Book Review: The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

OH. MY. GOD. This book destroyed me! It was the perfect ending to one of my favorite series EVER.

5/5 stars

Goodreads Description

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

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My Review

This is a really hard book to review for me, because half of what I want to say is spoilers, and the other half is basically “oh my god” over and over. But I’ll try 😉

Reading The Raven King (TRK for brevity) is like voluntarily handing your heart over to a butcher while simultaneously having all of your wishes granted at once. Lots of pain and suffering and tears. Lots of happiness and YES YES YES moments.

It’s…a lot.

By the end of TRK, all of the characters are leaps and bounds away from who they were at the beginning of the series (at the beginning of the book, for that matter). Each character’s growth and transformation is palpable and powerful. They grow into deeper, stronger, realer versions of themselves—and do it at a realistic pace.

The relationships between the Raven Boys (and Blue) grow in the same way, knitting them together, becoming the epitome of friendship. Every character transforms on their own, yes, but their transformations also tie them closer and closer to the group as a whole.

Even the new characters got folded into the plot without a hitch. Introducing new characters in the last book of a series seems crazy, but it just worked in TKR. I’m particularly in love with Henry Cheng, who brought so many layers to the plot while also providing some of the happiest (and funniest) scenes in the book.

By the end of TRK, I loved every character so much that I couldn’t stand it. They were all so real and alive—how could you not fall in love with them?

Speaking of love, the romance in TRK was PERFECT. All of it. I don’t want to say more and give anything away, but no matter your ship, you’ll get some happiness 😉

I could not stop reading TRK. The book throws you from happy scenes to terrifying scenes to horrifically sad scenes to hilarious scenes, with no stopping points, ever.

I loved how a series of chapters would fit together (like the 6:21 chapters), as well as the “depending on where you began the story” motif. The whole book had this feeling of putting the final pieces of a puzzle together—everything worked together perfectly, and you could suddenly start to see the entire picture at once. And of course, the writing was drop-dead, how-can-anyone-write-this-magically gorgeous.

If there was a sense of impending doom in BLLB, there was even more of one in TRK. Every time Gansey wore his Aglionby sweater, I freaked out. I just knew that the plot was going somewhere it could never come back from, and I both really wanted and never wanted it to get there. The entire book was surprising and tear-jerking and just really freaking emotional.

I’ll just say it: I SOBBED at the ending. And then I finished the book and just sat there in emotional shock for a little while longer, tears dripping down my face.

But it was the perfect ending for the series. It wrapped up the story, left no loose ends to wonder about, and got in a few last surprises on the way out. It was beautiful and painful. It was everything I needed it to be.

Book Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Part three of the Raven Cycle does not disappoint. Actually, it rips your heart out and slowly tortures it with magic, realism, and impending doom.

5/5 stars

Goodreads Description

There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

Add it on Goodreads here.

My Review

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (hereafter BLLB because that is such a long title) continues the magic of The Raven Cycle, with a side of heartbreak.

In BLLB, shit starts to get real. You can tell that the series is building up to the climax. Gansey’s death stops being a far-off possibility and takes on an imminent feeling. Magic starts to go off the rails, trampling into the real world. There is a nervous excitement on every page that makes you want to read faster to rip the bandaid off. The plot is no longer messing around and is now playing for keeps.

And it’s really, really painful to read. But also gorgeous. GAH Maggie Stiefvater will destroy me.

At this point, it feels redundant to say that the characters are still living, breathing, and growing. All of the Raven Boys (and Blue) are well in the middle of fighting their demons, finding themselves, and rearranging their lives around the truths they keep uncovering. Once again, it feels more like a collection of simultaneous stories woven together than one dominant plot—which I love. It wouldn’t do the characters justice to leave out their individual plot lines for the sake of a more unified story line.

There are a lot of new characters in BLLB, but somehow it works. Some of them are minor characters and just add some humor to the story (I LOVE JESSE—see what I did there?), but others are key players in the plot. Gwenllian, Greenmantle, and Piper all helped move the plot in new directions (even if I wanted to scream at all of them).

The main plot of BLLB surrounds Marua’s disappearance and the presence of three “sleepers.” The sleepers plot was really freaking creepy, because you never knew if the characters were taking the right steps or if they were going to destroy themselves. Coupled with the vague sense of impending doom, BLLB had me on edge of my seat.

But BLLB still has strong “real world” subplots. I loved learning more about Aglionby, both about the students and the classes. Seeing Gansey’s cohorts interact with the rest of their school made me see them in a new light (even three books into the series).

And FINALLY, we get to see Blue and Gansey’s relationship develop. I loved (and hated) how tentative and guilt-ridden they were as they carefully left friendship behind and moved onto something more. There are moments of complete happiness, but they are always tempered by lingering fears and worries. They are the perfect couple, but they don’t get the perfect relationship, and though it broke my heart, it also made the story that much more real.

It’s impossible to describe how powerful the writing is. No longer is it just beautiful; now there is an energy to it that promises more secrets, more pain, more everything. Try to reread one scene and you’ll want to reread the entire book. (I know, it happened to me while writing this review.)

In closing, this is the kind of book that sucks you and and doesn’t let you go until the last page (and then only so that you can go pick up the next book). 

Reread Review: The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

This is my second favorite book in the series (behind The Raven King). I love the darkness of this book and the way that all of the characters continue to grow and weave together.

First reviewed: November 2014

Initial Rating: 5/5 stars

Reread Rating: 5/5 stars

First review here.

Goodreads Description

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.

And sometimes he’s not the only one who wants those things.

Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan’s secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.

Add it on Goodreads here.

My Review

I LOVE this book! I’ve now read it three times and it only gets more intense, more real, more captivating.

As always, the characters are the defining magic of The Dream Thieves. Even more than in the first book, the characters feel like living, breathing people who could walk off the page and into real life. And where The Raven Boys (TRB) sought to establish an overview of the relationships between the characters, The Dream Thieves (TDT) delves into the specifics of their friendships and rivalries.

None of the characters are static. Every character is at some point focused on in the narration, giving the reader a strong sense of who that character is and how they are developing. Because of that, this book is not so much one story, but half a dozen stories woven together. While shifting POV narration can break the flow of some stories, it actually enhances the power of this book.

As you can tell from the description, Ronan plays a much bigger role in this story than in the first book. I loved this. Ronan isn’t a cheery character, but he is a painfully real character. Stiefvater captures his anger and frustrations and joys beautifully, giving Ronan depth and life that few other characters achieve (in any book).

Ronan’s dreams also come to the forefront of the story. If the sparsity of paranormal elements in TRB frustrated you, don’t worry, because TDT is undeniably magical. I loved the dream world (and dream logic) that Stiefvater created. It seems like such an obvious concept—he can bring objects he dreams to the real world—but Stiefvater takes it to a new level, adding darkness and horror to the magic. 

Adam’s character also gets more layers in this book as the deal he made with Cabeswater starts encroaching on his life. Things start to unravel, and Adam’s previously stoic character starts to fray at the edges.

I’ll admit, I don’t love Adam’s character in this book, but I really appreciate that Stiefvater let her characters fall apart instead of only giving them positive growth. Adam’s actions always feel “in character” for him, even when they send him on a negative path—and break the reader’s heart in the process.

New characters are introduced, adding to the story without overpowering the original cast. I especially love The Gray Man, who could have been an incredibly one-dimensional character but who is instead given a dry sense of humor and a love of poetry. (I also love that this YA book still has autonomous adult characters who have their own scenes and plot lines, separate of the teens.) I also love hate Kavinsky, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

As always, Gansey and Blue are amazing characters. They face trials and frustrations both in the real world and the paranormal one, and the attraction between them grows (*helpless fangirl squealing*).

TDT is addictive; I always wanted to turn the page, discover the next secret, see the next wonder (or horror). The writing that was so gorgeous in book one is still just as poetic and masterful. But where TRB had only a few creepy moments, TDT is full of darkness.

This is probably what makes this my (second) favorite book in the cycle. The darkness doesn’t come just from the magical elements, or Ronan’s nightmares, or Adam’s deal, or Cabeswater itself. There is also real world darkness—fist fights, grief, drugs, enemies. It is both a contemporary and a fantasy/paranormal novel—realism is not sacrificed so that magic can occur, it enhances the magic.

Basically, I’m in love with this novel, these characters, this series, this author. I LOVE EVERYTHING. If you read The Raven Boys and weren’t convinced, you should definitely still pick up The Dream Thieves. The series only gets more gripping and more fascinating.

Reread Review: The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Oh my God I love this series so much!!! This is the perfect first book in one of the most emotional series ever.

First reviewed: November 2014

Initial Rating: 5/5 stars

Reread Rating: 5/5 stars

First review here.

Goodreads Description

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Add it on Goodreads here

My Review

The Raven Cycle has always been a favorite of mine. I most recently reread The Raven Boys when Blue Lily, Lily Blue came out, but I had already read it twice before I started this blog. So though this is my first reread review for this book, it was actually my fourth time reading it. Needless to say, I’m in love with this book, but I’m trying to put my fangirling into words so that you can understand where I’m coming from.

The first part of this book that ensnared me is the characters. Each character—not just Blue and the Raven Boys, but also Blue’s relatives and other players in the plot—is given complex emotions and a tangible personality. The entire story comes alive, no matter who the narration is focusing on at a specific moment, because of how realistic each character feels.

Blue is my favorite character, of course. She’s spunky and brave and I love her for it, but I also connected with her frustrations about her future and her present. She has a wonderful home life, but she is also inherently set apart from her family because she isn’t psychic. Getting swept up in Gansey’s quest gives Blue a chance to find magic herself; watching her character transform as her world opens up before her is gorgeous and touching.

Gansey’s character is a force of nature. He’s the kind of character who you instantly know has a million layers and nuances, and you just want to read about him until you’ve discovered and understood all of them.

Adam, Ronan, and Noah complete Gansey’s Raven Boys, each adding their own complexities to the group’s dynamic. I’ll admit that I find Adam’s character frustrating in this book (I’ve shipped Bluesey since page one), but I can’t deny that the way his character deals with pride and poverty is fascinatingly real.

Not only does each character come alive, but the friendships that they form are nuanced and realistic. Within the Raven Boys—especially once Blue joins them—their are smaller, tighter bonds between some of the characters. Some characters understand each other better than others, some characters don’t really know what to do with each other. Instead of creating one big happy family from page one, Maggie Stiefvater chose to put natural roadblocks in the way of this goal, intensifying the already emotionally charged atmosphere of the book.

The second part of this series that I fell in love with is the writing. Maggie Stiefvater is a freaking poet. The writing of this series is magical and fascinating. Somehow, she always finds a new (but impossibly perfect) way to describe her characters and her world. I know some people have found the writing to be over-done and frustrating, but especially having read the story so many times already, I was really able to get caught up in the beauty of the prose this time around.

Finally, there is the actual plot of The Raven Boys. On the surface, the plot is simple: Blue gets caught up in Gansey’s quest to find an ancient Welsh king, so that they can wake him up and be granted a magical favor. But the beauty of this series is that the plot is so much more complex than that, and where you expect the story to go on page one is not where the story ends up by the end.

I love the way that Maggie Stiefvater weaves fantasy and contemporary worlds together. Normally, I am frustrated by cross-genre stories, finding it impossible to balance real and fantasy elements in a story. Of course, this book proves me wrong, and if you are a fan of subtle but intricate fantasy worlds, you should absolutely read this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who admires subtlety in storytelling. This isn’t a fast-paced book that will grab you and never let you go. You’ll get caught up in characters instead, and gorgeous turns of phrase, and hours later, you’ll realize you’ve been entranced by the story all day. The Raven Boys is clearly the foundation of a series that will (and does) go to even more amazing places.

3 Days 3 Quotes: Day 3

I was tagged by Sam @ River Moose Reads to do the 3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge.

The Rules

1. Thank the person that nominated you

2. Post a quote 3 consecutive days

3. Nominate 3 new bloggers every day

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“I didn’t know,” I start truthfully, “that it was the hard way when I started on it.”

― The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 

Add it on Goodreads.

GAH! I love this book soooo much. Sean and Puck are two of my favorite characters in the world. And I love this quote because it both captures the feeling of this book and I think has something that we can all connect to.

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I nominate:

• Baillee @ My Day’s Booked
• Lola @ Hit or Miss Books
• Lila @ The Bookkeeper’s Secrets

You’re under no pressure to accept, but I hope you do!

Book Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

This might be my favorite Maggie Stiefvater book. I can’t stop rereading it.

5/5 stars

Amazon Description

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

My Review

I freaking love this book. I’ve read it, I don’t know, maybe five times? And it doesn’t stop being worth reading again.

The characters are the defining characteristic of this book. Puck Connolly is the BEST. She’s the ultimate sarcastic, take-no-shit YA protagonist, but she also cares deeply for her family. The risk she takes in entering the Scorpio Races is massive, and I appreciate that she actually doubts whether it’s worth it. She’s impulsive and snarky and honestly human—the perfect voice to tell this story from.

Sean Kendrick, her biggest competitor and love interest, is equally complex. He has a love-hate relationship with his life and clearly struggles with issues of poverty and his lack of power over his own destiny. I love that even though he seems like your average broody tough guy, he actually grapples with internal conflicts and isn’t nearly as brave as he wishes he was. His relationship with Corr, his water horse, is beautiful to experience, and his fear of losing her is heart-wrenching.

The romance in this book is swoon-worthy. Puck and Sean’s relationship develops at a slow and realistic pace, but by the end, it is clear that the two of them share a deep emotional bond—and that it has changed both of them. Seeing Sean’s transformation as he slowly warms to Puck, then falls for her is a-freaking-dorable—and vice versa with Puck. Their romance is slow-burn perfection, and it never overpowers the other plot lines, though it helps them along.

The Scorpio Races is more than a romance, though. Both Sean and Puck face their own plot lines, culminating in the races. There is prevalent commentary on societal sexism; empathizing with Puck’s plight will make a feminist out of you (if you somehow aren’t one already). Poverty and the rich-vs-poor divide also figure prominently into the plot.

As always, Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is incredible. The world-building is gorgeous, and every character gets their own personality. Though the pacing of TSR is moderate, I couldn’t put it down; the plot is addictive without resorting to dramatic battle scenes or cliff-hanger gimmicks. There are scenes that will make you laugh, scenes that will make you tear up, and scenes that will make you angry.

I would recommend this book to fans of emotional stories with subtle-but-amazing romances. TSR has fantasy elements, a vaguely historical setting, and contemporary plot concerns—making it perfect for basically every book lover. Seriously, if you haven’t read this book, GO READ IT. You’ll have a new bookish happy place. 🙂

Weekend Words #9

Hey guys! Before I get to WW, I want to apologize for my impromptu break from blogging this week. I only had one post, and I didn’t do a lot of blog hopping. I just wasn’t motivated to finish any of the half-started posts I had, and I decided that a little break might help get my head back in the game. And guess what? It worked, because I totally miss all of you guys and I remember why I started this blog in the first place. Without further ado, here’s the ninth installment of my original weekly feature, Weekend Words.

Weekend Words showcases inspiring quotes from books, about writing, and about life. This feature will happen every weekend, either on Saturday or Sunday, depending on my schedule. While this is a reading/writing centric blog, this feature doesn’t have to be focused on those areas–it is intentionally open-ended to give bloggers a chance to say what’s on their mind.

Everyone should feel free to take part–it would honestly make my day! Complete instructions can be found on the feature’s page. 

1. A Powerful Quote From a Recent Read

“I don’t know if I’d want to be comforted, if I’m being honest. If I’m being forced to eat soot, I want to know that somewhere else in the world, someone else has to eat soot as well. I want to know that soot tastes terrible. I don’t want to be told that soot’s good for the digestion.” — Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races

I love the shamelessness of this quote. Sometimes, comfort and consolation are not what I need. Sometimes I don’t want to be told about all the different silver linings to my problems. And I think that this quote does a great job of expressing that frustration.

2. A Quote that Inspired or Influenced Me This Week

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” — Albert Camus

It’s finally getting cold in Southern California! I got to break out my sweaters and boots this week, and I am enjoying the fall spirit. This is a gorgeous quote that captures my current mood.

3. Something I’ve Been Wanting to Say

Taking a break isn’t always a bad thing. It isn’t giving up, not if you go back. Sometimes taking a break is exactly what you need to remind you how much you would hate to quit.

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I hope you’re all having a great weekend! What quotes have inspired you recently?

Book Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater definitely delivered on the third book in her Raven Cycle.

The romance was powerful, the plot was enchanting and complex, and the characters only got deeper and realer.

5/5 stars

Book three of the Raven Cycle

This book is on my Top Shelf.

Amazon description of Blue Lily, Lily Blue:

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.
The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.
Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

I have been waiting for this book since the minute I finished The Dream Thieves. The ending of book two perfectly transitioned into book three, which I really appreciated.

And what a book it was. Stiefvater scaled back on the dark intensity that dominated The Dream Thieves and replaced it with a subtle but powerful pace. She found the perfect balance between the tones of books one and two and ran with it. The writing is, as always, beautiful. Blue Lily, Lily Blue is one of the most successful third books in a series I’ve read, avoiding the stagnation that often occurs as long series lag in the middle.

I can’t quite decide what to say about this book. It wasn’t as sad as I thought it would be. It wasn’t as dramatic as I thought it would be. But somehow, I still really enjoyed it. I feel like Stiefvater found her pace for the series and settled into it. Blue Lily, Lily Blue moved the series along in the series but made it clear that the series is far from over. The character development continued, but wasn’t as severe as it was in The Dream Thieves, I think simply because so much was revealed about each character in the second book.

I will say that I actually liked Adam’s character in this book. For the first two, he just felt like he was in the way of the plot, but in this book he plays an active role in the entire story, instead of being somewhat separate from the rest of the book.

Blue and Gansey’s relationship in this book is wonderfully complicated. I can’t say much more without spoiling anything, but suffice to say that fans anxiously awaiting developments in their romance won’t be disappointed.

I like the fantasy elements in this book. They are slightly different from the ones in earlier books, another sign that the series is progressing along instead of stagnating. Also, the list of soon-to-be-dead from the first scene of The Raven Boys plays an important role in this book, which I liked because it linked the series together.

I can’t believe I have to wait another who-knows-how-long to read the next part of the story. I’m so in love with all of the characters and the world Stiefvater has created.

Book Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the book that made me love the Raven Cycle. Rereading it, I just fell more in love.

5/5 stars

Book 2 of the Raven Cycle

This book is on my Top Shelf.

Amazon description of The Dream Thieves:

If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?
Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.
One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.
And sometimes he’s not the only one who wants those things.
Ronan is one of the raven boys – a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan’s secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface – changing everything in its wake.

The second book  in the Raven Cycle combines the subtle fantasy of The Raven Boys with a fascinating darkness. The plot is faster, grittier, and more surprising. The characters are deeper. The conflicts continue from book one and only get more intense.

The writing is breathtaking. Stiefvater not only has a magnificent command of character and emotional descriptions, she can also create dialogue exchanges with perfect-rhythm. I’m not sure if I’m describing that very well, but if you read the book, I hope you understand.

I’m going to review the book by talking about the characters, because the plot is driven by each one, and I absolutely love each character anyway.

Let’s start with Mr. Gray. I love him. Though his character starts out playing largely the same role as Barrington Whelk in the last book, the Gray Man’s character was infinitely more successful at being interesting. To be honest, the chapters dealing with Whelk last book were slow and didn’t really add to the story until the end.

Mr. Gray’s chapters are so much fun to read. His character evolution was subtle and fast at the same time. I loved the role he played in regards to Maura–I felt that this book really too advantage of the adult characters involved. Stiefvater established the women of 300 Fox Way as rough outlines in book one, but in this book each of the main women really developed; instead of awkwardly hovering at the edge of the story, their integration was effortless and moved the story forward.

Next, Ronan. He’s basically the main character of this one–and I’m not complaining. His character is so much more complex than you could ever imagine after book one. With his character, Stiefvater took her series past of the almost-blandness of book one and created a dark, suspenseful plot rooted in both paranormal and regular teenage experiences.

And Kavinsky. He had a few lines of dialogue with Ronan in book one, but he takes on a whole new role in book two. He’s the devil on Ronan’s shoulder to counter Gansey, and that juxtaposition really highlighted the importance of Gansey in Ronan’s life and Ronan’s internal struggles.

Then there’s Adam. Honestly, he’s never been my favorite character, and he isn’t exactly likable in this book, but that’s the point, I think. After the end of book one, his character embodies the conflicts between the Raven Boys, and he definitely serves to move the story along. Certain plot points involving him, however, dragged on, even if they did enhance the story overall.

Last but not least, Blue and Gansey. Neither of them play massive roles in this book or undergo crazy character changes. I would say it is more fair to say that each of their characters just develops more–the reader gets to have a deeper understanding of both of them. In particular, Gansey’s sense of self worth is explored a lot in the second book, which I liked.

I can’t wait to read the third book, Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

A few comments that contain spoilers (ranging from mild to severe):

I loved the grittiness Kavinsky brought to the book. The street racing, the drugs, the evilness–it took me completely by surprise the first time I read it, but it was exactly what the series needed to stop being just an interesting book about ley lines and Welsh mythology.

The romance between Blue and Gansey is so freaking adorable and heart-wrenching. The scene in the mountains between them broke my heart. And I really hated Adam at that moment.

Ronan being gay is basically my favorite thing ever. It fleshed out his character and really influenced his dynamic with Kavinsky. Ronan has always been an angry, self-hating character, and I thought the subtle but significant reveal Stiefvater strung through this book helped to explain part of that.

I can’t decide if I want Adam to be with Persephone or Ronan. I’m not sure I care. Both would enhance the book–and give Blue and Gansey some slack.

Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I am so in love with Maggie Steifvater there aren’t words. This book just keeps getting better every time I reread it.

5/5 stars

Book one of the Raven Cycle

*This book is on my Top Shelf*

Amazon description of The Raven Boys:

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

The Raven Cycle is magical and whimsical. I love it. At first, Maggie Stiefvater’s world building seems like nothing more than infusing a few old myths with a modern town setting.

It is so much more, and I can’t even begin to describe it. READ THE BOOK.

The writing is incredible. Steifvater has an incredible talent for putting words together in a way that you never would have imagined but that works perfectly. Her writing style matches the subtly magical tone of the series. She effortlessly lets you see into her characters’ minds, foreshadows the plot and yet keeps you guessing. The plot is subtle and admittedly slow the first time you read it (but every time you reread it you know what’s coming it is soooo intense), but it builds to a complex climax.

The book has deep societal themes woven into the story. I like the way that Stiefvater doesn’t overpower her series with social messages, but lets them shine through on their own. Specifically, I felt like the messages about poverty and teenagers’ identities were done well.

It is the characters that make this book for me. Blue is just absolutely wonderful. She’s eccentric and proud, aware of her roots, and willing to stick to her beliefs. Blue is the only non-psychic in a house bursting with them, gifted with the unique ability to make other people’s psychic gifts stronger. This obviously leaves her with a bit of an identity crisis as to what she wants to do with her life–and she finds the answer with a mysterious quartet of Raven Boys.

Blue has always avoided Raven Boys, the elite preppy students of Agloinby Academy  that dominate her small town of Heneritta. Gansey and his three loyal friends break the mold, allowing Blue to join their ranks in their quest for a long-lost Welsh king and magical things called ley lines.

The friendship between the Raven Boys (and eventually Blue) is amazing. I love books that capture the feeling of being in a indestructible friend group, and this book epitomizes this. Each of the boys individually has a complex, troubled character, full of quirks and nuances without being cheesy or overdone. The dynamic between the four boys is complicated and real. Stiefvater lets it slowly unfold over the course of the book, starting with a random group of schoolboys and deepening their relationship until they are basically brothers.

And then there’s Gansey. If I could date one boy I’ve ever read about, I’d date Gansey. Basically hands down. He’s hot, and literate, and addictive. He is an enigma and he is sooo much fun to read about.

The romance. All that I’ll say is that it is not what you would expect. From the synopsis, it seems like this is going to be a series dominated by the cheesy and annoying trope of I-love-you-but-I-can’t-have-you. It isn’t. The romance does not play out the way it seems like it should (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you read it), and it never takes over the plot, which is focused around the ley lines search. I really respect Stiefvater for writing an interesting romantic plot point (Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him), but still creating a plot autonomous from it.

The last line of the book. All I can say is that it redefines cliffhanger, but in a good way (I usually hate endings like that). Anyone who has read the book can attest to the wait–what?-ness of the ending. I could not wait for the second book to answer my questions.

I’ll admit the book is a little slow the first time you read it. However. The writing and the way Stiefvater crafted the tale is still amazing and can still be appreciated. Also, it’s better if you reread it. Also, the second book is SOOOOO GOOD that you will forgive the first book for ever making you doubt the amazingness of the series.

I’m rereading the second book, The Dream Thieves, right now, and loving it, of course. To anyone who read book one and wasn’t convinced: please read the second one. Seriously.

The third book in the cycle, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, just came out and I’m dying to read it. Reviews for books two and three coming!