The Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Published: 18 September 2012
Scholastic Press, Hardcover, 409 pages
Source: Library
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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.
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.
Rating: ★★½
I’ve been seeing so much hype over this series recently and when I spotted The Raven Boys at one of my local libraries, I was so excited to start on it. The first line of the synopsis was utterly captivating but that was about the only thing I liked about the synopsis. It is completely deceiving and barely tells you a single detail on what the book was truly about because nope, romance was not the main point of the story.
A piece of advice: Do some research on ley lines before attempting to read this book. It would make it a lot less confusing.
In my opinion, The Raven Boys did not live up to my expectations at all. Although I found the premise of the plot fairly interesting and very unique, I just couldn’t sink into the story. The characters, despite being original, were really difficult to connect with. The mystery involved irritated and frustrated me instead of intriguing me. It was also quite a drag, especially the first half of the book, before the action came in.
The story simply couldn’t seem to pull me in nor get me invested. Maybe it was the writing style, or it could be something else, but I found The Raven Boys a really boring read which I had to drag myself through. However, I do think it deserves an average rating due to the uncommon myths that inspired it, which I’ve never come across before.
Due to its special premise, The Raven Boys truly had such potential in leaving a lasting impression. Unfortunately, the overload of mystery and the unbeknownst did not achieve its desired effect, coming off as annoyingly unexplained instead drawing me in to discover the truth.
Will I be continuing with the series? I really have no idea but maybe one day (probably a day far away), I would give it another chance. So no, I’m not going to flat-out swear off The Raven Cycle nor am I going to continue reading it anytime soon.
A Page of Heaven 