Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Published: September 18th 2012
Rating: 3.5
“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.
After hearing countless of praise for Maggie Stiefvater's newest novel I've finally managed to read it for myself and have come to my own conclusion about how I felt reading The Raven Boys. Confusion. There is no other word to sum up my feelings of this book in a whole. Have you ever heard the saying 'the glass is half full' because that also can generally summaries my thoughts as well. This book has alot of potential and I can see great things for it in the coming books, I don't know precisely what it lacked just that it took my awhile to get into the story and actually care about the characters.
The Raven Boys have three rotating points of view; Blue (a battery magnify for physics), Gansey (a rich scholar) and Adam (a scholarship boy). We follow these three plus other characters- Ronan and Noah- on their quest to find an ancient man named Glendower who's body is supposedly buried on a ley line (ley line is powerful energy found around all over the world), and whoever wakes him up is granted one favor. This is the premises throughout the duration of the novel, however I could see potential plot lines being seeded around everywhere! It seems that Gansey's whole gang has a troubled dark past that I just know that we will eventually get to explore in future books. Ronan in particular was a very colorful character with a vibrant vocabulary in the art of swearing and a very intricate tattoo that appears to change, also not to mention the mysterious murder of his father hangs around in the air. I think we can expect to see more of Ronan and his dark past, something that I'm very excited for! I may have a tiny crush on that bad boy, damn, why are they so addictive? *Sighs*
Anyways... another mysterious thing that was present throughout The Raven Boys was the big question of who Blue's true love is. It may seem a straightforward answer according to the summary but Maggie Stiefvater throws in a sly love triangle! Anyone who read the synopsis would have an inkling that Gansey is Blue's true love however enter Adam! Romance wasn't a dominate feature in The Raven Boys but there were subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle gestures of romance. The love triangle really isn't a proper love triangle as Blue and Gansey constantly bicker in a teasing way- which I personally believe is Gansey's way of flirting- and Adam and Blue have this little hand holding, brush cheek, I want to kiss you (last one from Adam) thing going on. I'm putting my team Gansey sign up right now. I know that those two would be a interesting couple! Adam and Blue were just boring to read, I didn't feel anything, no draw what so ever.
A slightly disappointing start to the series but I have a strong feeling that the sequel The Dream Thieves will be much better! With a bag full of unanswered questions and the looming knowledge that if Blue was to kiss her true love he would die coming to fruition. I'm very excited to see how this haunting read plays out.
-Taylor X
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