Postcard For Reader

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Raven Cycle (#1)
Publisher: Scholastic
How Received: BookExpo America

“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.

While not my favorite Stiefvater book, The Raven Boys once again cements Stiefvater as an author whose books I will always pick up.

Full of mystery and intrigue, The Raven Boys may take a while to get into, but once you've settled into the plot, you're dragged into a paranormal mystery that knows just when to drop the next hint. The plot is luxuriously drawn out over the course of the book. Just enough questions are answered to be satisfied while just enough new ones are introduced to leave you wanting more.

The best part of the book isn't the plot, for all it's awesome; it's the characters. Each one stands out on their own, interesting and detailed in their own right. Ronan Lynch terrified the hell out of me; Adam intrigued me and I'm excited to see where his story goes; Gansey's internal plight had me curious; Blue's overall personality had me grinning from ear-to-ear. My favorite characters, Blue's mother and 'sisters,' had me laughing every time they appeared on page.

I think the only thing that put me off is the 'villain' of the story, who I won't name for the sake of spoilers even though you find out who he is 1/4 of the way into the story. While seeing through his point of view was interesting and set up for a little bit of foreshadowing, it didn't really add too much to the story that we didn't find out in other ways. I almost would have liked it more to take out his part and just add in a few little things here and there - enough foreshadowing with much more surprise.

Overall Rating & Final Comments: 9/10. While it takes a little while to settle into, it's ultimately a great mystery that handles its characters and story beautifully.

In a Christmas miracle, I finished a book! I apologize for the lack of reviews the past two weeks - school caught up with me. But don't worry; I've got plenty of time to do nothing but read over winter break!

Have any of you guys read The Raven Boys? What did you think?