The Raven Boys (Review)

Book: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series:  The Raven Cycle, #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format:  Hardcover
Pages:  408
Source: Purchased

Blurb:

"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.

 

My Rating:

 

This was actually my first Maggie Stiefvater book so I had absolutely no idea what to expect when going into it. The cover is what drew me to the novel in the first place and then after reading the description I knew I had to buy it and read it. Unfortunately, it ended up sitting on my shelf for a long time.

 

I can't say I was absolutely blown away by the book, that would be completely false. I did however, enjoy it quite a bit. I had a bit of trouble getting into it for the first third of the book or so. I found it to be pretty slow and there was a ton of description. Once the story started to progress, I found myself completely captivated by the plot and the characters.

 

I had a slight issue with Gansey. He reminded me of a teenage version of Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Just the way he spoke and his actions were very similar. Once I got past that, I absolutely loved Gansey. He was a vulnerable, caring guy and it was really nice to see a YA love interest who wasn't a complete jerk.

 

I honestly found myself frustrated with Blue. One minute she's complaining about Gansey and then the next she's thinking maybe she might be wrong about him. I wish she would have made up her mind because it got old after awhile. Besides that issue, I thought she was a pretty unique and interesting character. Meanwhile I absolutely loved Ronan. I started off disliking him immensely but he ended up growing on me. Who doesn't like the bad boy? Deep underneath that hard shell I think lies a boy who is tormented by his past and vulnerable. He's not a terrible person he just tends to put on a front to push people away.

 

While this was my first book by Maggie Stiefvater, it most definitely will not be my last. The world she created was spellbinding and the storyline was enough to have me coming back for the sequel. Based on this work I will also be checking out some of her other stories.