What You Need to Know Before You Read The Raven King

I’ve been counting down to tomorrow, the release date of The Raven King, the final volume in Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle, since I first cracked the spine on The Raven Boys way back in 2012. And now that it’s almost here, I’m delirious and a little (okay, a lot) worried I’ve mixed up my personal head canon with the actual plot. And I really, really don’t want to mess this moment up for Blue and Gansey, so I’ve got to get it right. Which is why, for my sake and yours, I’ve put together this rundown of the series so far (warning: minor spoilers ahead).
Blue is not a psychic. But the rest of her family is…and Blue does have the unique ability to strengthen other people’s clairvoyant gifts. Which is why each year, she goes with her mother to watch the spirits of everyone who will die that year walk on St. Mark’s Eve, even though Blue herself never sees anyone—until the year she sees the spirit of a local private school boy. It means one of two things: either she’s going to kill him, or he’s her true love.

Except in Blue’s case, it could be both. Because Blue has been told since birth that when she kisses her true love, he’ll die. So when she meets the boy in real life and he turns out to be a the smart, rich, charming Gansey, she can’t help but be curious. And when it turns out Gansey is on a hunt to find and wake the body of a sleeping Welsh king named Glendower, she’s even curiouser. And that’s how she meets the Raven Boys: Gansey, who’s spurred on his strange quest by a second chance at life; Ronan, who’s bitter and angry and can also bring his dreams to life; Adam, who’s determined to leave his abusive home life behind him; and Noah, who’s already kind of dead.
Their search brings them to Cabeswater, a weird forest that seems to exist out of time, where the ley lines converge and the trees speak Latin and make cryptic deals. Things get complicated: it turns out more people are interested in Glendower than Gansey thought (the person who wakes him, after all, is rumored to be granted a wish), and some of them are deadly. Even more deadly is the Gray Man, a hired henchman who’s trying to figure out Ronan’s secrets—and is a little bit in love with Blue’s mother, Maura.

Blue and Adam attempt to date, but Blue doesn’t want to explain why she can’t kiss him…and that she’s falling in love with Gansey, who she can never kiss. They break up, and Blue and Gansey are almost together, but not quite. Adam is hurt, but he’s also busy exploring his possible (totally requited) feelings for Ronan, so he’s not too hung up on the split.
And it turns out there may be more than one buried ancient sleeper. As if that weren’t complicated enough, it seems as though Blue’s father is somehow related to the hunt for Glendowder—and Blue’s mother has disappeared to find him. To top it all off, Blue’s mysterious aunt Neeve has reappeared, and she might not be on the friendly side of things. But with so many strange supernatural powers at play, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not, not to mention who you can trust and who you can’t—and guessing wrong might be deadly.
Will Blue and Gansey ever kiss? How is Gansey going to die? Will they be able to wake Glendower, and will they be glad about it if they do? Yeah, we’re pretty much dying to read The Raven King and find out.