Monday, January 26, 2015

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue is the only non-psychic that lives in her very full house.  Blue's talent is that her proximity makes people's "gifts" stronger.  She's never seen anyone's future or anything paranormal... until she goes to the "corpse road" on St. Mark's Eve and sees the spirit of a boy who is destined to die within a year.  Apparently the only reason Blue would see this boy is if Blue is the boy's true love... or she's the one who kills him.  It literally could be both since Blue has been told from a young age that if she kisses her true love, he will die.

Gansey is on a quest.  He's looking for the ley line and the legend of a dead King who grants wishes.  His crew consists of Ronan (the volatile one), Adam (the scholarship boy with the bad home life), and Noah (the quiet, smudgy one).  When they go to Blue's house for a reading, she knows she's found the boy she saw on the corpse road.... and the thrill of their inquiries proves irresistible for her.






**Warning... this review is more of just my thoughts than an actual review.  So many people have reviewed this book that I didn't really think I had much to add except a few of my happy opinions**
This is my book club's book.  And what I mean by that is that if we had to choose a YA book to be our club identifier, it would be this one.  So many in our club have an obsession with this series (and Maggie in general), that I started to feel super left out by not knowing what the hell a Gansey or the "Pig" was.  I am also trying really hard to get out of my comfort zone and read books that aren't Contemporary.  And HOLY WOAH, I'm glad I did!!!

This book took me a REAAAALLLY long time to read.  Like ages.  I got distracted by The Hunger Games (I read those too, aren't you proud of me?), and this book takes a while to get into.  The first half of the book is full of build up and introducing characters.  I was in love with the writing and in awe of how beautiful it was, but I really started wanting THINGS to happen.  I was starting to dread seeing my book club and telling them that I was not completely into the book.

But then I got to this wonderful part where everything just clicked for me.  The story picked up and got so exciting.  Relationships and friendships started happening.  And I just GOT it.  I think it was sort of what is supposed to happen when you read Jellicoe Road.  You get to a place where everything makes sense and you are thankful for all the world and character building (unfortunately I never got to that clicky place with Jellicoe Road, but now I know what you guys were talking about!!).

I know there's so much more to this series, but can I tell you that I'm totally TEAM ADAM.  I can see  that there's more to Gansey and I can also see that the story is probably leading towards a Gansey-Blue thing.... but I want Adam & Blue :(

I loved the setting and the feel of this book.  It's set in Henrietta, Virginia... which I feel like I could envision because I've spent summers in VA for most of my life.  I also don't usually like 3rd person narration, but I guess if it's written well it really doesn't matter.  And the writing in this book is just crazy good, so nothing about the narration bothered me or made me feel less connected to the characters.  I hate that I keep saying EVERYTHING EVERYTHING... but seriously EVERYTHING about this book is so cool.  You just have to push through the first slower building part.

OVERALL:  LOVED!!!  I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to start this wonderful, magical series.  The beginning started out slow and a little frustrating, but it definitely hit a point where everything changed and all the build-up came together.  I recommend this to all.... especially if you've been leery of noncontemp.  This is the perfect segway into new things.

This Book Contains:
  • Rich Boys
  • Setting: Virginia, in Spring
  • Psychics
  • Tattoos
  • A baby raven
  • A '73 orange Camaro, named Pig
  • Lots of history and research
  • Magic
  • Witchcraft
  • Friendship
  • Domestic Violence

Add it to your To-Read List!!!


My Rating: 4/4







How I got this book: Library
Date Published: 10/18/2012


3 comments:

  1. So I had the same issues. It was very well written but the build up just took forever and I almost gave up on it but when it starts to come together it really came together.

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  2. I wish I were part of a book club! I have the opposite reading problem and I've been trying to read more contemporary YA because I've read SO MUCH fantasy YA lately. I'm glad you loved the book even though Gansey is clearly the most interesting Raven boy :-P

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