The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Release date: September 18, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 409
Format: Hardcover
Source: Gift
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"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.

I thought I would never be able to finish this book. So many things crept up on me and I found myself with no time to read! I started The Raven Boys on January 3rd. I feel the need to apologize to my copy! On the other hand, I kind of ended up liking the two week hiatus I took from reading. I was able to sit down with the sparse spare time I had managed to find and completely immerse myself into the incredibly crafted world of magic the Maggie Stiefvater has created with this novel.

If you have been around this blog long enough then you now how much I fan-girl over Maggie's books. I tried not to go into this one with incredibly high expectations just in case it faltered from her previous novels, but that was not an issue. She's done it again. It had the complexity of the characters from the Mercy Falls books and the magic of The Scorpio Races mixed in with a completely original storyline. I am in love with the characters, especially Blue. Her overall demeanour is something I wish I possessed.

It was a bit dizzying at first with the amount of characters at hand. But all the storylines with each individual character intertwined beautifully with each other. It had plot twists that I was not expecting and ended with so many loose threads that lead into book two. I cannot tell you how excited I am for the second book. I mean, look at this cover!

In the end, The Raven Boys was completely different than her previous works, but is something only Maggie could have crafted. Definitely pick it up.