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The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

Maggie Stiefvater

Start date: January 1, 2022

Finish date: January 31, 2022

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Oct 01, 2015 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, re-read, ya, paranormal

YA YA blah blah. This is quite well written but..it makes me feel old, several decades too old! If I was about 13 or 14 I'd probably love it...

That was the review I wrote when I got about a third of the way through and called it a day. My original rating was 2 stars. But my goodread friends kept on giving this series good ratings so eventually I returned for a re read and absolutely LOVED it! It wasn't the book I thought it was. I just needed to get over my hang up about rich pre-Ivy league scho ...more

43 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2020 Saar The Book owl rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-to-read

It has been a while that I was so confused about a book, but this one did it. It cought me, released me, cought me again...It was just like a game and then the story didn't let me loose. I've started reading it with a lot of questions and after finsihing, I still have s many questions. Half of the book I didn't know what there was up to, what was everyone intensions and at some points it annoyed me a bit, but I got through it. It wasn't what I thought it was, but it was good.
You can feel the bon ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Oct 10, 2018 Brittany Kollenberg rated it it was ok

I did not like this book at all. I did not understand why everyone in the whole freaking town of Henrietta was obsessed with leylines. I wasn't even sure what they did. I was confused for almost all of the book. I gave this book 2 stars solely because I enjoyed the characters. I probably will not be reading the rest of this series. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

May 13, 2015 C.P. Cabaniss rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy, maymadness, maypage, favorites

I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing. I'm a huge fan of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy and the companion novel Sinner. Her writing is just beautiful and is what got me hooked on her stuff. For some reason it took me years to pick up this book (and just in time to complete the first three before the final one comes out later this year!), but I'm really glad that I did.

This is an extremely character driven story and I love that. Blue is the daughter of a psychic and has been surrounded by the pa I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing. I'm a huge fan of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy and the companion novel Sinner. Her writing is just beautiful and is what got me hooked on her stuff. For some reason it took me years to pick up this book (and just in time to complete the first three before the final one comes out later this year!), but I'm really glad that I did.

This is an extremely character driven story and I love that. Blue is the daughter of a psychic and has been surrounded by the paranormal her entire life. She knows, through psychic visions, that if she ever kisses her true love, he will die. How exactly is a question she doesn't want answered. So Blue avoids guys, not wanting to fall in love and doom her love to an early death. That gets complicated when she sees Gansey's spirit, warning her that he will be dead within a year. And she would only be able to see him if he were her true love or she were the one who killed him, which, I guess, would kind of be one and the same with Blue.

Blue's life gets mixed up with the raven boys: Gansey, Adam, Noah, and Ronan. Their paths cross somewhat unexpectedly and together they embark on a quest to awaken the ley line (a line of power that runs through their town). Much of the novel is spent in the development of these characters and them getting to know each other. It could be rather slow at times, but was overall very interesting. Gansey is brilliant, rich, and ambitious. He just doesn't know how to act around other people without them thinking they are his playthings. Adam is a poor genius who goes to their prestigious school on scholarship, hoping to escape his abusive household. Ronan has a troubled past that seems to be steeped around the death of his father, which is somewhat of a mystery. He's rough, but one of the more intriguing characters for me. Noah is quiet and nearly invisible. His history is shrouded in dark events and twisted people.

There is not a single character that I did not enjoy in this story. The story alternates between the characters, giving you insight into each of them as the story progresses, and I loved that style. It's all told in third person and Blue is the main focus a majority of the time, but the rest of the cast gets a good share of attention. I am really excited to dive into the next book and see where the story is headed. This one had a very satisfactory ending, but there are definitely many loose ends that need answers. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2015 Victoria Scott rated it liked it

Shelves: posted-on-blog

With all the good things I've heard about this, I have to say I'm disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved the boys. But the plot...
Let's start with the positives. The Raven Boys. I'll admit, to start with I got them kinda confused. They all blended together to me. But they started getting their own personalities after not too long, and I learned to love them individually. Adam was so cute and awkward. At the end he lost his charm a bit, but for the most part I loved him. I was so interested in With all the good things I've heard about this, I have to say I'm disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I loved the boys. But the plot...
Let's start with the positives. The Raven Boys. I'll admit, to start with I got them kinda confused. They all blended together to me. But they started getting their own personalities after not too long, and I learned to love them individually. Adam was so cute and awkward. At the end he lost his charm a bit, but for the most part I loved him. I was so interested in his family life; I wish that'd been explored a little bit more. Ronan was the most interesting. He was just a little bit scary, but in a cool way. I genuinely worried about him being kicked out of Aglibony. I wanted him to be good again, and I wanted to protect him. Noah was a little quiet. Describing him as "smudgy" was perfect. He was there, just not quite as there as the others. His plot twist was disappointing. I saw it coming from the first time he refused get pizza. Out of all the boys, Gansey was by far my favourite. He was so. Freaking. Cute. I didn't find his large vocabulary condescending, I thought it was great. And I always love seeing what people are passionate about. It makes me fall for them even more. I've been needing a new book boyfriend for a while now. Gansey is definitely it.
I liked Blue's family, but I wish we'd got to see more of them. I couldn't love them, because I didn't know enough about them. The scene at the death road (was that the right name?) described them the best. But I wanted to sit in on more of the readings. Oh, and I wanted to know who was related to who exactly. Are Maura, Neeve, Calla and Persephone all sisters? Or are some of them just friends?
The boys did not deserve this plot. To me, it was a little confusing. Until Blue met the boys, they assumed we knew a lot more than we really did. Like Gansey said, they'd spent years hunting for a ley line. They knew what they were doing, because they lived and breathed that life. So why would they talk about the little details? It made sense, but I wish I couldn't read the journal, just so I knew what was going on.
But, I could live with working that out. It was the ending that made me the most mad. I don't want to go into too much detail. But there was someone who turned sort of bad who wasn't meant to be bad. Someone I kinda liked, too. The other bad guy I guessed very early on. The identity of Blue's dad was almost explained, but not enough for me. There's something about him that's just not quite right... Most importantly, the prophecies were not wrapped up. It was an evil ploy to get us to the buy the next book.
And, unfortunately, it worked. I need to know who Blue's true love is! More importantly, I need to know if the boys will live happily ever after. Overall, 3/5 stars. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 06, 2023 Vicki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, romance, fantasy, wheels-8

I've had this book on my shelf FOREVER, but for some reason every time I thought about reading it I didn't...not sure why. I had no idea what to expect of it but not what I got! I think Maggie Stiefvater is incredibly gifted and I will be reading her again for sure. I had read Shiver but only gave it 3 stars but I also read The Scorpio Races and gave it 5 stars. After reading The Raven Boys I will definitely read more of her books.

Stiefvater packed a lot into the plot. I love how she masterfull ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2019 Ashy Khaira rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 18, 2015 Melany rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, own, 2018, 2022, own-physical, own-kindle

Declan’s wide jaw and smile said, Vote for me while Ronan’s buzzed head and thin mouth warned that this species was poisonous.

Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn’t know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.

God, I love this book! I love the characters and more importantly how Stiefvater describes her characters. My favorite (if you couldn't tell) is how she describes Ronan. I love t ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2016 ❀ Crystal ✿ - PEACE ☮ LOVE ♥ BOOKS marked it as could-not-finish

Shelves: 2016-read-list

I'm officially a quitter. I was super interested when I started the book but it being written in third person is I think what kept me from falling into it. Maybe it was just the wrong time to read this but I got about halfway and realized I was making excuses and doing other things than reading it, thus time to move on. Blue was certainly an interesting character and fans of YA Fantasy or even maybe Paranormal will surely love it :) ...more

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Apr 27, 2020 Kim rated it really liked it

This is the first in a series regarding a group of boys who go to school together and the daughter of a psychic. They are on the search for a deceased Welsh king who, once found, will grant them any wish.

I really liked the characters in this work. They’re very complex without overdoing it. Blue is lovely and spunky, without being too boy crazy. The boys individually are interesting but I really like the way they play off each other. I also enjoyed that we got to see chapters from different poin ...more

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Aug 18, 2016 Natasha Morris rated it liked it

Shelves: library, kindle, ya

Interesting first book in trilogy. Has assorted characters with untold backstories

Ended feeling as if the author might have wrote one long book and simply cut it into 3. The end of the book lacked a wrap up or a cliff hanger, and instead ended abruptly.

Still looking forward to finishing trilogy.

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