Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Title: The Raven BoysAuthor: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Pages: 408
Format/Source: Hardback/Gift from a friend and Audiobook/Freebie
“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. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads)
Long Overdue…
This was my very first Maggie Steifvater. I know–I call myself a YA fan, how can it be that I’m just now reading Maggie Stiefvater? It’s not that I haven’t wanted to, I just didn’t get around to reading one of her books until last month, when The Raven Boys was my book club’s June selection. And I just have to say that Ms. Stiefvater did not disappoint.
The book was not only really interesting and intriguing, but there were so many beautiful lines and wonderful descriptions. In fact, some of my favorite parts of the book were the descriptions of all of the different characters near the beginning of the book. I really feel like I knew these characters, like I could see and hear them and I really got a feel for who they were. I think Stiefvater has a wonderful way with words, and she really has a handle on character development. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read characters that fully fleshed out since Harry Potter.
And this book was full of my favorite: plot twists! There were a few twists that I saw coming, but I still loved them, and there was one HUGE twist that I didn’t see coming at all and I LOVED it! I also have theories as to future plot twists in the rest of the series.
A Few Bones to Pick…
The ending of The Raven Boys was really kind of weird to me, and all the girls in my book club felt the same way. The ending kind of built up to be this huge thing and then it was just confusing and lackluster. And I really wish that there would have been a bit more closure. There’s one huge story arc and it doesn’t get resolved AT ALL in this story. I guess it probably won’t be resolved until the last book, but it seemed like such a huge part of THIS book, so I was annoyed when it wasn’t resolved.
I also listened to a bit of the audiobook, and it didn’t go too well. It was one of my first times listening to an audiobook–definitely the first time listening to a book that I was going to be reviewing for the blog–and it really threw me off for a bit. I couldn’t concentrate, and I kept missing things so I’d have to hit rewind. And then I just ended up reading all the parts I listened to anyway, because I felt like I missed too much. I tried listening again later on in the book and it was a bit better, so I’m going to try some audiobooks again. I’ve been told they’re hard to get used to at first, so I figure I should give them more of a chance. But I do think that Will Patton did a good job narrating, and I can see how audiobooks give you a very different experience of the book.
Great Quotes…
I wrote down tons of fantastic lines from The Raven Boys, but here are just a few of my favorites:
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Jessie Marie
July 22, 2013 at 10:04 amReview Twins! How exciting. : )
I'm glad that a major point of departure for you was the lack of resolution because that drove me nuts. I had this ultimate sense of "I'm missing something…" when I reached the end, knowing full well that it was intended like that. So weird!
But yes, Stiefvater is awesome and her character / scene descriptions are amazing. I was so transported during the scenes in the woods that I sort of forgot any other responsibilities I might have had. Oops!
Glad you enjoyed this; sorry about your audiobook experience. I'm still in that trying it out phase myself so I totally get what you're saying.
Lovely review!
Natalie Natflixandbooks
July 22, 2013 at 8:37 pmI really enjoyed this one, too. I'm with you that the ending was a bit strange and lackluster, but I can't wait to dive into the second book and find out what happens next. This was actually my first book by this author, too. I did try to read Shiver years ago, but just couldn't get into it. Great review!
Brandi Kosiner
July 23, 2013 at 4:15 pmI haven't started this series yet, but I meant to. The plot twists sound great, and glad you enjoyed
fakesteph
July 24, 2013 at 4:41 pmI didn't love the audiobook for this one… give a different audiobook a try. Try The Magicians. I LOVED the narrator for that one and the book is crazy!!!!!
Dana
July 25, 2013 at 7:29 pmI have the audiobook of this one too. I had checked it out from the library and then got the free copy from Sync. I've heard great things about it but for some reason haven't been all that interested in reading it. You make me want to read it to see what the ending lacked!