Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Pres
Source: Borrowed from Library
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository
Summary: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.
“Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn't know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.”
Everyone absolutely loves this book and is always talking about the amazing characters and the writing. As such, I went into this book with extremely high expectations. I honestly think this slightly dampened my enjoyment. I still really enjoyed this book, but I was slightly disappointed. I was expecting a thrilling amazingly written story with so many details and plot intricacies. In many ways this book lived up to that. But I also found the plot to drag in the middle and I definitely did not enjoy the middle third of the book as much as the first and last third. However, I am still highly invested in this series and eager to pick up the second book.
By far the strongest part of this book is its characters. These characters are unique and each on has their own peculiarities that add to the story. I absolutely loved the snarky, sassiness to the characters. The Raven Boys (Gansey, Adam, Noah, and Ronan) are this tight-nit group that Blue just easily fits into. The friendship between this group is one of my favorite aspects of this book. They each have their issues that they are dealing with, but still somehow come together over the quest of ley lines and their meaning. The other cast of characters that added to this unique group was the aunts and family of Blue. They were so quirky and constantly predicting things and giving "advice" and I loved it. I think if I had to actually deal with it like Blue does, I would absolutely hate it, but I loved reading about it.
As for my "issue" with this book and I use that word loosely. This book definitely dragged as I have said. But luckily it did pick back up. I think the main reason I struggled with this book is solely due to it being overhyped for me. I have not had this issue before, but I think it did play a role in my ability to fall in love with this book the way others have. That being said, I did still thoroughly enjoy the book and cannot wait to continue.
Finally, this book left me with so many questions. There is so much more I want to know. Whether it is more about Blue's fate, the ley lines, the Raven King, or even more about the Raven Boys.
By far the strongest part of this book is its characters. These characters are unique and each on has their own peculiarities that add to the story. I absolutely loved the snarky, sassiness to the characters. The Raven Boys (Gansey, Adam, Noah, and Ronan) are this tight-nit group that Blue just easily fits into. The friendship between this group is one of my favorite aspects of this book. They each have their issues that they are dealing with, but still somehow come together over the quest of ley lines and their meaning. The other cast of characters that added to this unique group was the aunts and family of Blue. They were so quirky and constantly predicting things and giving "advice" and I loved it. I think if I had to actually deal with it like Blue does, I would absolutely hate it, but I loved reading about it.
As for my "issue" with this book and I use that word loosely. This book definitely dragged as I have said. But luckily it did pick back up. I think the main reason I struggled with this book is solely due to it being overhyped for me. I have not had this issue before, but I think it did play a role in my ability to fall in love with this book the way others have. That being said, I did still thoroughly enjoy the book and cannot wait to continue.
Finally, this book left me with so many questions. There is so much more I want to know. Whether it is more about Blue's fate, the ley lines, the Raven King, or even more about the Raven Boys.
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