The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Published: September 18th 2012

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Series: The Raven Cycle #1

Genres: YA, Supernatural, Paranormal

Format: Kindle Source: Purchased

My Rating: 3.5 Stars 

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Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

 

~Review~

After months of pick up-put down, I was finally able to get to a point where the story got interesting for me. As beautiful as the writing is in this book, it was really boring in the beginning. I couldn’t read more than a chapter before wanting to pick up another book. I considered not finishing it, but everyone kept telling me that it gets better. It did. However, I’m going to try listening to the next two books since I have the a hardcover of the last one already. Maybe that will make a big difference. 

Where to start? Although I love stories with preternatural aspects, this one took time to navigate. Whether that is because I kept putting it down and picking it back up weeks later may have everything to do with it. I like Blue and what she’s able to do. And yes, it was majorly creepy from the start, but the writing put me off.  While not exactly flowery, but very poetic, I found myself sighing a lot. I just don’t like to read ornate writing when it comes to anything SF/F/PNR. This is the same problem I had with Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. And while The Raven Boys isn’t as elaborate as that book, I still had a hard time getting into it.

It took too long to get to the heart of the story. What may have kept me reading is the romance. I wanted to know just what would happen between Blue and Gansey. It should have been simple: If girl kisses boy, he dies. Right? Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a story if Stiefvater hadn’t made it complicated. So I stuck it out and actually enjoyed the last quarter of the book. 

The characters make the story worth it. Blue and Gansey aren’t the only interesting ones running around. Ronan: the crazy brother whom I may actually like. I like that he has a story to tell. There’s no way a teen boy with that much angst doesn’t have a story. He threw tantrums like a 3 yr old, but there is something I’m not getting from this book, so I have to read the next one. Adam and Noah are just as complicated. I felt so bad for Adam as I got to know his character more. At least Ronan’s rage is good for something. There’s a lot more at stake than I thought, so I am really ready for the next book. What else is it besides searching for a long dead welsh king? These Raven Boys are mysterious and I want to know more. 

Overall, I am more than willing to read/listen to the next book. I already have the audio book on hold, so hopefully I’ll start it soon. While I’m not impressed by this book, it does make you want to know more by the end. If you enjoy supernatural/paranormal stories, written poetically in third person, then this one is for you.