home. There's a turn of phrase that gets used in the beginning of first book involving the days of the week and gets used again at the end of the seventh book (third book in the second series).

What's more is it makes sense for the themes and tone of the series. Remember how I said it feels like a disturbingly vivid dream? Yes, it's largely because of how she writes. There is something enchanting about this world, this intimate and focused story.

4. Relationships

In my brief introduction, I mentioned found family. I think codependent queer friend group would be more accurate, but however you describe it this series is about friendship. Famously, the author kept a sticky note that the worst thing that could happen is them not being friends. And this is crucial to the series. I'd say after the individual characters, the relationships are the biggest draw.

Notice, of course, that I'm not separating romance and friendship. Half because all the romances START as friendships, and half because the relationships are all put on equal ground in that aspect. The Raven Cycle takes great care to show all forms of love as equal and necessary for each character. It was marketed as a romance, but I think describing it as a more general love story would work. These characters, who shouldn't work together, fall in love with each other throughout the series. In all forms. Platonic, brotherly, romantic.

Each character has a unique dynamic individually with another, even the ones who don't interact very much. Whether that's from brotherhood, divorced parents core, attempts at dating, belligerent friends who encourage one another to commit crime, etc. Take any character, pair them with another for a chapter, and it will work. It will make sense. I think in a lot of ensembles certain duos get neglected, but the series balances this issue very well. They all love each other, obsessively and with such devotion that the only reason they get through all the horrid things they do is because they love each other. Their faith and dedication to one another fills so much of the heart of the series.

Additionally, (and if you follow me you know but I'll be vague just in case?) the romance is... w o w. Just wow. If you're into shipping, then welcome this is... wow. I wouldn't classify the series as a romance, because the romance is so intertwined with the friendships and it's very subtle buildup. It's more of a backdrop, right? It's definitely there, but it isn't the only thing going on. Once again, an aspect I enjoy. The romances take up just as much time and weight as the friendships. You essentially get three romantic arcs (with the situationship that shan't be named bc its a walking warning [redacted] you will always be famous i need to put him in a jar) and each serves a crucial purpose. An initial romance which serves as a sort of catalyst for the others, where both those characters separate and find romantic relationships that fulfill their needs and help their character arcs. The series is very into soulmates and fantastical pining and hand holding and friends to lovers and falling in love in the little moments. Also there's a very religious element to one of the romances, which I've always eaten up and I think it's beautifully done. I'm not describing it well, because frankly it's spoiler heavy to discuss the romance too extensively. But once again, these relationships and friendships have consumed me for YEARS now, if that's an indication of how much I adore their relationships. And don't be misled, the relationships are very different. It's not copy pasted. If i had to assign like... specific tropes I'd say one is kind of a doomed soulmates and secret relationship and the other is a slow burn with some batshit fucking pining also cunt4cunt. And yes, there is queer romance. More on that later.

To round out this aspect here's two quotes that make me absolutely batshit, with the names redacted to avoid spoilers:

Why do we breathe air? Because we love air? Because we don’t want to suffocate. Why do we eat? Because we don’t want to starve. How do I know I love her? Because I can sleep after I talk to her.

[Redacted] lived in an apartment located above the office of St. Agnes Catholic Church, a fortuitous combination that focused most of the objects of [Other Redacted]'s worship into one downtown block

In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.

Yeah, have you ever been sixteen and reading this for the first time? Yeah, I could've been doing crack but it wouldn't have the same high i got reading all these for the first time.

Anyway.

5. Humour

I mean. Listen, I'm a funny person. I'm hilarious. I like to think I'm a great metric for what is or isn't funny, and not to brag but I'm good at making people laugh. Trust my metric, if there is one thing I have in this world it is that I am funny and I know funny material.

So trust me when I say this series' sense of humour is so utterly bizarre and wild and delightfully funny. Maggie Stiefvater has a weird ass sense of humour and I love it. She'll string together the most heartwrenching sentence about feeling like an empty hole with nothing inside and the most beautiful metaphor for depression and mental health I've ever seen, then bust out "WAKE UP FUCKWEASEL" and you cant even be fazed at this point because it's book two and you've read almost 500 pages of this bullshit. Ronan Lynch is owed royalties for saying some of the most off-the-rail bullshit i have ever seen.

"With a sigh, Ronan took a photo of his elbow bent to look like a butt, texted it over, and got up." "the sea of clusterfuck" "never-never land of space time fuckery" "yeehaw" (multiple accounts! btw!) "'What the fresh hell is this' Gansey said pleasantly'" and I'm not even going to touch the whole heaven-usurper meltdown because hey what the fuck that was insane. This all sounds like nonsense but the fact that all of these are bracketed by something like "if you never saw the stars candles were enough" or "people shout when they don't have the vocabulary to whisper" is fucking insane.

These books are so delightfully weird kid core. Like hell yeah. It makes me laugh. There is something wrong with Kavinsky especially but damn it he's so funny. A solid character moment involves two characters faking an argument in public to preserve the others reputation for hating rich boys and this is like a legitimate solid moment for this relationship and it's so she'll get in the damn car. That's it. I love these books. One character wears boat shoes and we should probably ridicule him for it but he's also very cute so he gets a pass. There is a toga party. Copious discussions of a fake song used to torment the entire crew. Robobee.

6. Sexuality and Queer Themes

This series is inherently very queer. Not even talking about the canonically queer couple that I sold my soul to in tenth grade. No, I mean tonally. The second trilogy explicitly describes this friend group as delightfully queer, and i think that warrants pointing out. All the characters are either implied to be some brand of fruit or fruit adjacent. Like artificial banana, at least. I digress, it's part of the gay bird book trio for a reason. Found family is a queer trope and one of the characters was literally raised in an all female witch commune. Also like... a lot of genderqueer coding occurs. And I think one of the characters all but describes himself as aroace, which this series doesn't quite use labels so I take it as confirmation but I digress.

Besides the obvious as stated above, and the confirmed queer characters, the series has a very nuanced and refreshing perspective on queer relationships. One of the characters grapples with his queer identity in the second book, is battling a lot of internalized self hatred which happens to intertwine with sexuality - and its not exactly gayngst (though it's not... not gayngst) but tied into an aspect of his personality that I can't really speak on without spoiling. But his acceptance, almost, of his identity and who he is happens to include being gay. It's not so much a realization but a "Ok i am good with myself and by extension I am comfortable admitting my sexuality because I am working on accepting myself." This gets juxtaposed with a character who IS struggling extensively with his sexuality, is horrid and vile (and so fucking fascinating) and disrespectful of boundaries and its made very clear struggling with being gay is a part of this. I worry I am not explaining this well but the two bounce off each other in this regard and it was actually oddly refreshing to see how this was executed. They're foils, in this way, and it solidifies the first characters acceptance of who he is. It's orchestrated beautifully. And while I won't disregard religious guilt, I don't think the religious aspect is so entwined in the internalized homophobia so much as it's tied into all this characters self loathing. It's intentionally a vague storyline in these regards, because a lot of it is up to interpretation - but the character being gay is NOT. You as the reader can decide what his precise relationship was with it and what this journey means, but it does tie into self loathing.

And not to harp on further, but there is a very lovely bout of bisexual rep. Once again, it's not explicitly stated as bisexuality but like... that is a bisexual. Trust me. Shows attraction to men and women equally (though in different brands, which doesn't always happen with bisexual characters! He's allowed to have types, to experience attraction to different genders in different ways. I really really like that.) His sexuality is quieter (as is the character), in my opinion, not so much in its not there, but it's not a hefty part of his individual arc. And this character could have easily had a queer angst arc. He doesn't. He has a romantic crisis, yes. But his bisexuality is a part of himself he doesn't gripe and stress over, at least to my interpretation. His sexuality is one part of many things that represent him - being quiet but also quite loud, embracing yourself and your potential. I cannot stress enough that it is important to who he is, but it's really really refreshing as a bisexual person to see a character just... be bisexual. He hides a lot about himself, and he comes across more as a "no one asks me so I don't offer it but I'd be open if someone did." Not the point, but I have a very special place in my heart for bisexual representation that breaks the typical mold. He goes on to be very open and comfortable in it.

Some more subtle aspects of sexuality: a character describes himself in a way that insinuates he is aroace, and considering how little labeling occurs in the books, I think it's safe to see this character is likely aroace. But we spend very little time with him, as he's only with us for one book. Still, a win is a win. Also the second series has sapphic characters (MANY actually) but let me convince you to get through the first. The second series is somehow even more flagrantly queer than the other. Gays everywhere. I sound ridiculous, I know, but queer rep is very important to me, so ofc I highlight this as important.

7. Trauma, Grief and Healing

I'll keep this brief because this definitely veers into spoiler territory.

I could keep this in a bulleted list, but I think this point is one of the reasons I especially appreciate this series. I've alluded to a lot of particular traumas the characters have dealt with, many parental, and I want to take a minute to say that the series handles the arc of growing and healing in a very nuanced and realistic way.

Its very common, i think, to sand down the ugly aspects of undoing years of abuse, the aftermath of losing parents, how a near death experience warps you, how death affects you. And the series doesn't shy away from that - it's actually a main focus for several of their arcs, and the focus on the healing process is so so incredible. Like I said, I'll kept it as spoiler free as possible. How does it look to move forward when you've left an abusive home? As you undo years of repression and toxic masculinity? How does that affect your relationships with your friends? Do you get mean? Short tempered? Do you learn that your body and your life is your own, that you will never be owned by another person like you fear? How does losing a parent, a home, a brotherly relationship in the span of a week change you? Do you become depressed? Angry? Closed off and flippantly sarcastic as a mask? Does it destroy the relationships you had with your other family members? How does one grapple with having died? Being alive? Do you find out why? Do you fear dying again? Do you worry about bothering others or inconveniencing them? Do you, after finding out you'll die, spend months trying to keep your friends afloat? What does trauma look like for each of these individuals with differing experiences? How does it inform their journeys and who they are? It is beautiful and raw and honest and ugly all in equal measure. We are so used to seeing characters suffer, it's nice to see them heal and to see characters heal in ways we as an audience may not always see as palatable.

NOW! Rapid fire! Because these are other things I enjoy but not enough to have a gratuitous paragraph:

- awkward teens and awkward teen dynamics.

- growing pains, growing up and growing away from your family and friends and yourself

- themes of classism and money, poverty and how that tension can influence relationships ("rags to riches isn't a story anyone wants to hear until it's done")

- themes of privilege, especially white privilege, and how that informs your worldview and perspective

- seeing how to be loved is to be known

- familial relationships, as someone with parental issues i can safely call this the daddy issues (and mommy issues) book. every character has a fascinating (or horrific) dynamic with their parents

- I cannot stress how much the book acknowledges these are teenagers who respond to things like teenagers

- cars cars cars i love cars and this book is a large reason why

- ART! this book (especially the sequel trilogy) really emphasizes the point of art! the beauty of it!)

- the magic system is genuinely really cool! the second series expands on it, but there's witches and magic and ley lines oh my!

- the series feels like summer; August specifically but it feels like a wild and enjoyable little summer tucked away in time

- murder squash song

- latin. I actually taught myself latin bc of these books

- religious motifs and themes but acknowledges how religion matters to one specific character he has a beautiful relationship with his religion and queer characters aren't granted that often

Now, to get snappy.

8. The Community

I have been in fandom for around fifteen years, and I can safely say that TRC fans are some of the loveliest individuals I've ever met. Every interaction i have had has been with an incredibly intelligent, skilled, and intuitive individual. I cannot express enough how lovely the fans are. I know saying "hey fans are the reason to read this" sounds a little goofy, but i can safely say the books are worth it for the community. I enjoy critical analysis and debate and dissecting creative writing and philosphizing and this is one of the few fandom communities who listens and engages and challenges my thoughts. I've grown tremendously engaging in both the text and others interpretations of it. I constantly find myself thinking and evolving and processing new information.

So, yes. The Raven Cycle. It's incredible. I cannot express that enough. I know this was a lot, but rest assured it's simply because I have such a love and special place in me for this series. It's been a part of my worst moments in love. I reread it this year during a particularly difficult time with my health (mental and physical) and it was a large part of why I made it through some truly dark moments in life. Not to sound melodramatic. It got me writing again, actually. And painting. And creating. Living my life again, to be frank. I acknowledge it's because the series has its claws in me and I have a great nostalgia for it but I don't find that bad. I think it's a miraculous and criminally underrated series of books. It is not perfect, by any means, but there is so much love and heart and home and safety in its pages. I cannot recommend it enough. Please, please consider reading it.

Also, now is a perfect time to get into it! The graphic novel comes out in July, and there's been a huge resurgence in attention to the series! People have been live blogging reading the series for the first time and it's so enthralling to reread vicariously through them. It's a perfect time to buckle down and work through the books. I am propaganda-ing you. You are being propaganda'd.

For your consideration:

also here's a meme I made in tenth grade, for nostalgia sake:

#this is so long im not even sorry #the raven cycle #gansey #blue sargent #ronan lynch #adam parrish #pynch #bluesey #henry cheng #noah czerny #my posts #its six am i spent... over twelve hours on this #tbh your fault asking an autistic to express why they love a book series (jk) ask me more things about the raven cycle it heals me

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