The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

May 07, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing

REREAD 5/1/24
I read this again because I really wanted to finish the series and I didn't remember a lot hat happened in this book. I still really enjoyed it and I'm happy to get reacquainted with the characters again. I still loved them all

I have been reading a bunch of really good books. It makes me so excited and keeps me wanting more and more. I have books to read before I can pick up the next book in this series but I will start The Dream Thieves very soon. I loved the psychic women in this REREAD 5/1/24
I read this again because I really wanted to finish the series and I didn't remember a lot hat happened in this book. I still really enjoyed it and I'm happy to get reacquainted with the characters again. I still loved them all

I have been reading a bunch of really good books. It makes me so excited and keeps me wanting more and more. I have books to read before I can pick up the next book in this series but I will start The Dream Thieves very soon. I loved the psychic women in this book, I love the bit of magic. I loved the 4 boys and each of their varying uniqueness's. I hated poor Adam's home life, the way Ronan dealt with his loss, Noah and his silent ways (his part of this book shocked the heck out of me...never saw it coming) and Gansey, the glue that held them all together. Blue and her family of psychic misfits were the perfect touch to this amazing book.

RE-READ 4/23/19

It's still a 5 star book for me. I loved it more this time then I did the first time I read it. I only reread it because I want to read The Dream Thieves in May and I couldn't remember anything about the ending. Even while I was reading it this morning nothing was familiar to me. I read this when I was pretty new to the fantasy world and I think it was a little over my head at the time. All the ley line talk was a little hard to grasp. I have read a lot of magic/fantasy type books and things just stuck this time. I am anxious to get into the next book in the series. I am thrilled I reread this.

I think Blue is my favorite character besides Noah. I love all 4 of the boys. I love how toward the end of the book Blue's family referred to the boys as "her boys" Blue's mom said something like "Blue your boys are here" Gansey was the one who usually collected things and people but this group ended up belonging to Blue in the end.

spoiler
somehow I missed that Noah was dead or that he was the bones they found near that red mustang. I also didn't realize until this reread that Noah died so that Gansey could live. Gansey should have died and Noah should have been alive. This book took all kinds of crazy twists and turns and I loved it. ...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Nairabell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, teen-ya-paranormal, read-in-2012

Even if Blue hadn't been told that her true love would die if she kissed him, she would still stay away from the boys from Aglionby school. Known as the Raven Boys, the students there are generally privileged and trouble. But this year things will change for Blue as she is drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. This is the year she discovers magic truly exists. And this is the year she will find her true love.

This is the first book in the new Raven Cycle series and one I wa Even if Blue hadn't been told that her true love would die if she kissed him, she would still stay away from the boys from Aglionby school. Known as the Raven Boys, the students there are generally privileged and trouble. But this year things will change for Blue as she is drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. This is the year she discovers magic truly exists. And this is the year she will find her true love.

This is the first book in the new Raven Cycle series and one I was eager to start as Maggie Stiefvater is one of my all time favourite authors. I love the beautiful lyrical nature of her writing style and so I knew I would enjoy this book when I picked it up. The writing here has a deliciously gothic feel and the reader is thrown right in at the deep end as Blue spends St. Mark's Eve in a graveyard collecting the names of those who are to die in the coming year.

It did take me a while to get into the storyline as a large cast of characters are introduced fairly quickly. Blue's family consists of her mother Maura and aunt Neeve as well as Orla, Calla and Persephone, while the Raven Boys consist of Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah. That said the concept of the book pulled me through and once I was hooked I stayed glued to the page throughout. This is the first in a series so setting up the cast is to be expected.

The basic premise of the story is that Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him, but The Raven Boys soon shows there is a lot more happening in the small town of Henrietta. Gansey is on a quest to find a lost king and soon we are drawn into a world of ley lines and magic. The storyline is brilliantly crafted with tension that builds gradually throughout leading to some shocking twists and turns. Being told from different perspectives, including that of a past seeker really adds depth to the storyline.

Blue is a great lead character, although it took me a while to get used to her name. She is the only normal one in her family and she prides her self on her independence and self-reliance. The last thing she wants is to get involved with a Raven Boy and the last thing the Raven Boys want is to get involved with a family as strange as hers. Gansey is desperately seeking the lost Glendower and each of the Raven Boys accompany him for different reasons, but it is Adam's desperate quest to escape his family and stand alone that really caught my attention.

The romance has an interesting twist to it as Blue first falls for Adam, although it quickly becomes clear that Gansey is the true love she is destined to kiss and kill. This isn't a love triangle though as Blue likes Adam and is horrified by the possibility that Gansey is in her future.

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 48/50 ...more

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