The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA Fantasy
Synopsis From Goodreads:
“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.
Rating: 5+++ stars!
Review:
I was in the middle of a huge ugly reading slump when I first encountered Blue and the Raven Boys. The first few chapters gave me goosebumps, an uncertain feeling of giddiness and a chunk of foreboding. It scared the daylights out of me at one point, and at another, made me want to go on a joyride in a vintage Camaro. I wanted to be friends with Ronan Lynch. I wanted to be part of 300 Fox Way. I wanted to throw the book across the room.
And that, my friends, is how you know you’ve got a wonderful book in your hands.
The Raven Boys is book one of my all-time favorite series The Raven Cycle. After reading this, I bought every single Maggie Stiefvater book that I can get my hands on. Her writing is…how can I describe it? Weird. She takes you on an almost poetic ride through the tale. I personally think she’s right up there with Neil Gaiman in a way that they manage to put some magic in the most mundane settings. Stiefvater manages to weave mystery in small-town Virginia and she does it so, so well.
Every one of her characters is relatable: Blue is strong-willed and quirky, Gansey can sometimes be oblivious to his privilege but he tries, Adam wants to make it on his own terms, Noah wants to exist…in more ways than one. Then there’s Ronan, my favorite asshole in the whole universe. I’ll go on and on if I write about Ronan so I guess it’s better if we make a whole post solely about him.
All in all, the Raven Boys is a superb read. Highly recommended for fans of Gaiman, weird things, and rich boys who drive old, fancy cars on dusty country roads.
That’s 5 stars from me! 🙂
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