Raven

Raven

I have just finished the book and must say I am mildly disappointed in it. The two main characters Zin and Nicole aka raven. As I read it I felt it was a cheap knock off the Twilight series. You have an immortal group with one person who can turn people into immortals on their deathbed. Unfortunately the ending sucks. Though some people in the story do die, I found that it was as not as emotionally moving to me like other books I have read. The school days really had no relevance and at times I really hated the plot, because it was I hate him, no wait I love him, and then no wait I hate him, and so on throughout the book. One of my main problems with this book, was the relevance of certain facts, and how they were so brief, if you blinked you would miss it. Especially the last chapter, it was like two pages that tried to sum up everything but not only left gaps, but ended on such sharp note i felt like I was jolted out of the story. So though my critique may seem harsh if you have read the Twilight series then you understand, if you haven't read twilight I recommend reading that instead of this but its your choice not mine.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Wow

It was so confusing in the beginning. I felt like there was so much unsaid that would have helped describe things better and clarify things. It was hard to follow sometimes and it got pretty boring too. I skipped some chapters and still got the gist of what happened. I wouldn't buy it again.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Something different

One of the things that i love about this book is that it is different, This is not a story about vampires or faries for ghosts. But it is about immortals and a girl that is different an does different things. There are twists and turns and most of the time the book is hard to put down. I would recommend this book for someone who likes the vampire books but is looking for something that is different but still exciting.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Rebecca Wells for TeensReadToo.com

Nicole has a life blighted by her brother, a meth addict who routinely calls home for money her parents can't refuse him. She just wants to get out. Her only respite comes in the form of Evermore, a bar in Manhattan where she can indulge her two loves: breaking, and Zin, a charismatic bartender.

Nicole just wants to be with Zin, but little does she know there is a dark secret he hides. When she uncovers it, will Nicole's love for Zin survive? And when a dark force connected to Zin begins to threaten her, what will she choose?

RAVEN is an engaging, fast-paced read. The voice of the narrator, Nicole, is sharp and clear. Readers will be drawn into this fascinating new world of breaking, but for newcomers to the dance, it will be at times difficult to understand and visualize.

For me, the climax of RAVEN came far too abruptly. The book seemed to be building toward an ending that never came, and that which finally did appear seemed out of the blue.

Still, RAVEN remains an engaging read regardless of this inconsistency in plot construction, mostly due to the captivating voice that narrates the book. Van Diepen is to be congratulated for her excellent imagination and tone.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Raven

I gave this a two out of five because quite frankly, a one out of five is a book I put down after the first chapter. It passed until the third. The language was not intense enough to the level where I could picture the dance moves as Chris Brown/Ciera worthy. They seemed like the kind of dances where you cringe becuase you feel sorry for them.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

WOW

Amazing!!! Every character just draws you in. They seem just so real. Nic aka Raven is so strong and Zin perfect. The story is refreshingly new!! A must read!!!!!!!!!!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

love it!!!

When I started to read this book I got glued right away. I mean yeah a lot of people are saying it took time to adjust to the book but I can relate to it. Even with the love hate relationship that Zin and Nicole have can confuse me in some chapters in the book. I mean Zin had a reason why he was doing that because of the secret he kept from her until she found out about him when she was attacked; he didn't want to get her involved. But overall I liked the book and I thought it was a good twist. Would recommend this book to friends.

you must check it out!!

I enjoyed reading this book. It was a beautiful love story. I have to say, this is definitely a very different Paranormal than I've ever read. Never read a story that involved break dancers. But Van Diepen has created wonderful characters. Raven is a strong, level headed girl. Her brother Josh is addict to meth, which gives her mom and dad a lot of heart ache, and this in return causes stress in her family. Zin, who is a part of the break dance group called the Toprocks (which Raven also dances in), is the male love interest. Raven starts working at the same club Zin bartends at, and also where they have dance battles with other break dancers. Raven falls for Zin, but he keeps her at distant. Zin keeps his true identity a secret from Raven. Carlo, the club owner where Zin and Raven work, has his own plans for Raven. And Zin is against these plans. This book has an amazing plot and has a very unique ending. Never seen it done in a paranormal book like this. And I love it, and highly recommend Raven as must read!

Not Bad!!

Picked this book up at random. Thought that the downtown club/breakdancing scene was unique. The plot is so, so. It does keep you interested but it's not the best book I've read. I thought it was too short and a lot of what happens is rushed.

Makes you want to keep reading and reading!

I loved this book because even though it starts out slow at first, its not one of those books like Twilight thats all about romance or like one of the books where all it has is action, and trust me I literally could not put the book down. I think this book is very unique because it has break dancing battles- I mean seriously! How awesome is that? It like explains the moves as they happen in the book. This book was an awesome book and I recommend you read it as soon as you can cause its amazing.

Raven

Just finished it today and here's what i think,I enjoyed this novel quite a lot and was looking forward to reading it,Anything that has the mix of New York City and romance gets my vote and what i unique concept to mix break dancing with supernatural elements such as immortals,sounds like Alyson Noel's Immortals series right?,wrong.The immortals are Jiang Shi,people who can live forever and take the soul of others,Nicole is smitten with Zinadin "Zin" for short and what do you know?He is immortal and their breaking dancing group loves to hang and battle at Evermore owned by Carlo the master Jiang Shi or leader,full of suspense and twists with a pinch of romance and chemistry,read it.

Kinda boring...

Raven was an okay novel. While I like newer works by Allison van Diepen, I can't say that Raven was one of my favorites. The story line was pretty common, and frankly, the writing could've been better. Her characters weren't well developed, and Nicole (the main character of Raven) seemed kind of.volatile. At some points in the book, she was a clear thinker, and did things rationally. While at other times, she seemed to be barely thinking at all! The story was nice, though. I've never read a book in which the characters are New York break-dancers-defiantly new!

a quick, fun, easy read

for me it was ok. teens between 10-14 will really like this book. older readers, well it depends. there are some similarities between this book and twilight. like they are immortals BUT NOT VAMPIRES!!!, there is a whole group of them kinda like a family, and raven is saved from death by zin. raven is not in any way almost killed by a van!!! so other than those things this book has no similarities with twilight. which is refreshing. the story is original for the most part. although some things could have been done better like describing the heng te, but all in all this is a quick and easy read. this is good for a rainy day or if you're just bored.

Started too slow and ended too fast

I'm not going to give anything away or have any spoilers. The book was just OK for me. It started VERY slow and ended way too fast. I'm a 32 year old woman who still feels quite young but some of the slang in this book... I didn't get it. I had to look up the meanings of some of the words so I could visualize. It felt like the author just got tired of writing so she wrapped up the whole story in 5 pages. It was disappointing. I would've loved to hear more about what happened to the characters after the climax to the story. :(

Gray

The story turned out to be more about Nicole's drug-addict brother and the depression it was causing her and her family, than anything supernatural.

immortal love

The thing that was confusing about this book was the language of the dancing. The author used some words that I had no idea what they meant, plus they were slang so it was kind of hard to understand. The book overall was really good it shows what a young girl goes through in her life. It was a really touching book.

I great find!

I found this book to be a great fantasy to lose yourself in. I starte it early in the morning and was finished by lunch time. The realism of the main female characters life mixed with the fantasy of her crush draws you in. While I do agree that the language could have been more vivid with the dance scenes, overall I thought this book was a great story and would love to see a spinoff involving Josh's journeys.

Amazing!

From the start this book was easy to get into and impossible to put down. I like the way Allison van Diepen writes; her words are lyrical and fluid and the way she describes things is really beautiful. I enjoyed this book a lot. I recommend it to anyone who is interested and even those who aren't.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Unexpected.

It was actually a pretty good read. just not what I was expecting when I first picked it up.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

What I liked most about Raven -- Zin! He's mysterious, he's hot and he can dance. I'm glad Zin and Nicole were able to work out their big problem so they could stay together. I hope someone will make a movie of this book so I can see Zin and the breakers dance.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.