The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) in Rainbow Support Group

Feb 08, 2017 Wren rated it really liked it

Shelves: creatures-ghosts-spirits, theme-death, atmosphere-creepy, paranormal, theme-magic, young-adult-general

3.5 stars

this review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogs...

Blue's mother is psychic, and she lives in a house with a few other psychics, too. While Blue can't speak to the dead or see the future, she enhances the powers of those around her, so she's brought along so that those who will be dead within the next year can be identified. Among the dead is a boy from Aglionby, a nearby private school, and Blue can see him.

Blue has always been warned that she will cause the dea 3.5 stars

this review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogs...

Blue's mother is psychic, and she lives in a house with a few other psychics, too. While Blue can't speak to the dead or see the future, she enhances the powers of those around her, so she's brought along so that those who will be dead within the next year can be identified. Among the dead is a boy from Aglionby, a nearby private school, and Blue can see him.

Blue has always been warned that she will cause the death of her true love, and after seeing the spirit of this boy, she wonders if she will be the one to kill him. When they finally come face to face, they form a friendship, along with three other boys from Aglionby. Together they investigate mysterious ley lines, with the hope that they may be led to Glendower, a sleeping king.

There seems to be a lot of hype around this book, but I didn't really enjoy the book as much as other readers have. It wasn't a horrible book by any means, but I was fairly disappointed in some of the elements.

One thing that I did like were the characters. Actually, I loved the characters. Blue was an eccentric and likeable main character, and Gansey's determination to find Glendower was admirable. Rowan, another of the raven boys, was truly frustrating, but I loved him. Adam, a scholarship student, lived in a tough situation and very much served as a juxtaposition or foil to the rich, fairly comfortable life of Gansey. As for Noah, the last raven boy, he was quiet, sweet, and mysterious in his own way. These characters worked so well together to bring this story to life, and they were written with a depth that made me pleasantly surprised. Despite my issues with other pieces of this book, I may continue reading the series just so I can read more about these characters!

The plot was a bit too slow, in my opinion. I would find myself bored for entire chapters, only reading to find out when the next interesting issue would appear. It feels like I only read half a book, really. While the conclusion was a great cliff-hanger type situation, the lack of truly exciting plot points in this book was disappointing.

Not to mention my confusion about what went on at the end. I mean, there are cliffhangers, but then there are seemingly random occurrences, and this book combined these. The cliffhanger made me want to read the next book, but only because I need answers. What happened at the end? How is it all connected? While this would usually be seen as a good thing, I was more frustrated than excited to get my hands on the second book. Maybe I missed something, but some of the events in the last third of the book just seemed out of place.

Overall, I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped to. The ending was a cliffhanger, but it was also really confusing. However, the amazing cast of characters has me considering buying the second book in the series, because I need to know how their story continues.

I recommend this book to fans of young adult paranormal books. If you like slower paced novels with likeable and unique characters, this book is for you. ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Kristy Frenken-Francis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019, young-adult, rereads

4.5 stars... Holy crap this book had me completely hooked. I had to put it down a few months ago because I couldn't get into it, but I picked it up again last week and once I got past the part where I stopped last time, I couldn't stop reading. ...more

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Jul 04, 2018 Nemo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: friendship, queer, mystery, lgbtq, young-adult, fantasy, supernatural, magic, broken-people, favourites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I've longed to read this book for years, and although I bought it about eighteen months ago, it's taken me until now to get around to it. I wish I'd read it sooner.

It was a struggle to get into at first, not because it's not a good story, but because of the writing style. It felt disconnected somehow, like reading a Supernatural novel by someone who doesn't quite have things down as they should be. But it grew on me pretty quickly, and, honestly, I think it's refreshing to read a book in this st I've longed to read this book for years, and although I bought it about eighteen months ago, it's taken me until now to get around to it. I wish I'd read it sooner.

It was a struggle to get into at first, not because it's not a good story, but because of the writing style. It felt disconnected somehow, like reading a Supernatural novel by someone who doesn't quite have things down as they should be. But it grew on me pretty quickly, and, honestly, I think it's refreshing to read a book in this style rather than the usual for YA books. Still, there were a fair few times I had to re-read bits because it didn't clearly state who's perspective it had switched into, but it got better as the book went on. It is nice to watch the author's writing improve within a book or series, but it is a shame it wasn't edited better afterwards in that regard. Also, as much as I bitch and moan about American English, which should just be called American, let's be real, I decided that if a story is set in the US, if the characters are American, and the author is also American, then it should be written in American. However, someone - author or editor, who knows - has gone to a lot of trouble to add all of the missing 'U's into words, translate phrases from US to UK, and also words for things that differ. This is something I wanted so long so I didn't have to get irritated at the wrong spell of everything left, right, and centre, but I've now decided that, again, if the author/characters/setting is American, then it should remain that way because it kind of throws you off as you read along - the cars are on the 'right' side of the road, the driver on the left, the houses and spaces are humongous, the setting is so obviously American, and then you've got English words thrown around. It upsets it somehow. But! Points for effort.

Right, the story itself. All of the characters have their own problems, they have their own personalities and character traits, family backgrounds, stories, hopes and dreams, and that's refreshing. None of the characters are alike, they all stand out, and not so much in the focus on their appearances, either, it's literally focused more on who they are as people, which is my kind of thing. I'm not sure if I can really remember what any of the characters look like or dress like, but I can tell you their life story, and that's what really matters.

Gansey appears to be delusional with his obsession at first, to the point where he comes off as possibly being autistic, and I kind of like the idea of that - I don't know if he's supposed to be or not, but still. But as the story gets going, you want him to be right, you want this Welsh king to be there somewhere, and you want him to find where he's buried. It seems more and more likely as events unfold, too, and by the end of the book he had me believing. He seems the most well-adjusted of the lot, he's certainly the most privileged, but he's a fine example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. He likes to be comfortable, granted, but he uses the money to buy things he needs, to take care of his friends, and remain educated and independent of his parents, but he learns with each upset he causes that not everyone is as lucky as him, and he tries to understand what it's like not to have that life. He cares deeply for his friends, picking up the broken strays as he goes, the people who don't quite fit in, and people who share in his interest as soon as they're brought into his world.

Adam. Oh, Adam. He's the opposite end of the social class from Gansey. He's considered 'trailer trash', working three jobs to afford the private school he attends because he longs to be more than where he came from, perhaps a little too much - like Gansey with his obsession, Adam has this as his, and he goes above and beyond to keep searching for what he's looking for. His mother seems uncaring, and his father is abusive, and there's a scene in this that's difficult to read, one where he ends up hurt so badly he's rendered deaf in one ear, which reminded me so much of Clint Barton, but that's a whole other story. Gansey keeps trying to get him to move in with him and the others, but he refuses, convinced he needs to do everything on his own otherwise he's failed, and taking help from anyone is a huge part of that, so he refuses. Until Ronan swoops in and rescues him, and he files a report with the police about the abuse, temporarily moving in with the gang.

Ronan, well, he's Ronan. He doesn't get a huge amount of attention throughout this book, other than joining in the quest with the gang, but he speaks to me in ways all the messed up ones do. His family comes off as complicated, but it's kept vague, and we learn next to nothing, so I'm hoping there's more to come of him in the next book. Give me more of the broken ones! Ronan and Adam, I'm looking at both of you. And, I mean, Ronan and the raven is such a previous thing, every time he cradled the bird and fed it, I found my insides doing things I never gave them permission to do. Rude, like him.

Noah! Well, he's barely there, sometimes it's as if he never existed, and from the beginning I questioned this and why it was. I got my answer, and I wasn't far off, either. Other than his name, and the fact he has a room at Gansey's, we learn almost nothing about him, except he seems quiet, timid, keeps himself to himself, and never eats for some unknown reason. All of it added up in my head, I don't know if it was supposed to be that obvious, but things like that niggle at me, so I caught on. But we learn he's something other, not quite what he was, and it's a little bit heart-breaking, to be honest. I adore the friendship he strikes up with Blue, too, that's adorable, such a bromance, and he's close with Ronan like none of the others seem to be, which is odd because one is quiet and reserved and the other is loud and brash. Noah and friendships are awesome.

Blue. She's not as well written, to be honest, which is weird since she's like one of the top two perspectives used. She seems strong and independent, and she's from large family, which may or may not all be related to her, and it's never properly explained - it's been bothering me the whole time. I want to see a family tree! Names are mentioned, and it's said there's aunts and cousins, but it never specifics which are which and who is who to her, and I found that weird. I guess it's not vital to the plot, but it adds to who she is as a person, and they are there a lot. On the other hand, she has a mum, who isn't dead or dying, and although she's lax in her parenting skills, she's clearly raised a good kid who can stand on her own two feet, so she can't be faulted. It makes a refreshing change. Her dad is a mystery, though, so I guess you can't have it all. She is especially why I love that looks and dress sense aren't a huge focus, because we get this vague impression that she's on the girly side in dresses, though no mention of make-up, and yet she hangs out with the lads, keeps up with them, and doesn't whine about the usual that female characters often tend to do. I can't fault her, just, more explanation on the family would be good.

The one thing I'm not overly fussed about with this book is the love triangle. It's not there, there, because Blue may as well be asexual for all she'll act on anything, but she's sort-of-but-not-quite with one of the lads and yet fighting the fact she's possibly destined to another. Love triangles can be written well, but I've read too many to care, to be honest, and the lad she's with doesn't seem like the right fit at all, which begs the question of why in the first place. Perhaps it comes into play later, who knows, but I'm thinking it's more to do with Adam than Blue if that is the case.

The quest itself, I love it. It's been nice to learn new things and find things to go research around reading, and I'm really into the whole thing. I really want all of the characters to find what it is that they're after by the end of this series, even if it's something surprising to them and not what they thought it would be. I think that would make the entire story so much more interesting. But I love the rules that don't appear to be there until it's pointed out that all mystical things have laws, and it's left wrapped up for that part of the main plot, but also hanging as to what happens next. Adam does something stupid at the end, which I'm guessing will change him irreversibly, but it's left there with an epilogue that doesn't hint at what happened to him after, so I'm eager to keep reading on. The author got the gripping the read factor down right.

Honestly, I love all the characters, they all stand out, the focus is all on the right things, the main plot is intriguing and addictive, and if there was one negative thing to say about this, it really would be how vague the family are left, but at the same time I guess it makes you want to keep reading to see if we ever find out, and it leaves you wondering if maybe it's done intentionally as part of something else that may happen down the line, so even that's not a bad thing, as long as it delivers in the end.

So, yes, I've finally read the first book, and I officially love it. ...more

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