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What: The King of Crows (The Diviners #4) by Libba Bray

Who: Allen and Unwin

When: February 4th 2020

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Allen and Unwin for review.

RRP: $29.99 (AUD)

After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows-but, she will need the Diviners’ help to do it.

Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe’s estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crow’s plans. Now, the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hopes of joining forces with Sarah Beth and to stop the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever.

But as rumors of towns becoming ghost towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems to be lost.

In this sweeping finale, The Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation, and world from catastrophe…

If you know anything about me it is that The Diviners is one of my favourite series of all time. Those books swept into my heart and stole it away the moment I read them. Before the Devil Breaks You was my favourite book of 2017 and I waited two and a half years for The King of Crows. I waited, and waited. I was lucky enough to reveal its beautiful cover on Instagram. And then was lucky enough to be sent a copy for review. I was ecstatic.

But from the moment The King of Crows began something felt wrong. There was something different about it. Different about the writing, the pace, and worst of all: the characters. My babies, my darling Diviners were different. One of my favourite characters, Memphis, didn’t even resemble the boy I had fallen in love with over the course of the last three books and five years. He was just so different and I ached for him to be the character I had loved so much again.

I always thought that the love triangle between Evie, Sam, and Jericho would end in a particular way. And I was right all along, but I felt like Jericho was given this new love interest out of the blue. I didn’t want him to be in pain and pining over Evie (who did love him in her own way), but I also wanted it to feel genuine if he did move on from her. And this didn’t feel genuine in the slightest.

Ling was always harsh and the most serious of all the Diviners. But in The King of Crows she was just a bitch. She was awful about Evie and said things just to hurt her. That wasn’t the Ling Chan I fell in love with in Lair of Dreams. I didn’t even know who this horrible girl was but it wasn’t my Ling.

Once it became clear that my beloved characters were no longer who they once were it was going to take an incredible plot to bring me back. Unfortunately an incredible plot was nowhere to be seen. Where the first three books were slow and devouring their complexities was a delicacy The King of Crows felt far too disjointed, far too slow, and in the end far too fast. The plot and pace were all over the place and I couldn’t connect to the story and what was happening because there was nothing to connect to. It was just too much lead up to a showdown that was over in a matter if paragraphs.

To say I am devastated by The King of Crows is an understatement. I am giving it a generous three stars because I still love this series and respect the place that it has in my heart. But this isn’t the ending I waited so long for and it certainly wasn’t the ending I wanted.

© 2020, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

trigger warning

racism, homophobia, slavery, multiple murders, death of a friend, death of a family member, ableism, use of ableist language, reference to domestic violence, animal death, animal cruelty, flooding causing loss of homes, blood and gore, inhumane experiments, war themes

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Posted on: May 12, 2020 • By: Chiara

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