hellooooo here is the reading vlog that almost didn't see the light of day! i'm re-reading the raven boys by maggie stiefvater for the 4th time and i have an (emotional) blast. just in time for the 10 year anniversary too 🥺

i want to promise i won't be as chatty in the next one but i won't lie to myself there is just so much to talk about! i filmed it all on my (now defunct rip buddy) iphone 7 so it's kinda lofi, but i think it gives it a cozy vibe lol. it's the type of video you sit down with a drink to watch or you can also read along with me and come back to certain sections as you wish!

i've talked about the raven cycle quite a bit along the years but in this one you can really start to understand the depth of my attachment to this story and these characters. btw i still have not read greywaren because im a very slow and mood driven reader, i really want to get to it before the end of the winter tho!

here are the time stamps if you want to jump around the sections as you read along:
00:00 intro
00:21what is the raven cycle about? skip to the next part if you already know
3:29 chapters 1-5: worldbuilding
5:45 the raven cycle is secretly a tragedy
7:14 adam and gansey as foils, need vs want
12:34 chapter 15: the wheels of fate in motion
13:26 chapter 16: the art of creating mystery without talking down to your reader
15:37 chapter 17: whelk and the banality of evil
16:53 the blue/adam/gansey Dynamic™
19:10 halfway through, getting emotional about cabeswater
20:17 my raven cycle screen adaptation fantasy
23:03 past chapter 30
24:22 gansey and whelk parallels
25:53 bluedansey at it again 🤪
27:05 gansey being white
27:26 chapter 35: the puzzle pieces come together
28:08 chapter 36: adam parrish character thesis statement!!
30:36 mad at gansey
31:28 not mad at gansey anymore
33:33 chapters 45-47: much to unpack
35:56 the implications of adam's sacrifice
38:26 blue and adam's character development
39:04 closing thoughts
39:52 wait more closing thoughts
40:30 outro

if you want to gush/rave/rant about the series please do go off in the comments because there is always a lot of stuff to unpack hehe

okay see you in a few weeks for part ii on the dream thieves! 😘
instagram, twitter, and goodreads can be found here: https://linktr.ee/lowercase.lena