On the Lovability of Chapters

can every chapter be someone's favorite?

While I was digging for a particular piece of pastel paper the other day, I rediscovered a piece of art I did for a reader tattoo approximately a billion years ago. Warm fuzzies ensued. How charming, I thought, that someone has this happy bee on their body; how charming, I thought, that someone other than Gansey found Henry’s words meaningful.

How especially charming, I thought, that in this world—a world whose algorithms prioritize negative engagement—that it was this image, a hopeful and positive one, that a reader wanted to look at for years. Pursue sweetness! A balm against the sour.

Anyway, many of you clicking over here will know that I ran a contest to give this original away; the only requirement to enter was leaving a comment with your favorite chapter from the Raven Cycle, and why.

CUE MORE WARM FUZZIES

MANY MORE WARM FUZZIES

The comment sections across Facebook, Instagram, and (the ugly stepsister) Threads were filled with surprising chapters from across the series, with even more surprising explanations. When I write, I always have a goal in my mind: can this chapter be someone’s favorite? But I had no idea how successful it would be. Chapters that I really struggled with, chapters that started out as just scenes to dump plot information, small chapters with tiny, intimate character moves in them . . . they were all represented in the comments.

W A R M F U Z Z I E S

It’s incredible that this series, which has already celebrated its tenth anniversary, has lodged in so many hearts. Wonderful that it moves and tickles people in so many different ways. So many readers came to this series in their teens and are now exiting their messy twenties, just as I imagine the characters from the series are (hopefully you guys are also continuing to make messy pacts with temperamental forests, as I also like to imagine these characters. Reading through the comments was like checking in with those readers I met the first time around, when the books were originally released. HELLO NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN YOU’RE LOOKING WELL AND FUNCTIONAL

Picking a single comment was like . . . well, insert a simile here. It was tough, because there were hundreds and they were meaningful and funny and sweet and tough and everything in between. But I reckon I’m going to go with laniiilou on Instagram, because I feel like they could use the visual reminder to pursue the sweetness of life.

Thank you, everyone, for the walk down memory lane and the

WARM FUZZIES

I really appreciated it.

(pictured is the Owlcrate 10th Anniversary edition, which is sold out, I believe, but the other three are here).