The Raven Boys Review

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre & Age Group: Fantasy, young adult

Goodreads 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.

Source: Public library

How I Found Out About It: Blogging/hype

For all of you wondering- YES, I finally read The Raven Boys!

But unfortunately…. NO, I didn’t love it like everyone else does. It looks like I have a bit of an unpopular opinion about this book, as every blogger I know has read and absolutely adored this story. I guess this all goes down to my reading tastes, as most of the books I read are fluffy contemporaries, not dark, spooky fantasies.

For this review, I am not going to synopsize the book as a) the book was kind of confusing, and b) I personally think that it’s better to go in blind. Absolutely do feel free to read the official synopsis above, though!

Character-wise, I liked all the Raven Boys and there were none that I really had anything against, but I did find some of them to be rather unmemorable. They were all unique and special in their own ways, just like snowflakes!❄️ I did have a favourite, though, which was the very relatable Noah. I was just able to find so much of myself in him, much more than all of the other characters. And no matter what anyone says, I ship Blue and Adam- they were soooo adorable together!💞

The story itself was pretty slow at first, leaving me a bit confused and bored. As the pace picked up, I still felt a little puzzled, but it was pretty entertaining nevertheless.

The Raven Boys ended on a huge cliffhanger, and now even though this book wasn’t my favourite, I do feel convinced to pick up the next one, with hope that it will get better.

Overall, this story was beautifully written, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. I think that what may have been the issue was that I just hadn’t been in the proper mood for it. I think this idea of reading and enjoying more fantasy books this year has been drastically failing so far, haha!😜 Anyway, I would recommend The Raven Boys to anyone who enjoys dark, paranormal elements in their books- just because I, the world’s #1 biggest fluffy contemporary fan, didn’t love it, it doesn’t mean that you won’t!