Early Review: The Monarchs (The Ravens #2)

The Monarchs (The Ravens #2)
By Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige

Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: January 11, 2022
Date Read: October 20, 2021
Genre: NA – Paranormal Romance
Source: eARC from Netgalley and Hodder
Format: E-Book
Pages: 448

From Goodreads:
In this thrilling conclusion to New York Times best-selling authors Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige’s The Ravens, the sorority witches are tested when a rival threatens to usurp their place on campus and the forces of hell come knocking on their door.

The sorority girls at Kappa Rho Nu—the Ravens—are determined to restore balance to the world. After destroying an ancient talisman and barely saving their sorority in the process, they’ll go to any lengths to keep their secret as Westerly’s most powerful coven of witches.

Scarlett Winter, a legacy Raven, has finally gotten what she’s always wanted: the Kappa Rho Nu presidency. After the disaster that killed the sorority’s last president, Scarlett is determined that no sister will fall under the sway of wicked magic ever again. But the powers of the presidency have their own pitfalls—and Scarlett has big shoes to fill.

Vivi Devereaux, a freshman, finally knows what it feels like to belong. For the first time ever, she’s got it all: her Kappa Rho Nu sisters and a sweet (and hot) boyfriend. When Scarlett assigns Vivi the coveted role of social chair, Vivi is determined to live up to her Big’s expectations—even if that means dabbling in a new form of magic.

Unbeknownst to the Ravens, new rivals and ancient evils lurk on Westerly’s campus. With Kappa Rho Nu’s future on their shoulders and their pasts still haunting them, will Scarlett and Vivi be able to save their sisterhood once again?

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.

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