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The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

Maggie Stiefvater

Start date: June 1, 2016

Finish date: June 30, 2016

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What Members Thought

May 28, 2016 Angela Blount rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, urban-fantasy

Windily intriguing and pleasantly eerie.

I was a little surprised at how well I liked this book, given the languidness of the pacing and lack of answers delivered by the ending. (I should preface this by saying I listened to the audio book, and Patton does a phenomenal job with bringing the voices and characters to life. Also, Stiefvater went the impressive and spot-on impactful extra mile by creating an original musical composition piece exclusively for the audio book. I HIGHLY recommend this m Windily intriguing and pleasantly eerie.

I was a little surprised at how well I liked this book, given the languidness of the pacing and lack of answers delivered by the ending. (I should preface this by saying I listened to the audio book, and Patton does a phenomenal job with bringing the voices and characters to life. Also, Stiefvater went the impressive and spot-on impactful extra mile by creating an original musical composition piece exclusively for the audio book. I HIGHLY recommend this method of ingestion.)

This book is a series set-up, told from multiple 3rd-person POVs. The setting is a rural and vaguely mystical town in Virginia called Henrietta. Our primary characters are a 16-year-old girl named Blue--the eccentric-yet-sensible old-soul daughter of the town psychic. Fairly early on in the story she becomes caught up (almost against her will) with a tetrad of exclusive private school boys: Richard "Gansey", their old-soul history/mystery-obsessed leader; Ronan, the grief-torn rage monster; Adam, the meek and abused grease monkey; and Noah, the forgettable tag-along.

The urban fantasy elements are strong initially, but peter off for much of this particular book. And while the characters hold more depth and dimension than I typically see in mainstream YA, I didn't become particularly attached to any of them. It was the lyrical meandering of the prose and the novelty of the plot itself that kept this reader engaged. Despite the tension remaining low a vast majority of the time, the intrigue held on. All while presenting a small Southern town with something closer to realism than the condescension common in contemporary lit.

I picked up book #2 immediately, and that says a lot for the writing itself.

Content Note: To those parents and teens who it may concern, this book leaned somewhat heavily into -actual- (i.e. borrowed, not invented) occult elements. (Tarot card readings, scrying, astral projection, and what I would assume is possession.) The instructional how-to of which is sparse and primarily limited to tarot cards--at least in this book. ...more

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May 04, 2012 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2012

Maggie Stiefvater creates a stunning new spellbinding world that captures spirit, intrigue, and beautifully crafted world bilding with, The Raven Boys . She weaves together a beautiful tapestry of myths, legend, and psychic abilities that will eagerly draw reader's in and keep them deeply entrenched in the rich story details. It is a wonderfully written and magnificently developed mystical ride, sure to enrapture reader's leaving them breathless and filled with anticipation. Gorgeously intens Maggie Stiefvater creates a stunning new spellbinding world that captures spirit, intrigue, and beautifully crafted world bilding with, The Raven Boys . She weaves together a beautiful tapestry of myths, legend, and psychic abilities that will eagerly draw reader's in and keep them deeply entrenched in the rich story details. It is a wonderfully written and magnificently developed mystical ride, sure to enrapture reader's leaving them breathless and filled with anticipation. Gorgeously intense and realistically believable, The Raven Boys depicts a truly suspenseful tale sure to entertain. It is a tale that is sure to tug at reader's heartstrings, with richly intensely wonderful character's that come alive and leap off the pages.

Blue is the strong and sensible type of girl that reader's will be able to relate to. She's likable in many ways, with a few realistic flaws of her own which makes it easier to connect with her more on a realistic level. She's done pretty well at dealing with growing up in a house that isn't anything less than unusual. Her mother and Calla, Maura, and Persephone are brillinatly colorful, bringing so much life to the pages in their own eccentric ways and personality flare. They add a lot of whimsical unusual fun to the story, enriching it in so many other details and facets. Reader's will definitely find themselves enjoying these colorful kooky character's.

The friendship between each one of the Raven Boys, is one of the best aspects of this wonderfully written and enjoyable novel. Each of them possesses their own painful backstory, that Maggie Stiefvater manages to gradually reveal over time. It's heartbreaking and beautiful, but it's such an amazingly touching story. These group of boys are incredibly complex and complicated to figure out at first, but once reader's get to know them along the way they will surely fall in love with each of them. Together, they each bring so much depth and layers to the story. I personally enjoyed how well compatible they were with one another, it made the story much more interesting and enjoyable.

Maggie Steifvater has managed to pen such a beautifully illustrated, deeply rich and intense, emotional story that is just as eloquent and almost lyrical at times. She never fails to set the stage or the mood, with whatever she is writing. Fans of her previous novels, will not be disappointed with The Raven Boys . It is an amazing start to what is soon to be another brilliant series on her behalf. She has truly outdone herself, by writing one of the most character driven novels full of dark beguiling beauty and intrigue.

The Raven Boys is a book that reader's will definitely not want to miss out on! ...more

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