Jean Moreau is shaping up to be one of my favourite YA protagonists of all time. He has managed to sneak his way into first place in my rankings of AFTG characters, beating out my beloved Neil Josten.
The Golden Raven – the second book in the still-unnamed sister trilogy to All For The Game – was exactly what I hoped it would be. The story easily follows what was set up in the previous book, and gives us much more of a world to work with. The Sunshine Court made us fall in love with Jean Moreau, but The Golden Raven made us fall in love with the USC Trojans. The dynamic between Cat and Jean is beautiful, but simply watching the Trojans love and protect Jean unabashedly warms the heart. We are given a character who believes himself unlovable, and shown endlessly how much everyone loves him effortlessly.
The book calls back often to characters we love from the previous series, but doesn’t rely on their presence to keep us interested. We see brief glimpses of our Foxes, and it adds depth seeing them through the eyes of Jean and the Trojans. It is nice when they pop in, but it isn’t a relief; the story moves too quickly for us to have time to miss them, and I was consistently engaged.
I simply cannot wait for the third book, and will miss Jean, Cat, Laila, and Jeremy the whole time.