The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the first book in a brand new series from bestselling author,
Maggie Stiefvater. Fans of SHIVER (9781407115009), LINGER (9781407121086)
and FOREVER (9781407121116) will love this new quartet!


Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that
if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey's
spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why
- either he is her true love or she has killed him.

Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the
Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey)
who are on a quest to discover Glendower - a lost ancient Welsh
King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever
finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.

Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her
true love? She can't imagine a time she would feel like that,
and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will
fate lead them?

Look out for the next book, THE DREAM THIEVES, out 18th September
2013!

• ISBN13: 9780545424929
• Publish Date: 18 September 2012 (first published 1 September 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Scholastic US
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[littleread1]

Really slow start, but in the end I would say I liked it? I will definitely continue the series.

[leahrosereads]

January 2020
2 years later, and I'm completely in love with this story the second time around. A lot of what I said below still holds true, but none of it matters anymore. The writing, characters and setting are completely magical, and I refuse to be such a stickler about what books may be missing.

February 2018
I'm not a fan girl yet, but I can see myself heading that way, easily.

Oh these characters are wonderful! My favorite is easily Ronan. He's fantastically damaged. Blue is fantastically eccentric. Gansey is fantastically heroic. Adam is fantastically flawed. And Noah is fantastically...well...Noah.

The writing was excellent and the story kept me very very interested in what was happening. I really dug the main story and then all the background info had me pretty stoked.

The only reason this is getting 3 stars instead of 4, is because while I enjoyed the background info, I did scan a few times when I wanted to still be in the main plot. So maybe the pacing was a bit off for me.

Overall, I know I'm late to the game, but I'll be recommending this series for sure.

[Jo]

Disclaimer: Since writing my review, I have discovered that Maggie Stiefvater is a problematic author - you can find more info here. Because of this, I can no longer promote her books in good conscience. I'm leaving my review here as it is for the sake of transparency.

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Although The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is raved about, it took me a very long time to pick up the first book, The Raven Boys. For a long while, as far as I was concerned, I wasn't going to read it at all. Why? Several years back, I read Shiver, the first book in Stiefvater's The Wolves of Mercy Falls series, and I didn't like it. My memories of the story itself have mostly faded, but I remember how I felt reading it, and I was bored. I didn't want to go through it again, so I've stayed clear from Stiefvater's books ever since. However, Cait of Paper Fury - whose taste is books is very similar to time - is always raving about Maggie Stiefvater, and The Raven Cycle in particular. So I thought maybe, but not any time soon. But then a few weeks back, I asked for recommendations on Twitter that have a similar feel to them that Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle, and The Raven Boys is one of the books that was recommended. So I decided to give in and give it a read, fully expecting to hate it. But in actual fact, I really enjoyed it!

There is so much more that goes on in this book than the description above says. Yes, Blue is destined to kill her true love if she kisses him, but that's not the main crux of the story. Blue is the daughter of a psychic, lives with several psychics, and although she has no psychic ability herself, her presence amplifies psychic energy. So while accompanying her aunt on St. Mark's Eve at the ruin's of a church, to help her aunt see the spirits of those who will die this year, and make a note of their names. For the first time ever, Blue sees a ghost herself. That of a young boy, who tells her his name is Gansey. For her to see him, it means he's either her true love, or she is going to kill him. Blue decides to try and find this Gansey in order to try and warn him of his death, or to try and prevent it.

The Raven Boys are Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah. Gansey is leading them in the search for Owen Glendower, a Welsh king from folklore, who is told not to be dead, but only sleeping, and whoever wakes him will be granted a favour. Gansey has made it his mission to find Glendower, and that's why he's in Henrietta; Henrietta is built over a ley line, and Gansey believes, Glendower is buried somewhere along this particular ley line. He's done all sorts of research all over the world for years now, and it's brought him to Henrietta. How does Blue get involved?

To be honest, this book is pretty slow to get going. Tot he point I was sure I was going to end up putting it down, because nothing was happening. The story is told from the perspectives of Blue, Adam and Gansey for the most part, but it took so long for the Raven boys to actually meet Blue, and then for anything to actually happen. But once things did start moving, I was hooked. I loved how The Raven Boys took inspiration from real life folklore and the unexplained. It was so intriguing, and it made the story even more credible. At first Blue's only interest is in Gansey - how to tell him, how to warn him, struggling to understand how she could possibly fall in love with this guy, when lovely sweet Adam is more her type (though she's never had a type before) - but she soon gets all caught up in their search for Glendower. And who can blame her. It's so fascinating! And they make discoveries that you can't simply ignore. Psychic abilities is one thing, something she's grown up with and is pretty common place for her, but magic? Actual, real life magic? That's something else, and not something she's able to walk away from.

The characters are all brilliant. Gansey, who is always so enthused and excited, but also has a deeper level to him, and a front he puts on of confidence and charm around those he doesn't know. There's Ronan, who is moody and angry, who seems always to be on the edge of losing it, but yet has this much softer, caring side we see through his caring for Chainsaw, a baby raven he comes across that needs looking after. There's Adam who is smart and caring and sweet, but so stubborn; he is poor and has a terrible, abusive home life, but despite his friends all being rich and being quite able and happy to help get him out, he wants to do things on his own terms, not wanting "charity", but to work his way out of his situation. He feels like he's not on an equal footing with the other boys, and makes stupid decisions in an effort to get to that equal footing. And then there's Noah - quiet, shy Noah. Is that guy not just adorable? God, I just want to give that wee guy a hug. And Blue herself, she is spunky, strong and smart. She's a little quirky, but also sensible - which she hates - and actually helps the Raven Boys, not just with her amplifying abilities, but with her own knowledge and the things she thinks of herself.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I am so pleasantly surprised! There is a twist with two sides, one side of which I worked out from the beginning, because it is written on the page, and I thought "I bet that's not a joke, but actually true!" and was right, but the other side to that twist I just did not see coming at all. Completely threw me for the loop. And it was so disturbing! And so sinister! And that ending! I have so many questions, and people I don't trust, people I feel have their own agenda, and a revelation that just boggles the mind! I am completely captivated by this story, and I am so looking forward to reading where the story will go next in the sequel, The Dream Thieves.

[Rinn]

Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

This is one of those few books that I'd heard was good, seen on a lot of blogs, but never really knew what it was about. Even when I ordered it from the library, I still didn't quite have a clear picture of the story. And to be honest, I'm glad that I picked this one up because of the reviews and ratings rather than the blurb - it sounds like a typical, Young Adult paranormal romance, but it's so much more than that. In fact, the romance barely comes into it.

Blue's family - all female - are psychics, or have some sort of supernatural powers, except for Blue herself. Instead, she is like an amplifier, making the gifts of the rest of her family stronger. While this doesn't seem like much, it plays quite an important part later in the story.

Through a series of events, Blue ends up hanging out with some of the 'Raven boys' - the nickname for boys from a local private school, so called because of the Raven on their school crest. The characters are all very different from one another, and work together nicely. There is Adam, from a poor background and who has worked incredibly hard to get where he is, privileged Gansey, who doesn't think about money at all but concentrates all his efforts on the search for Glendower, and Ronan, an angry, misunderstood boy with family problems. And then finally Blue, the protagonist, who is a bit quirky, and despite a supernatural family, very much with her feet firmly on the ground.

The weaving of the Welsh mythology into the story was a nice touch, but I would have preferred more information on it, so perhaps that will be something for the next book. I am a little afraid that the tagline - 'If you kiss your true love, he will die' - might put some readers off, as it implies the sort of insta-love many of us have come to hate in Young Adult books, particularly as this one is of the paranormal persuasion. But that was one of the things I really liked about this book - Blue's first impression of the boys is not love, lust or even any sort of interest. She dislikes them instantly, because of their flashy ways and arrogant manners. It is this, that despite the book's paranormal theme, makes the story all the more believable.

Finally, the book ends far too abruptly. It doesn't even really feel like a cliffhanger, more like a chapter got cut in half. Which of course means I will be reading the next one - and I encourage you all to read the first!

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

*Review to come!*

[Cocktails and Books]

Interesting premise. I enjoyed most of the characters, despite the slow start to the story. Things picked up towards the end of the book, so I'm glad book two is available to jump into.

[Joséphine]

Oct 26, 2016

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Initial thoughts: After my reread of The Raven Boys, I like it significantly more. Close reading, tabbing & annotating made me appreciate the beautiful but precise prose. I recognised a lot more plot twists than I did when listening to the audiobook before. Also, I didn't quite catch who this Whelk figure was in the past. Now I've finally got that ingrained too. Hah. I think it helps that I've been in more of a fantasy mood lately. When I first read The Raven Boys I was apprehensive because this wasn't the sort of book I would've reached for on my own accord. It took a lot of raving from friends to pique my interest back then. Although, I still wish the danger of Blue kissing her one true love had been more palpable.

______

Feb 28, 2015

Rating: 4 stars

Initial thoughts: Where do I begin? I'm still trying to grapple with the book but somehow I feel genuinely sorry that I didn't like this book more because there's just so much excitement surrounding this series. The prose and the narration were impeccable and the setting with the myth of Glendower was more than original. Perhaps it's the premise that I got stuck on. Blue had been told since she was young that if she kissed her true love, he would die.

For all her cautious, nay, sensible ways, avoiding any sort of kiss, in case she'd kiss her true love, that tension and danger because of it didn't feel all too real. On the other hand, I liked that The Raven Boys lacked any sort of overbearing romance. It focused on the other issues at hand, like chasing a god, searching for ley lines and generally introducing all the complex characters and their traits.

Also, I'm glad I started with the audiobook because Will Patton's narration style is exactly how I like it — engaging without being overdone. He added rhythm to Maggie Stiefvater's lyrical words and paired together, it was perfect. Thankfully, I already have the audio CDs of The Dream Thieves on reserve at my public library.

[neddieb]

I skimmed through this book. It did not captivate me, I was bored with the characters, and I will not be finishing the series.

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

I have heard so much about The Raven Cycle series. Everyone raves about it. They love it. Ever review I've read loves it.

I recently decided to read this series because the last book came this year, and all I've heard is how amazing the last book is and the book hangover's everyone is getting from it. So I finally decided it was time I gave The Raven Boys a go. After all, I often agree with the hype. I've only disagreed a few times.

Disappointingly so, this is one of the rare times that I disagree.

I don't understand the hype. I just don't quite get it. I mean, I thought I would at least enjoy The Raven Boys, but I couldn't, I found nothing about this book that I enjoyed reading. Here's why:

1. I couldn't connect with the characters.

I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I really liked the sound of Blue when we first read her chapter, I instantly wanted to know more about her. I was intrigued by her psychic family, I wanted to know why she was the only one in her family that wasn't a psychic, I wanted to connect with her. But I found it very difficult after the first few of her chapters. I ended up feeling like she was someone I was watching, like I was a fly that followed her around, instead of actually being invested in her life. If that makes sense?

I didn't get Gansey at all. I wanted to like him but he never really did anything that would make me like him. At first I felt sorry for him that everyone judged him by his money, and that he always said the wrong thing even though he had good intentions, but it never got bigger than that. He never really grew. His character growth was non-existent in this book and it bored me.

Ronan was a sad, disturbed character, he was constantly angry and always ended his arguments with his fist to someone's face. Okay, so the anger issue was more annoying than anything else, but I liked his character growth a lot more than anyone else's. He was the only one that actually had any growth.

Adam seemed like such a push over and it annoyed me! He was also obsessed with being his own person, to the point where he ignored his friends help when they tried to offer it to him. It made no sense! It was incredibly frustrating reading how he thought near the end of the book. At the beginning of the book I quite liked him, he grew rather dark overall.

I just didn't feel like I really connected with any of the characters, nor was I invested in them. I was really disappointed by this!

2. I wanted more investment.

I wanted more investment in the characters and then in Blue's life. The story revolved around the raven boys, which makes sense with the title of the book called that. But I wanted more from her life. After she meets the raven boys, we don't see her anywhere else except with the raven boys. Her life outside of them didn't exist in this book.

I also wanted more investment in the story away from searching for Glendower, even though that is the main storyline of this book, I jut wanted something else to be interested in. There was nothing. This story solely focuses on Gansey's search for Glendower and each of the characters involved in this search, there is no other story really.

Adam kind of has a story but we don't get much of it, Blue's mum also kind of has a story but we also don't get to see a lot of that either. There were bits and pieces but nothing too big to detract away from the main storyline.

3. I was so bored.

Yep. You read right. I was down right bored nearly the whole of this book.

It was so disappointing! I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the moment where I got sucked in to this story. I was waiting and waiting and waiting for that 'Yes! This book IS amazing!' moment. I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the moment that had me furiously reading and reading and reading until the end. I was waiting and waiting and waiting until... I realised I was at the end of the book. And that was it.

That was the end of the book and I didn't once feel like I was really enjoying the story, or the characters, or anything of what was going on. I was just bored the whole way through! I was so surprised since I have heard so many amazing things about this book. The hype monster may have raised my expectations too far.

4. The writing style wasn't for me.

I've read from a lot of people that they loved the writing style in this book. However, for me, I just couldn't get into it. To be honest, I found it incredibly confusing. I had to keep re-reading things because I didn't understand the structure of the sentence the first time or what on earth characters were referring to. Sometimes it took me a while to figure things out and other times I decided just to continue reading and try and get the gist of it as I read on.

So the writing style wasn't something I really enjoyed.

5. Nothing held my interest.

So honestly, nothing in this book held my interest. Nothing. Not Blue (even though I was begging her too), Gansey and the raven boys, Glendower, or even Ronan and his character development. I only pushed through this book because I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the thing that is the reason that everyone loves this book. But I missed it. It went right over my head. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't love this book, and I'm sorry nothing in this book really held my interest.

I'm really just... sorry that the hype raised my expectations way too high.



Will I read the next book? I have no idea. I haven't ruled it out yet because I'm wondering if this is one of those stories that gets better with each book (Like the Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas), so perhaps I will read the second book at some point.

I found it really hard to rate this book. I didn't hate it. I didn't think it was bad. I didn't think there was anything incredibly wrong with it. I simply just didn't enjoy it.

Do you feel the same way as me with The Raven Boys? Or do you love it? What do you love/not like about it?

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

Maggie Stiefvater is going to be at MY LOCAL BOOKSTORE THIS WEEKEND!! So I thought it warrented a re-read and maybe final completion of the entire Raven Cycle. :D
--------------------
I know I’m a little late on the bandwagon for this one. However, I couldn’t resist starting the series after seeing all the Instagram hype over the last book coming out a few months ago, so here we are! I was very reticent about starting this series. I absolutely loved the idea of it – set in Virginia, Arthurian legend mixed with modern-day paganism, characters with…issues. However, the YA trappings worried me, as I couldn’t help but think that the idea could very well be ruined by trying to force it into a YA style writing and or setting.

The opening of The Raven Boys (2012, Maggie Stiefvater) drops you right into a world that, at first, I wasn’t entirely sure I was familiar with. 16-year-old Blue Sargent has grown up in a household where clairvoyance is taken for granted and psychic abilities accepted as normal. The rest of the world though, isn’t so sure – the modern day Virginia depicted is quite typical of the current America, complete with attitudes toward spirituality outside the realm of mainstream Christianity. Blue is the only one of the family to not be gifted some type of clairvoyance herself, but she is still incredibly perceptive and intelligent as a person. She definitely marches to the tune of her own drum, regardless.

She wasn’t interested in telling other people’s futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own.

Unlike most high school girls of my acquaintance, she is proud of being different and seems to rather enjoy reminding people of the fact – not so much of her family member’s odd occupations, but of her own sense of style and her unusual interests. Then of course, there is that unusual little prophecy that her mother and aunts and cousins three times removed keep making about her, that if she kisses her true love, he will die. Thankfully, Blue is enough of a forward thinker to not entirely believe this…but, then, it definitely worries her because…well, bit of a damper on typical teenage activities.

Then there is Gansey, the other, male, MC of the story. He is for all intents and purposes little more than a spoiled rich kid, saved only by his genial good nature and constant but unintentional offending of the less fortunate. Gansey has an undeniably good heart combined with a rat terrier’s stubbornness once an idea has entered his head, and somehow it’s very endearing. At a young age Gansey had a life altering experience that brought an ancient Arthurian legend to his attention, and ever since he has been chasing the idea of it, digging further and further into history and the depths of a spirituality almost forgotten by the modern world.

Gansey attends a high class, expensive prep school with the other “raven boys,” as the local citizens (of which Blue is one) call them. His little posse of friends all have their own intriguing quirks and foibles, which combined are both irritating and curious. In the beginning, a lot is left unexplained. The narrative switches between Blue and Gansey in 3rd person. I was very happy to see this, as it seems like almost every YA book I’ve picked up lately has been from 1st person and honestly I get tired of it! So that was immediately a point in favor.

Now, stick with me – first, the problems I had with the story.

Through about the first 100 pages or so, I was still not convinced that my fears weren’t going to come true. Really, what 17 year old has the money, time, and interest to go traipsing about to multiple different countries looking for a legend, own his own “dorm” because he finds the ones on school grounds too full of annoying other students, and whose biggest problem is that his classic Camaro occasionally breaks down? Seriously? And what about Blue? How many teenage girls are completely ok with being the only odd one out – because even at the end of the book, Blue seems to have no other friends than the ones she has made in the unlikely “raven boys,” despite having lived in their little Virginia town her entire life. Her mother has a fairly hands off parenting approach – typical YA story, in my experience, because too much parental meddling or supervision would interfere with a decent storyline. In fact, at one point of the book, Blue’s mother forbids her to do something, and it appears to be the first time she has ever issued such a command (Blue must have been an exceptionally compliant child, or perhaps her mother was just over-tolerant)! Also, Blue in general seems much older than 16. Her attitudes, even her mannerisms, spoke to me of a woman in her early 20s – as did Gansey and some of the other high school age characters. Their true age is only really revealed in their naivety about some things and their willingness to believe in the good of people. Apparently early jading isn’t actually that common? Oh, and one of the less-mature raven boys in Gansey’s little squad is constantly drinking. WHERE does this underage alcohol come from? How is it he never gets in trouble? Maybe I was just a good kid and didn’t break rules, but without an older sibling/cousin/reprobate parent in the picture, alcohol wasn’t that easy to come by when I was in high school.