

Death was unpleasant, but it was a familiar and tolerable ache in his chest. At eighteen years old, he'd seen more people die than he could comfortably count. Neil Josten thought it a cheap tribute, but that might have been his cynicism talking. It gave the impression the campus was in mourning. Over the weekend someone had replaced all of the white ribbons with black ones.

Last week Palmetto State University was covered in orange and white streamers to celebrate the start of the school year. It looked like Halloween outside, only two months too early. The second book in a series has a tendency to be a flop, but this is one of the best sequels I've ever read.

If you enjoyed anything at all about The Foxhole Court, you'll love The Raven King. In just about every aspect, this book really stepped it up. However, I will stress that this book is not all about Exy, you can still very much enjoy it without being into the sports scenes. We actually get to see a match against the Ravens, which is pretty exciting, and on the subject I'm still amazed by how much I'm enjoying all the sport in this series. More of Neil's past comes to the surface, and the rivalry with Riko and the Ravens escalates. I thought the last book touched on some pretty dark subjects, but this one gets darker. I give kudos to Nora Sakavic for creating a cast like this. Everyone is so unique and fleshed out, with their own strong personality - something other books with many less characters have failed at. My favourite thing in books is having a group of main characters, so this series is a dream for me. I loved getting to know more about all of them, and I'm pretty sure I'm hopelessly devoted now. We get to learn more about all of the Foxes in this, finding out more about their pasts and why they're part of this team. "You are going to be the death of me," Nicky said. "Are we?" Neil forced himself to say, "Friends?" It's both heartbreaking and adorable how floored he is by affection. We get to see more of their funny side, constantly placing bets on anything and everything, and their caring side, which Neil is constantly shocked by. The relationships between all the characters really develop in this, and I love them for it. But from now until May you are still Neil Josten and I am still the man who said he would keep you alive." "Your parents are dead, you are not fine, and nothing is going to be okay," Andrew said. He develops a lot more as a character, and I also loved the way Neil tries to understand him more. This book has revelations about him, and we get to learn a lot more about his (horrible, heartbreaking) past. My love for Andrew has reached a fever pitch. The story went from 'entertaining' to "oh my gosh I CAN'T STOP READING." The characters went from 'interesting' to "HERE JUST TAKE MY WHOLE HEART." When I said in my review of The Foxhole Court that this series has potential, THIS is what I meant.
