Book details
Series: The
Raven Cycle, #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780545424929
Synopsis
“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.
Review
This is the first time I’ve ever dared to
delve into Maggie Steifvater’s world, and I have to say I’m struggling a little
to keep my emotions in check. I have a headache. It feels like all my thoughts
about this book are spilling out of my ears because my brain is
hyperventilating and throwing around furniture.
What a marvelous story. Stiefvater’s
writing is magical. There’s really no other way to describe it. Right from the
opening line, Stiefvater began weaving this intricate and electrifying spell that made me dizzy. It
may have started off slowly, drawing on more and more of my energy as the story
built itself up, but ten pages in I was already entranced. By the time I
reached the halfway mark, the world around me felt like it was buzzing with
electricity, but for the life of me I couldn’t draw my eyes away from the
pages. The final few chapters were an explosion – Blue’s world and my own
seemed to shatter into a billion pieces, and then it just… ended.
Note to the author: That is not okay. You
broke me. You can’t just drop a bomb like that with such nonchalance, and then
skip happily on to the acknowledgements.
The only negative point I have to mention
about The Raven Boys is with regards
to the characters. While charismatic Gansey and eccentric Blue seemed so enchanting
and otherworldly in the beginning, I couldn’t help but feel a little
disappointed in them by the end. They seemed to become increasingly
two-dimensional as the novel progressed, whereas Adam, Noah and Ronan did the
exact opposite. It was a strange scenario, but I’m sure Stiefvater will rectify
it in The Dream Thieves.
Overall, though, this was an incredible
novel. I love Maggie Stiefvater’s writing style, and I can’t wait to read more
of her work.
Rating: 4/5
Recommended to: Everybody. Everybody.
Everybody.
The Last Word
The Noah twist:
Well played, Stiefvater.
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