The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Review)

Title: The Raven Boys
Author(s): Maggie Stiefvater
Edition: Audiobook, 11 hours/10 cds
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: September 18, 2012
Source: Library
Buy: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository

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.

(Goodreads)

My Opinion

I want to preface this with the fact that I "read" The Raven Boys on audio.  My first foray into audiobooks in fact, which may have not been completely the best idea as Maggie Stiefvater's books tend to be very detailed and complicated.  I would suggest reading a hard-copy of the book because those details and complexity was sometimes overwhelming at times when listening.  And while I realize there are probably a million reviews out there for this book, I think another one won't hurt.

Blue Sargent comes from a family of female physics, but she is the only one without the gift.  Within the town she live in, Marietta, her family witness the crossing of the dead, and each year Blue goes with, never seeing the souls as her family does.  Except for this year, when one soul walks towards her and whispers his name. And Blue is told by her Aunt Neeve: “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.”  (pg. 16 of the hardcover).  This one sentence pretty much sets the tone of the book, and the action takes off.

Rich in detail and mythology, Stiefvater's Marietta is a character in of itself, and seems like a beacon gathering the 5 main characters together.  As with all Stievater books, the mythos within The Raven Boys is rich, pulling from legends existing within the real world.  Each boy, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, is multi-layered and complex.  Sometimes you hate them, but more often you love them, much like Blue herself.  With each new turn of the story, you sink deeper and deeper, becoming a part of this quest that Gansey and his fellow Raven Boys are on.  And while this is one quest, you find yourself on a simultaneous journey with Blue, navigating the possible result of her predicted future.

Lyrical, complex, and compelling, The Raven Boys delivers a story steeped in magic, both of the fantastical and the ordinary.  This is sure to pull you in and not let you go!

Final Rating

Book Cover: 5/5 
Book Title: 5/5
Plot: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Writing: 9/10
Ending: 8/10

Overall: 45/50: A

Extras

Book Trailer

Other Books in Series

Photo credit: Maggie Stiefvater

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