The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, Book 1)

I try to reread this series at least once a year. It is one of my all time favorite series and every time i reread it, I'm absolutely blown away by the writing, the characters, the plot, all of it. Maggie is impeccable, especially when it comes to her characterizations. If I tried to quote all the moments where her writing shines, I'd be sharing the entire book. I will forever recommend this series until the end of my days (and then write the recommendation on my tombstone). Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time? I will forever reread this series. See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book CHARACTERS: In this book we follow Blue and her 'Raven Boys', Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah on a quest. Blue is wonderfully spunky and no-nonsense, Adam is the smartest of the lot but is very quiet in his mannerisms, unlike Gansey, who is one of the most passionate and determined characters I've ever read. And unlike Ronan, one of the brittlest characters I've ever read. He's all broken edges of despair that leave him both abrasive and somehow incredibly safe. And finally we have Noah, who speaks the least of all of them, yet has an eerily steady presence that completes the group. Each of these characters (and the supporting cast) share a complexity I rarely find in books. PLOT: For the first time, Blue sees a ghost in the churchyard of St. Mark's Day. She's always been told that if she kisses her true love, he'll die. But when their paths meet, she's inexplicably drawn to the group of boys and their mythical quest. Magic and mystery abound in this absolutely incredible small-town Virginia urban fantasy, where you truly believe that when it's put like this, magic truly could be real in the world if we look for it. EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need. 3:5/medium. There are some moments that can be considered triggering, especially with what some of the characters go through, but overall this is pure entertainment that leaves me starry-eyed. CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled? 100%. The book ends with an incredible zinger of a line that sets us up perfectly for the second book. When I first read this book I immediately went and purchased the rest of the set that's how eager I was to continue. I am always thoroughly satisfied when I finish this book.

I think my expectations for this book were too high. I have loved all of Maggie's other stories and after reading The Scorpio Races earlier this year and loving it beyond all reason I was expecting to enjoy The Raven Boys just as much. You guess you can see why I was a little bit bummed out when this novel started off slow and took a while for me to get into. The Raven Boys is told from 4 different perspectives and this at first confused me. I like alternating perspectives alright but I definitely prefer first person. I like that instant connection you feel with the narrator, and the immediacy that is created by that style of narration. That may be why I was not instantly drawn into The Raven Boys. Never fear though, after the first few chapters you hardly notice the shifting narration and Maggie's beautiful prose pulls you right in to the story. By far my favorite thing about The Raven Boys was that the friend dynamic was so fleshed out that I felt like I was a part of the group right along with the characters. Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam are all completely distinct individuals with back stories and independent lives, they are the kind of characters that become so real that you can imagine how they would act in real life situations, and leave you remembering them long after you have finished the book. For example while reading this book I kept thinking of the song Tea Partay which is a 2006 Smirnoff East Coast rich money parody song and I kept wondering what Ronan and Gansey would think of it. Now, back to the characters. Blue is the daughter of a Psychic in town and she was born with the power to amplify the powers of those around her. Blue has never seen anything supernatural until the night of St. Mark's Eve when she sees a ghost Gansey in the ancient churchyard. It is said that if you see the ghost they are either your true love, or you killed them, either way Blue is drawn to Gansey and ends up being friends with the entire group and joining in Gansey's quest. Ronan is one of Gansey's old friends, and is described as the most Aglionby of all the boys. Ronan lost his Father under some mysterious circumstances and now has to answer to his older brother Declan in order to have any kind of money. Ronan is hot-headed, comes off as a jerk to everyone, but it is obvious he is covering for something and all this lashing out isn't the real Ronan. I started to realize Ronan had a heart at about the time he finds a baby bird and begins caring for it. I'm actually excited to learn more about Ronan and his family in the next novel. Adam is on a partial scholarship to attend Aglionby and someone ends up meeting Gansey. Gansey in a lot of ways forces Adam to be his friend, without ever forcing him to do anything. It was great to see the struggle Adam goes through being a "have not" in a school and friend group full of "haves". Adam has to work, deal with an abusive father, and still try to balance life with Gansey who represents everything Adam wants. Honestly, he is a great character and Maggie wrote him so well that I was both sympathetic to his situation and understanding when he pissed me off. That brings us to Gansey...Oh Gansey...I could not love this character any more then I do. The chapters written from his perspective were by far my favorite. Gansey has always been rich, he comes from a family of rich Virginians and money doesn't mean the same thing to him, it is just kind of there. He doesn't particularly care about school instead he is truly passionate about ley lines and finding an ancient Welsh King said to be buried along the ley line in Henrietta. The entire reason he choose Aglionby was to hunt for this King. At first I didn't understand his obsession with the search but as the story progressed I wanted him to find the King as much as he did. Gansey is so genuine and thoughtful and just everything! I liked the dichotomy of the two different Gansey's the one he has to put on as a front for the world and the true Gansey that he keeps hidden. I can't think of a more well written character then Gansey, and I already know this little summing up of him does not do justice to the man that Maggie has created. The highlight of this book is definitely the characters, the storyline about ley lines and the supernatural was kind of a back story for all the character development that takes place. In fact, the end felt kind of rushed, like Maggie really wanted all of us to know the characters and what their goals are but then realized that she needed to wrap up the story and just slapped together an ending. Overall, I enjoyed The Raven Boys it was a good novel but it was obviously the start of a series. It felt like it ended just when the storyline was really starting to get good. I will definitely be eagerly awaiting the sequel though if for nothing else then the fact that I adore Gansey and can't wait to see what happens to him next!

Every now and then, a book attacks me and holds on tight and when I finish with it, it refuses to let me go. That’s the case with the first book in the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, whom I declare to be my new favourite author. I came to this conclusion not far in, primarily because of her unique way of molding her characters and settings, bringing everything literally to life. (Yes I know what “literally” means. I use it within the context of the story and the magic of Cabeswater.) I’ve written off some authors because they obsess with describing everything with pretty metaphors that leave the plot behind. Here, the plot and characters are swept along in a river of descriptions that don’t so much use adjectives or comparisons, but exclusions – descriptions of what the character is not – or things they do or collect that define them. And most often, their actions, gestures and reactions. Because of this, her characters and places always give me a sense of movement, or in the case of Ronan, movement that could come at any moment. By far my favourite character, Ronan is a bundle of venom, poised like a sharp-clawed cat about to strike at any moment. Yet, Stiefvater also gives him the perfect amount of vulnerability and harsh truth to make him more than just the bitter character that should be detested or pitied. Sometimes I got so wrapped up in her depictions that when I shook myself from their hypnotic power, I was afraid that I’d been carried away and missed what was going on. But nope. Everything was still clear and enticing and as the mystery deepened, I was pulled right along with it. This is the story of Blue Sargent, a young adult with the ability to strengthen the psychic powers of the women around her, but lacking in those abilities herself. From a very young age, her fate – her curse – was revealed to her: true love’s kiss would bring the death of that person. (Sorry Disney.) Blue does not stress over this destiny until she meets Gansey’s spirit on the Corpse Road, and later meets Gansey himself, who turns out to be one of the dreaded Raven Boys of Aglionby Academy. This is a young adult book and before I scare some of you away with the seemingly obvious sickly sweet romance plot, allow me to assure you that this is anything but the case. First of all, I really liked the maturity with which Steifvater presents the young adults in the book. The writing style is respectful of the teens Stiefvater writes about, as well as those who might be reading, while still appealing to me as an adult. Secondly, there’s Gansey himself. He’s a young man born into generations of privilege to the point that he doesn’t understand how his offers of money to those less fortunate can be taken as deeply offensive. He has a good heart and his mind functions on a strong sense of right and wrong and of concrete evidence, even when dealing with the unknown, such as his obsession. Somewhere along the way, I equated Gansey to Bruce Wayne (sorry, Gansey) for the way he gathers those in need to him and they all look to him for command, if not support, and how he can shift into his rich boy persona to handle a situation, but his true self is the one obsessed with finding ley lines and the secret of a dead king. Gansey and Blue are destined to meet, obviously, but I loved the way everything wrapped together. Nothing was extraneous or added to mislead. And when new elements popped up, they were shocking, culminating in a tense ending. Or rather, the beginning. This is the first in a the Raven Cycle and the end of The Raven Boys works like a fantastic door, opening onto all sorts of new mysteries that I’m really excited to find out about. But as if I needed more motivation, the very last line ensured that I will be grabbing book 2 as soon as I can.

A constantly exciting and mysterious first book. Highly enjoyable from start to finish, with a fun cast of characters. Excited for book two.

2 gun icinde hasarsiz bir sekilde elime ulasti, ayrac hediyeniz icin de tesekkur ederim :)

It only took me a couple of chapters to completely fall in love with all the characters. ALL of them! It's a must read if you like an amazing character-drive story.

I bought this book because it was in Amazon's Daily Deal for 99p and I liked the birdie on the cover. I went in blind, no clue what The Raven Boys was about or what sort of writer I was dealing with. I like to call this literary Russian roulette. I could win or lose, revere it or despise it, become filled with book glory or die of a thousand papercuts to the brain. I loaded my Kindle, pulled the trigger and was pleased to find my brains did not splatter up my living room wall. The book had a wonderful, slow build up. Which is a good thing. Yes, I said GOOD THING. I know people sometimes complain when a plot isn't instantly filled with smoochy, smoochy "Oh dear I'm helplessly in love with two boys, and I feel so angst-ridden because I'm a teenager and must therefore do stupid angst-ridden things the author thinks a teenager must do". Notice at this point I have used a very important word: plot. This book actually has one. Truly. I'm not joking. Psychics, ley lines, a dead Welsh king and a complex friendship web. No smoochy smoochy, despite the novel's tag line. Plotty plotty instead. An actual story. This book is the first part of a series, and from this first volume, I'm expecting something big. The scene has been set. The Raven Boys themselves are an intriguing bunch, each with their own complicated background, motivation and mystery. Each character is light and dark, flawless and flawed. Each one needs a hug and a firm slap. In other words, they are perfectly human and perfectly believable. Now, this is the middle bit of the review where I put in my shark dentures and take a bite. Early in the book I found some of the phrasing and word choices to be a little odd. It made me question if I'd read the offending lines properly, if I was a Brit having a dialect issue or if the line just needed the editor to pay more attention. Head-scratching and dandruff occurred. I also thought the very end was rushed. For such a beautifully and carefully constructed build-up, it was strange. More dandruff. Right, shark teeth out, a little piece of the author's soul swallowed and back to why I've given this book five stars: It was original. It wasn't dark and depressing. It made my heart beat faster. It made me simultaneously dread and yearn for the next book. Because I loved every character, because I cried for one of them, and because I know I'll cry again. I will only give top marks to a book that leaves a dent. It has to make me smile when I talk about it. It has to make me picture what happened before, what happened between the lines and what will happen next. It has to make me recommend it to random people in Tesco. This book did all of that and left a raven shaped indentation on my heart.