Review- The Raven Boys by: Maggie Stiefvater

There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is 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 has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, 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 never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

I’m not sure I have ever felt so conflicted over what to say about a book. I wanted to love The Raven Boys so much, but it just fell short for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I kept waiting for it to pick up for me and it just didn’t until about 70% through, and unfortunately that’s a long way into a book. I will say the writing was done very well, which is what kept me going. The concept too of psychics and “treasuring hunting” (I guess you could call it) peeked my interest, but unfortunately the story just lacked what I was looking for.

I have to say my two favorite characters were the ones who I think weren’t intended to be the front and foremost, and those were Ronan and Noah. Noah was broken, and adorable and funny and my heart just ached for him. Then, Ronan… I love his fierceness, how he’s straight up with everyone, and yet he has secrets of his own and I just wanted to know them. With Gansey and Blue, I wanted so much more from them and unfortunately I just didn’t get what I was looking for. Finally Adam… Adam was just Adam to me. I felt for him and wanted to hug him and then other times I wanted to kick him.

I absolutely loved everything about Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series, so many people raved (no pun intended) over The Raven Boys, and I admit the synopsis sounded so darn interesting, but the story just didn’t do it for me. I just kept hoping it would pick up but it didn’t until the very end and even then I found myself slightly confused. Unfortunately, and this is just my opinion, I feel like the story spent too much in a back story then actual action. Please, please remember this is just how *I* felt about the book. It in no way means I think it’s a terrible book, because so many people did love it. The story just didn’t peek my interest and I always want to be honest in my reviews. With that being said, I’m not sure I’ll pick up the second book, but you never know!