Ravenous

Book: Ravenous (Standard Edition) by Kresley Cole

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 3/5

๐“๐“ž ๐“ข๐“Ÿ๐“ž๐“˜๐“›๐“”๐“ก๐“ข
โšœ๏ธ๐”ป๐•–๐•ฅ๐•’๐•š๐•๐•–๐•• ๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ ๐• ๐•—- Ravenous

๐ˆ ๐š๐ฆ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐ž๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐€๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ NetGalley ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐ง ๐€๐‘๐‚ ๐œ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐ž๐ฐ, ๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐š๐ฌ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐›๐จ๐จ๐ค.

โšœ๏ธโ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•ค-
(out of 5 stars, my rating scale is at the end)
๐Ÿ—ฃ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ

๐Ÿ“š ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ / 5

๐ŸŒก๏ธ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ MF MFM MFMM MMFM ๐ŸŒถ๐ŸŒถ๐Ÿซ‘ / 5 -๐‘โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐บ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ 

Which books have I also given this same rating? (๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘›)

5โญ๏ธ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5โญ๏ธ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4โญ๏ธ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3โญ๏ธWe Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

โšœ๏ธ๐•‚๐•–๐•ช ๐•€๐•Ÿ๐•—๐• :
Genre- Fantasy Romance

๐ŸŽง 12 ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€ 56 ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€ (I ๐š•๐š’๐šœ๐š๐šŽ๐š— ๐š˜๐š— 1.7 ๐šœ๐š™๐šŽ๐šŽ๐š)

๐Ÿ“– 352 ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜€

๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› Multi ๐—ฃ๐—ข๐—ฉ / ๐šœ๐š˜๐š•๐š˜ ๐š—๐šŠ๐š›๐šŠ๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š—

๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ- 28 July 2026

๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ or ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ driven? ๐’œ โ„ณ๐’พ๐“

๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ & ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ป๐—ผ- Immortals Untold book 1

๐—”๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ on ๐—ž๐—จ? โŒ๐’ฉโ„ด.

๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- โ„ฑ๐’ถ๐“ˆ๐“‰

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ? โŒ๐’ฎ๐’ถ๐’น๐“๐“Ž, ๐“ƒโ„ด, ๐’พ๐“‰๐“ˆ ๐“Œโ„ฏ๐“๐“ ๐“Œ๐“‡๐’พ๐“‰๐“‰โ„ฏ๐“ƒ ๐’ท๐“Š๐“‰ ๐’น๐’พ๐’น๐“ƒ๐“‰ ๐“ˆ๐“‰๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’น โ„ด๐“Š๐“‰ โ„ฏ๐“ƒโ„ด๐“Š๐‘”๐’ฝ ๐’ปโ„ด๐“‡ ๐“‚โ„ฏ ๐“‰โ„ด ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ธ๐’ถ๐“๐“ ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐“ˆ๐’ถ๐“Ž 6 ๐“‚โ„ด๐“ƒ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐“ˆ ๐“‰๐’พ๐“‚โ„ฏ.

๐’Ÿ๐’พ๐’น ๐’พ โ„ฏ๐“ƒ๐’ฟโ„ด๐“Ž ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ?โœ…

๐’ฒ๐’พ๐“๐“ ๐’พ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐’น ๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ฏ ๐“ƒโ„ฏ๐“๐“‰ ๐’ทโ„ดโ„ด๐“€ ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“ˆโ„ฏ๐“‡๐’พโ„ฏ๐“ˆ?โœ…

๐’ฒโ„ด๐“Š๐“๐’น ๐’พ ๐“‡โ„ฏ๐’ถ๐’น ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“Ž๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” โ„ฏ๐“๐“ˆโ„ฏ ๐’ท๐“Ž ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐’ถ๐“Š๐“‰๐’ฝโ„ด๐“‡?โœ…

โšœ๏ธ๐•Šโ„™๐”ผโ„‚๐•€๐”ผ๐•Š ๐•€โ„• ๐•Š๐•‹๐•†โ„๐•:
โšฐ๏ธ๐‘‰๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ 
๐Ÿง™โ€โ™€๏ธ๐”š๐”ฆ๐”ฑ๐” ๐”ฅ๐”ข๐”ฐ
๐ŸฆดSา‰โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ 
๐Ÿ‘น๐–‰๐–Š๐–’๐–”๐–“๐–˜
๐ŸงŸโ€โ™‚๏ธ แ—ฐOแ‘ŽีTแ—ดแ–‡แ”•

โšœ๏ธ๐•Š๐•ก๐•š๐•”๐•– ๐”ฝ๐•’๐•”๐•ฅ๐•ค:
๐Ÿ’ฆ๐“๐š๐›๐จ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ค๐ฌ/ ๐œ๐ก๐จ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ฌ
๐Ÿค๐‘‰๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘› ๐น๐‘€๐ถ
๐Ÿฅต๐’Ÿ๐’พ๐“‡๐“‰๐“Ž ๐’ฏ๐’ถ๐“๐“€
๐ŸซฆOแด˜แด˜แดsษชแด›แด‡s Aแด›แด›ส€แด€แด„แด›
๐Ÿ—ก ๐™€๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ข๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™‡๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ
๐Ÿ—ก ๐™๐™š๐™ก๐™ช๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ฉ ๐™–๐™ก๐™ž๐™š๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™‡๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ
๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿ‘จ๐™ต๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐™ผ๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐šœ
๐Ÿ’” ๐‘ˆ๐‘›๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’
๐Ÿ’€๐”‰๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”Ÿ๐”ฆ๐”ก๐”ก๐”ข๐”ซ ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ช๐”ž๐”ซ๐” ๐”ข

โšœ๏ธ๐•‹โ„๐•†โ„™๐”ผ๐•Š
๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐•Š๐•–๐•”๐•ฃ๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ค & ๐”น๐•–๐•ฅ๐•ฃ๐•’๐•ช๐•’๐•๐•ค
๐Ÿ’ˆ แ—ทแ—ฉแ‘ŽTแ—ดแ–‡
โ˜ ๏ธ๐•‹๐• ๐•ฆ๐•”๐•™ ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐••...
๐Ÿ“–Political intrigue
โ™Ÿ๏ธWar/spying

๐Ÿ“Cliff Notes Review-
Ravenous throws you headfirst into an enormous new world packed with immortal factions, political intrigue, magic, betrayals, and absolute chaos. The multiple POVs are confusing at first, but once everything clicks together itโ€™s hard not to become invested in the bigger picture. I wished each romance had more time to develop emotionally, but the world-building, relentless pacing, and completely unhinged final act more than made up for it.

โšœ๏ธ๐‘บ๐’‰๐’๐’–๐’๐’… ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐‘น๐‘ฌ๐‘จ๐‘ซ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’๐’“, ๐‘ณ๐‘ฐ๐‘บ๐‘ป๐‘ฌ๐‘ต ๐’•๐’ ๐’Š๐’•?โšœ๏ธ (๐‘Šโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก- ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐ด๐‘ข๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘œ?)
Read this one as it can get confusing, unless you are used to multi PoV shifts then absolutely grab the audio!

โšœ๏ธ๐”ธ๐•ฆ๐••๐•š๐•  ๐”น๐• ๐• ๐•œ โ„๐•–๐•ง๐•š๐•–๐•จ:
Robert Petkoff once again delivers an incredible performance. Considering the sheer number of characters, accents, personalities and emotional beats he has to juggle, itโ€™s genuinely impressive that each voice remains so distinct. He doesnโ€™t simply narrate the story; he gives every character their own identity. The only thing I found myself wishing for was a dual or duet narration, simply because it may have made such a large ensemble easier to follow. however, I couldnโ€™t listen to it sped up past 1.5/1.7 at the absolute most because of how complex the story was and how you have to keep up with everything in detail.

๐ŸŒ ๐•Ž๐• ๐•ฃ๐•๐•• ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•š๐•๐••๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜, ๐•จ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•’๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•ก๐•’๐•”๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜:
So this book was a little different o most others Iโ€™ve read. Rather than following one central couple, this book throws you into an entirely new world filled with multiple storylines, several potential romances, political conflict, and a cast of immortal characters that all feel as though theyโ€™re heading towards something enormous.

The biggest adjustment was undoubtedly the structure. Every chapter shifts perspective, introducing another character, another plot thread, and another piece of the puzzle. At first it felt overwhelming, especially alongside learning an entirely new world and mythology. There were moments where I genuinely had to stop and remind myself whose head I was currently in. Thankfully, once everyone became more familiar, the story settled and those seemingly separate threads gradually began weaving together.

The Skein itself is fascinating. Itโ€™s a brutal parallel realm populated entirely by immortal races including werewolves, vampires, Valkyries, witches, berserkers, demons, incubi and more, all living under the looming threat of the Accession, a violent conflict that erupts every five hundred years. The setting feels vast, dangerous and unpredictable, and itโ€™s clear that this is only the beginning of what the author has planned.

Ironically, while I loved the world and overarching plot, the romances were probably my biggest disappointment. Because so many couples share the spotlight, none of them receive enough page time to fully develop. Some relationships move at lightning speed while others barely have the opportunity to build meaningful chemistry. I found myself far more invested in the wider conflict than in who ended up with whom, which is unusual for me in a romance.

I also think some characters stood out much more than others. A few immediately captured my attention, while others never quite developed enough for me to become emotionally attached. With such a large ensemble cast, that almost feels inevitable, but I couldnโ€™t help wishing weโ€™d spent more time getting to know fewer characters in greater depth.

The pacing never really slows down. Something is always happening, which helps keep such a large cast moving forward, although it can occasionally feel like youโ€™re sprinting from one major event to the next without much time to breathe. The final portion of the book completely embraces the chaos. Alliances crumble, expectations are turned upside down, shocking twists appear one after another, and by the final chapters I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next.

Several reveals left me completely stunned. Characters I thought were heading towards one future suddenly found themselves on entirely different paths, and the amount of uncertainty has me incredibly curious to see how all of this unfolds in later books. Rather than feeling like a complete story, this almost reads as the opening move in a much larger game.

๐Ÿชง๐”ฝ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•’๐• ๐•ฅ๐•™๐• ๐•ฆ๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ๐•ค:
Ravenous feels less like one complete novel and more like the foundation of an epic new series. The world-building, political intrigue, betrayals, magic and constant twists kept me hooked, even if the romances didnโ€™t have the emotional depth I usually look for. Thereโ€™s an enormous amount of groundwork being laid here, and while that occasionally comes at the expense of character development, itโ€™s impossible to ignore just how ambitious the story is. The ending left me with far more questions than answers, and honestlyโ€ฆ I canโ€™t wait to see what kind of chaos Kresley Cole unleashes next.

๐น๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ;

๐•‹๐•š๐•œ๐•‹๐• ๐•œ
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*

๐•„๐•ช โ„๐•’๐•ฅ๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•˜ ๐•Š๐•ช๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•–๐•ž๐•ค:
โญ๏ธ DNF

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I managed to finish it but it was rubbish. I won't keep a physical copy and won't recommend it, but it's a shame as the plot could have made a good book in another author's hands

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
It was OK. I wish I didn't start this one as it didn't do it for me as I struggled to read it. It had an interesting premise that fell flat but I had to see what happened in the end.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
I don't regret reading it, and I will read the next one, but this one did have a few flaws. [These could be repetitive writing, gaps or plot holes, better character growth or world building, areas needing more detail]
Generally, the book lacked depth and became confusing. The plot resonated with me even though it annoyed me on the whole.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
I'm glad I read it. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to the right people, but I wanted more! Sadly, it's easily forgettable with a few issues I just couldn't overlook/get past.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Good book! I loved it, but... I needed more! I really did enjoy it, but it had a few parts that needed more detail or added history/background or lore. But that's because the story or characters were memorable, and the plot was strong with brilliant twists. I would re-read if I needed to catch up for the next book and would recommend.

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ.5
Great book! I truly wish the story had been thought about more, or the author had been given more time as this book is so close to brilliance! I will likely read again and will definitely be recommending it to all!

โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
WOW! Absolutely amazing book! Well written with great characters and a plot so memorable that it will stay with me. I will definitely read this again, I will be recommending it and sharing it with the whole world! Also- I NEED A PHYSICAL COPY!

๐Ÿ”ฅโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ
This is my God level tier. The book must be perfectly memorable. Even after reading 50+ more books, I will remember character names and emotions along with the plot. If there is a special edition, then I need to own it! If there is a conversation on books- I'm talking about this!

SPICE SCALE:
๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ segsual language and a little on-page action

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of segsual language and some on-page open door action, may be occurring a couple of times

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธโ€“ a lot of explicit action and dirty talk, occurring frequently with 2/3 lurvers

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ super graphic and explicit, occurring 4 or more times, can be more grey and taboo themed.

๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ โ€“ Kinks and Fet!shism, explicit and super graphic. It is likely to be tushy play, toys, playrooms, and more dark / taboo fantasies and realities.

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