Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle, Book
1
Number of Pages: 408
Date Read: 5/8/16
Genre: Paranormal,
Supernatural, Fantasy
Synopsis (Found on
Goodreads.com):
Every year, Blue
Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past.
Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and
speaks to her.
His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.
His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.
My Review:
After reading this
book I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I had read
Stievater's book Shiver and I really didn't enjoy it. It was so boring and I
was afraid this book would be the same. However after seeing booktube reviews
on how good it was, I decided to give it a try. I figured I could always DNF it
if I didn't like it.
However, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I don't know what it was about it. It wasn't my favorite book but something about it made me keep reading. This book is told in multiple points of view but the main ones are Blue, Adam and Gansey.
This book is really about a quest to find a dead/sleeping welsh King. If the kind is awakened, he will grant a favor to the ones who woke him. However there are many other aspects and plot lines in the story. The main female character Blue, is a psychic's daughter who is not psychic. However she amplifies other psychic's powers. There is also a prophecy that if she kisses her true love she will kill him. So one day while helping her aunt on St. Marks day, she ends up seeing a boy's spirit (which means he will be dead within the next 12 months) which means that either he is her true love or that she kills him. He turns out to be Gansey, a rich boy from an ivy league high school. Gansey is the boy who is obsessed with finding the dead king. He has his motives as does his 3 friends who are involved in the quest as well. Because of their school, they are know as the Raven boys. Blue ends up meeting them and she becomes involved with Gansey's quest. And the story goes on from there.
Aside from her ridiculous name, I really liked Blue. As it was said many times in the book, she is very sensible. After she was told the prophecy (which she had been told since she was little) she decided not to fall in love or at the very least not kiss anyone. And she kept her decision, not kissing anyone. She is also very helpful and gave her knowledge to the Raven boys easily. All she wanted was to be part of the quest. She cares for the boys and uses her amplification abilities to help on the quest. She is a loving daughter as well. Sometimes she is disappointed that she has no psychic abilities but at other times she glad she doesn't. She is very sweet to the boys but she is also very spunky and can hold her own against them. She can be very rude and argumentative if she is pushed. She also knows the value of money and will not take any handouts from the boys.
I also liked Gansey, the ringleader of the raven boys. He is very straightforward and has a take charge personality. He looks out for his friends and helps them in whatever situations they find themselves in. He is rich but he doesn't really look at that. He doesn't realize that the things he says (about money or possessions) can be taken offensively by people who are not rich, like Blue. Gansey has this need to find the welsh king (can remember the name or spelling of it) to feel like he has made a contribution to the world. He really is a sweet guy though.
The next raven boy is Adam. I really liked him too. He is soooo super sweet and so smart. He doesn't really have a good home life but that doesn't stop him from going to the prestigious school. He studies and works hard. He is very loyal to Gansey but at the same time he doesn't want to feel like Gansey owns him by giving Adam money or paying for things for him. He is very independent and want to make it through hard work, not handouts. He has very strong principals and he doesn't compromise them, which I liked about him.
The next raven boy is Noah, who has a secret. Noah is not always in everything with the boys and at times he's missing from the excursions they go on. Noah is very quiet and shy but he has a soft spot for blue and is very affectionate with her (like petting her hair). Noah is easily not noticeable. He is described as being scruffy and always disheveled. I like him too as well.
My favorite character of the book is the last raven boy Ronan. He is a bad boy with a worse attitude. He says whatever is on his mind and he curses up a storm. He loves to fight and I mean physical fighting. He really doesn't care about anything like school. He is very loyal to Gansey and readily believes in the magic and the quest. He would follow Gansey anywhere and he is very protective of him. However he has a soft side especially towards his baby raven that he finds. He feeds the raven, holds it, cares for it and its sweet to see that. He has a rough exterior but his heart is good. He is my favorite!
Lastly for the characters, I want to mention Blue's aunts and mother. I love her mother. She did such a good job of raising Blue to be the strong girl she is. She cares a lot for Blue, protects her and is funny at times. She doesn't want Blue involved with Gansey and the quest but she helps when she realizes she can't stop her. I also loved her aunt Calla, who is just as vicious and mean as Ronan. She is the female version of Ronan. I love how mean she is and how sarcastic. However its clear she loves Blue and Blue's mother. Finally is her aunt Persephone. I really like her because she is so weird. She is very soft spoken and very intuitive. She is very quiet but powerful.
The world in the story was interesting. There's a lot to do with ley lines and energy. Ley lines are where supernatural events can happen. So there's a lot to do with that and the group wants to find and awaken the ley line in the town they're in. The ley line has something to do with the welsh king. There was a lot of psychic and supernatural elements in the book that I enjoyed.
There is a small beginnings of a romance in the book but its very small. Like tiny. Right now all the boys are entranced by Blue but in this book anyway Adam is showing some romantic affection. However I get the feeling that Blue will end up with Gansey by the end of the series and certain things happen in the book that point that way. However I want Ronan and Blue to be together. I totally ship them.
So I did like the book and I will be continuing the series. I know I'm late in the game since the last book just came out like last month but hey better late than never!
However, once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. I don't know what it was about it. It wasn't my favorite book but something about it made me keep reading. This book is told in multiple points of view but the main ones are Blue, Adam and Gansey.
This book is really about a quest to find a dead/sleeping welsh King. If the kind is awakened, he will grant a favor to the ones who woke him. However there are many other aspects and plot lines in the story. The main female character Blue, is a psychic's daughter who is not psychic. However she amplifies other psychic's powers. There is also a prophecy that if she kisses her true love she will kill him. So one day while helping her aunt on St. Marks day, she ends up seeing a boy's spirit (which means he will be dead within the next 12 months) which means that either he is her true love or that she kills him. He turns out to be Gansey, a rich boy from an ivy league high school. Gansey is the boy who is obsessed with finding the dead king. He has his motives as does his 3 friends who are involved in the quest as well. Because of their school, they are know as the Raven boys. Blue ends up meeting them and she becomes involved with Gansey's quest. And the story goes on from there.
Aside from her ridiculous name, I really liked Blue. As it was said many times in the book, she is very sensible. After she was told the prophecy (which she had been told since she was little) she decided not to fall in love or at the very least not kiss anyone. And she kept her decision, not kissing anyone. She is also very helpful and gave her knowledge to the Raven boys easily. All she wanted was to be part of the quest. She cares for the boys and uses her amplification abilities to help on the quest. She is a loving daughter as well. Sometimes she is disappointed that she has no psychic abilities but at other times she glad she doesn't. She is very sweet to the boys but she is also very spunky and can hold her own against them. She can be very rude and argumentative if she is pushed. She also knows the value of money and will not take any handouts from the boys.
I also liked Gansey, the ringleader of the raven boys. He is very straightforward and has a take charge personality. He looks out for his friends and helps them in whatever situations they find themselves in. He is rich but he doesn't really look at that. He doesn't realize that the things he says (about money or possessions) can be taken offensively by people who are not rich, like Blue. Gansey has this need to find the welsh king (can remember the name or spelling of it) to feel like he has made a contribution to the world. He really is a sweet guy though.
The next raven boy is Adam. I really liked him too. He is soooo super sweet and so smart. He doesn't really have a good home life but that doesn't stop him from going to the prestigious school. He studies and works hard. He is very loyal to Gansey but at the same time he doesn't want to feel like Gansey owns him by giving Adam money or paying for things for him. He is very independent and want to make it through hard work, not handouts. He has very strong principals and he doesn't compromise them, which I liked about him.
The next raven boy is Noah, who has a secret. Noah is not always in everything with the boys and at times he's missing from the excursions they go on. Noah is very quiet and shy but he has a soft spot for blue and is very affectionate with her (like petting her hair). Noah is easily not noticeable. He is described as being scruffy and always disheveled. I like him too as well.
My favorite character of the book is the last raven boy Ronan. He is a bad boy with a worse attitude. He says whatever is on his mind and he curses up a storm. He loves to fight and I mean physical fighting. He really doesn't care about anything like school. He is very loyal to Gansey and readily believes in the magic and the quest. He would follow Gansey anywhere and he is very protective of him. However he has a soft side especially towards his baby raven that he finds. He feeds the raven, holds it, cares for it and its sweet to see that. He has a rough exterior but his heart is good. He is my favorite!
Lastly for the characters, I want to mention Blue's aunts and mother. I love her mother. She did such a good job of raising Blue to be the strong girl she is. She cares a lot for Blue, protects her and is funny at times. She doesn't want Blue involved with Gansey and the quest but she helps when she realizes she can't stop her. I also loved her aunt Calla, who is just as vicious and mean as Ronan. She is the female version of Ronan. I love how mean she is and how sarcastic. However its clear she loves Blue and Blue's mother. Finally is her aunt Persephone. I really like her because she is so weird. She is very soft spoken and very intuitive. She is very quiet but powerful.
The world in the story was interesting. There's a lot to do with ley lines and energy. Ley lines are where supernatural events can happen. So there's a lot to do with that and the group wants to find and awaken the ley line in the town they're in. The ley line has something to do with the welsh king. There was a lot of psychic and supernatural elements in the book that I enjoyed.
There is a small beginnings of a romance in the book but its very small. Like tiny. Right now all the boys are entranced by Blue but in this book anyway Adam is showing some romantic affection. However I get the feeling that Blue will end up with Gansey by the end of the series and certain things happen in the book that point that way. However I want Ronan and Blue to be together. I totally ship them.
So I did like the book and I will be continuing the series. I know I'm late in the game since the last book just came out like last month but hey better late than never!
Rating:A
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