Member Reviews
I received a copy from netgalley.
The Monarchs is the sequel to The Ravens and follows the sorority as they deal with an ancient evil that lurks on the campus.
I loved this one just as much as the first book, there's a new type of magic in this one which was fun to read about but there's still plenty of the tarot based spells from the last one! It was action-packed, dark and thrilling! The plot was incredible, I loved the mystery and the twists leading up to finale. And the characters were as amazing as I remember, the relationships they all have with each other are lovely and they show so much growth as they have to learn from their mistakes.
Overall, I definitely recommend it and those who love witchy reads should give this duology a go!
I thought that The Ravens was a thrilling, dark and complex mystery about the dangerous allure of power, combined with an empowering ode to sisterhood. The Monarchs builds on that strength to deliver an empowering, thrilling read that I absolutely sped through. I loved how much our characters grew and developed, with their narrative arcs feeling three-dimensional and complete. However, there was just that something missing for me.
Enjoyed this but the recent move away from YA I’ve been feeling, worked against me here. It’s not a school story but it read like one for me and I guess I’m just too old for teen angst now, even with magic. Still a solid YA fantasy however.
"All girls grew up with magic in them whether they knew it or not."🪄🪄🪄
🦋READING THIS FELT LIKE FEVER DREAM🦋
Y'all I don't know what happened here, where they were, what they were doing, and why???🌚🌚🌚
"'Don't be afraid, but be wary,' Minnie always said when she sensed fear in Scarlett. 'You are the storm. But there are other storms out there, too.'"🌀🌀🌪️🌩️
We follow witch coven disguised as sorority house🧙♀️🧙♀️🧙♀️. After events in the first book they're trying not to let that happen again. 💀💀💀
"'Try again,' Scarlett said. 'And take your time. You're casting a spell, not ordering at McDonald's.'"
Magic became weird✨✨✨. Strange things are happening on the campus💥💥💥 They must figure out what's happening, because suddenly there are other witches 🧙♀️🧙♀️🧙♀️🤷🏻 Demons👹👹👹🤷🏻?¿ Some weird shit.🤷🏻👻👻👻
"'You could bend a heart to your will, but underneath, it still beat to its own rhythm. There was no changing that.'"
✋😌The only thing I read that book for was romance between Scarlett and Jackson 💃💃💃 The tension was great, but I wanted more😫😫😫
🦋🦋🦋Overall this book was strange👀, it creeps me out🌚🌝, i didn't understand a thing🤦 and romace was disappointing😒.🦋🦋🦋 Literally if they only sit and all talked to each other this book would end within 100 pages.💃💃💃 2,5/5⭐
4.5 stars
This action-packed and undeniably spellbinding conclusion to the bestselling The Ravens Duology is utterly unputdownable. It’s dark and gritty, Scream Queens meets Pretty Little Liars premise was absolute perfection and I fell totally in love with all the witchy drama and supernatural sabotage.
The Ravens aka Kappa Rho Nu are determined to restore balance to the world after the events of the previous book (destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their Sorority.) Now they’ll go to any lengths to protect their secret as the most powerful coven of witches in the country—and on campus.
Scarlett Winter has finally gotten what she’s always wanted, President of Kappa Rho Nu just like her mother and older sister but, the pressures of alumni bureaucracy and past mistakes starts to take a toll with Scarlet at risk of losing the very thing that defines her—her magic.
As a new member of Kappa Rho Nu, Vivi Devereaux has finally found a place to belong. With her sorority sisters behind her (and Scarlett’s blessing) she finally starts dating her college crush (who also happens to be Scarlett’s ex.) After being assigned the coveted role of social chair, Vivi is determined to succeed but when her studies uncover a new form of magic (one tied to Kappa’s past and the vengeful demon once tied to the talisman) things take a deadly turn.
With the weight of their new responsibilities upon them, Scarlett and Vivi must save their sisterhood from both the forces of hell and a rival sorority threaten to unleash havoc on the Ravens.
After that phenomenal ending of The Ravens I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Monarchs and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved the supernatural intrigue surrounding the history of the coven and the mystery of their magical saboteur—I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
I also loved seeing more of The Ravens (including Vivi and Scarlett) and how they navigated life after such a life changing (and tragic) event, especially Vivi who went through ALOT in the last book.
Although I enjoyed the romance aspects for both girls, I preferred Scarlett’s romantic arc as Vivi’s relationship struggles only seemed to mirror Scarlett’s previous relationship issues. I also loved how much more developed Scarlett was as a character, she’s definitely way more likeable than she was in The Ravens.
Overall, this tension filled witchy YA Fantasy was both enjoyable and utterly addictive— if you love witchy YA, Pretty Little Liars or Scream Queens I’d definitely recommend checking this Duology out.
Also, thanks to Hodder&Stoughton and Netgalley for the e-arc.
This book continues at the start of a new school year with our favourite witchy sorority. They are still reeling from the previous year's events, with the deepest betrayal still cutting deep throughout all the girls of Kappa Rho Nu.
I absolutely loved the premise of this sequel. It’s so much darker and grittier than I ever expected, and that is one of the things I absolutely love about it. Some events in the book are so obviously bad choices, and it makes you want to reach into the book and tell the characters not to do those stupid things.
The Monarchs is just as fast paced, action packed and filled with twists and turns as The Ravens, but it's obvious that the characters have gone through heavy stuff and the character development in this one is even better than it was in The Ravens.
I highly recommend the series to anyone who's in the mood for a bitchy, witchy, college/Greek Life inspired story!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I loved the first book in this serie The Ravens and was excited for the second book. Unfortunately, it was a let-down. Vivi was so annoying in this one. Scarlett wasn’t much better. The whole book I was just screaming at them to just communicate. Everything pretty much gets resolved in the last hundred pages and the rest of the book is just the characters just sitting around wondering what they are going to do. Boring. First book was better.
I really enjoyed the first book and couldn't wait to read this one. I will say i preferred the first book more but this was still enjoyable.
The plot was very obvious to me and i figured things out quite quickly.
Overall it was an enjoyable read and was great to see the growth of the characters from the first book.
There are no words to describe just how excited I was to get an ARC of The Monarchs. I read The Ravens earlier this year and I fell head over heels in love with it. I’ve never been a huge lover of witch books, and often struggle to get into them. The Ravens fast became my favourite witch books, with it’s dark and gritty plotlines. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen to these amazing characters in this second book. The Monarchs was an absolutely incredible follow up to The Ravens, I enjoyed every single moment of it.
The Monarchs picks up at the start of a new school year with our favourite witchy sorority. They are still reeling from the previous years events, with the deepest betrayal still cutting deep throughout all of the girls. As things start getting dangerous again, the girls have to decide who can they trust?
I absolutely love the premise of this whole series. It’s so much darker and grittier than I ever expected and that is one of the things I absolutely love about it. This theme continues throughout this second book in the duology. The main characters don’t know who to trust anymore, which leads them to start keeping secrets from each other. This causes some major drama throughout this book. I really enjoyed this, but at the same time, all I could keep thinking as we went through the book was ‘well that’s a stupid idea’ … ‘no don’t do that!’. Some of the events in the book are so obviously bad choices and it makes you want to reach into the book and tell the characters not to do those stupid things.
The Monarchs was a fantastic follow up to The Ravens. I had been hoping there was going to be a little bit more romance in this one than the previous book, and I was a little bit disappointed that there wasn’t. There was still a little bit of romance but it was very little, and the book definitely was focusing more on the bond and relationship between sisters. While I was a little disappointed with the lack of romance, I did really like that we focused on the bond between the girls. It was very refreshing being able to see that.
The Monarchs is just as fast paced, action packed and filled with twists and turns as The Ravens. I did find that this one wasn’t quite as ‘unputdownable’ as the previous book but it was very very good, and I really enjoyed seeing how everything happened throughout the course of the book. It was a fantastic ending to a phenomenal duology. I highly recommend this dark, gritty and witchy series. It’s especially perfect to read around October. I am holding out hope that Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige decide to write another series together at some point, as they are such a fantastic duo.
The Monarchs picks up a few months after the end of The Ravens, where our favourite Kappas have returned for a new semester. It was so easy to sink back into this world of sorority witches and again I loved the themes of sisterhood!
Sufficiently eerie and thrilling, there is another mystery (that I didn't see coming!) and a dash of romance. This series is so brilliantly written, I can't wait to see what happens next!
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
This sequel starts with a new semester at Westerly College. Scarlett and Vivi face the consequences of what happened in the previous semester and on top of that deal with new responsibilities. However, as they strive to do and be the best, strange things happen on campus and interfere with their and their coven's magic. That, and a rivalry with another sorority test not only Scarlett and Vivi, but all of the Ravens.
Similar to the first book, this one takes its time to collect all the puzzle pieces long before it becomes apparent to the characters that something is wrong. I greatly enjoyed the mystery of it was constantly curious to see what would happen next. I also appreciate that the first book could stand alone but still feels connected to the second book. This way, The Monarchs feels more like an extension and not a continuation.
This time, however, I struggled with the protagonists, especially Vivi. In the first book, her naivety felt appropriate given that she is completely new to witching. This time, she feels way more comfortable with that but her character still hasn't grown. It actually annoyed me at times that she still has the same fears from the first book, even though she was supposed to have overcome them! To be fair, though, this development isn't entirely her fault and has a very good reason in the story. I still couldn't completely enjoy her chapters.
I was also missing the great message from the first book, that the friendship between the Ravens made their magic even stronger. It also makes sense with what's going on in the story that this aspect isn't really present any more, but I felt a little let down. In the end, the conclusion for both books in the series felt kind of similar because of that.
All in all, I still enjoyed reading this book a lot. The new adventure of this witchy sorority was a lot of fun and I especially loved the climax. I feel like the second book could have done a lot more, especially for character development, but in the end, it is just as great as the first one. I definitely recommend the sequel to everyone who already enjoyed the first book!
I just can't comple it , its not the book , its the book maybe I want in a mood for a witchy book?
(The rating is added just because of netgalley rules)
What is it with sequels not living up to the potential of the first book recently? I feel like The Monarchs by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige is the latest in a series of second books following up on great initial novels that just left me wanting more. I read The Ravens, the first book, a couple times, both before it released for my review and after it came out and loved the characters, setting and approach to magic. But this second book felt very generic and lost a lot of the magic that sucked me into the first one to begin with. The plot takes a long time to get going – the main arc doesn’t really start until about halfway through – and much of what happens is basically petty drama. Honestly, I just ended up not being emotionally invested in this and constantly thinking of more interesting directions that the book could have taken. I think as a whole it is fine, and it ends up in a mostly satisfying ending to the duology, but it could have been so much better. While The Monarchs really focuses on just Vivi and Scarlett – and shows much less of their fellow Ravens – it seems to do so superficially, and not really explore their dynamic, which for me was one of the most interesting parts of the first book. So a solid three stars from me.
{AD|GIFTED} After the devastating events of The Ravens, Kappa Rho Nu are trying to establish some sort of balance and normality in their lives. Scarlett is now President of the sorority and Vivi is her Social Chair. However, something or someone is blocking Raven magic and slowly turning sister against sister.
I love the idea of sorority witches and would honestly read a book just about these witches having fun in college. This book is slightly darker than the first one as so much seems to go wrong for Kappa Rho Nu. They can't seem to catch a break and I sometimes wanted more lighthearted scenes. However, the bonds of sisterhood remain strong and the friendship between the sorority is as powerful as ever.
Scarlett remains my favourite character and I loved her development in the sequel. The additions of Xavier as a character and the Theta sorority were seamlessly interwoven and enhanced the plot instead of distracting from it. The romance element didn't really affect me one way or the other but I'd love to read a spin-off all about Jackson's adventures as his questioning of the unfair power balance held by witches was really intriguing and worth exploring further.
If you want a witchy read that will have you itching to rewatch shows like <i>Charmed</i>, definitely check out this fantastic duology.
What a fantastic end to this duology! The story was fast paced and exciting, the characters are so endearing and interesting, and there are some twists and turns along the way to keep you reading late into the night. Typically I'm not a fan of sorority themed stories, but this one really exceeded my expectations!