The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Fantasy

Source: Barnes and Noble

Rating: 3/5 Stars

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 wish that I had a more positive and raving review since this is now my second time reading it, but I don’t. After the reread, I’ve just been met with disappointment again. It just wasn’t as entrancing as Siefvater’s other books.

I found the plot to be exciting, if a little predictable. I think the myth and search for the ley line was cool, but about half way, I just wanted them to find the dang thing so the book would be over. Then, the ending was pretty awesome,  so I somewhat forgave the boring middle. At the same time, I’m still unsure about what actually happened at the end and I’ve read it twice. I did however enjoy the small town setting! I like how strange and odd their town was! Plus, that forest was weird oh my goodness!

The characters were a thorn in my side. Blue and Adam are entertaining enough, but I don’t really like anyone else. I guess they have a bunch of mystery and questions surrounding them to create suspense, but they don’t have enough substance for me to relate or even grasp onto them at all. Also, I don’t get the romance between Adam and Blue when she’s clearly meant to fall in love with Gansey. I guess I was supposed to see a sort of tension between Blue and Gansey, but I didn’t.

Stiefvater’s writing style was glamorous enough, but not enough to completely captivate me.

Also for full disclosure, I hated the chapters from the Latin teacher’s perspective. They were unnecessary and actually killed suspense.

I will most likely read the other books in the series and I have hope that they’ll be better, but this book was a drag the first and the second time.