The Raven Boys by
Maggie Stiefvater
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 Gansey is different. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more. 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 told by her psychic family that she will kill her true love. 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 personally liked the characters due to them being eccentric in their own way. I liked the headstrong person that Blue is. She is extremely realistic and highly relatable at many points. Her eccentric yet sensible character is just pure perfection. All the members of her psychic family are really really interesting too!
And the Raven boys are AMAZING! I liked them all, especially Gansey. He is the glue that holds the group together. I LOVE how much he cares about Ronan and the others. He is the kind of friend we all need in our lives. I loved the comparison the author makes throughout about how there are two sides to him... the confident rich kid and on the other hand, vulnerable and doubtful of things.
Ronan is freaking awesome. The bad boy with mysteries. He did annoy me at times with his attitude and how he created problems that Gansey had to solve but despite it all, I do like him. There is this certaib scene towards the end and at that moment, I loved Ronan. I would love to know more about him in the coming books. He is a huge question mark and I'm dying to know all the answers.
Adam is the sweetest Raven boy of the gang and has a sad story. I wanted to pick him up, and protect him at all costs. He is extremely well writing and such a three dimensional character.
I think talking about anyone else would result in breaking spoilers so yeah, I'd just like to say all the characters in this book are freaking beautifully crafted and everyone's personality shines through the book.
The plot is unique, original and FREAKING AMAZING. I can't wait to pick up the next book and see where it goes. There are in a way two story lines going that come together in a GENIUS manner. I do admit the book started of kind of slowly and I was worried about the pace BUT a bit in, it picked up and then there was no looking back.
The writing is so beautiful that I can't even begin to explain how the writing connects with me. It is amazingly immersive and so descriptive that one can't help but be sucked into the book. Even when the plot was slow at the beginning, the writing kept me going!
- The Characters
- The plot
- The writing
- The slow start maybe....
Truthfully, I wasn't a fan of Shiver so I didn't walk into this book with high expectations but guess what, I LOVED IT. The Raven Boys has an incredibly genius plot and really engaging characters. I'd recommend this book to all!
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