The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1)

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a lot of hype around this book and I'm happy to admit that I enjoyed it a lot. I did have a few dislikes though.

The Characters- Perfect. Seriously though I loved each of them. Blue, our heroine was very unique. She always had a lot on her plate and she handled it very realistically. She was just a bundle of joy. Gansey was also a wonderful surprise. I loved the way he was like a father to his friends. He always meant the best but sadly his attempts almost always failed. Next we have Adam. He made me angry... very angry. He seemed like a wonderful person but he made all the wrong choices. Even though now that I think about it there is no right or wrong in his situation. He just kept stalling the inevitable. Still loved him though. Ronan wins my favorite character award by the end though. He is cleaver and hilarious. As much as I want to call him a prankster I sadly cannot. His haunting past and violent history with his brother leave him broken. It's as if life has lost any purpose for him. Truly sad but still very poetic. Noah is wonderful. I didn't see myself liking him at the beginning but he now has a spot in my heart (right next to the one reserved for Ronan). Blue's family seemed annoying at first as well. I was thinking "Oh boy, another flat, predictable family" at first but I actually liked them all pretty well.

The Romance- I can't... I just can't. There's just so much to say. I'll try to keep it short. From the synopsis we already know that if Blue kisses her true love he will die... well it gets worse. On Saint Mark's Day she sees a certain person meaning that she will either kill him or that he is her true love. Either way he destined to die so that sucks for him. Things go crazy from there. This book is big on the romance.

The Setting- Virginia, Maryland in a small town. Wasn't a big part in the story but it was in no way a bad setting. I just wasn't ever concerned with it.

The Story- I told most of the story in the romance section because that's where I thought it belonged... I do what I want *he he*. So "The Raven Boys" are students who go to this expensive private school. 9 times out of 10 they are usually selfish, rich jerks that you would want to avoid. Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah are all Raven Boys and they each have some serious back stories. I will now give you a taste of what each of their stories are without spoiling it. Gansey is the richest raven boy there is, or he's at least close to the richest. He does average in school and seems just like everyone else. But he has a secret that he shares with his friends. He has been looking for something desperately. Adam is different, there's no way you can't see that. He is probably the only Raven Boy that is struggling with money. What's even more shocking is that he is besties with Gansey, the richest Raven Boy. Even though Gansey offers to give Adam money he never accepts. He is determined to earn everything himself. I respect him for that. He also has some stuff going on at home as well, serious stuff. Ronan's story is depressing as hell so prepare yourself if/when you read the book. Ronan and his brother don't get along. I was being nice right there, they seriously hate each other's guts. After their father's mysterious death things went downhill fast. Ronan started to fail school and his brother kept acting like his father. It gets bad... Noah, the last of the main Raven Boys is weird to say the least. He's antisocial and has odd habits. He seemed pretty useless but just wait. Now onto Blue. Blue is in a family of all extremely gifted psychic but she sadly is not gifted like they are. The only gift she has is the gift to give people power which seemed useless to her. She accepts the way she is and aids her family in their job, to predict the futures of their clients. Her plain lifestyle is soon changed for the better(?) on St. Mark's Day.

The Conclusion- The climax was great and action packed. There was a cliffhanger but OMG... it was like out of nowhere. It just came out of nowhere and shocked me. The worst part is that there was only one sentience of details...

Writing Style- I have mixed feelings about Maggie Stiefvater. She is so creative and I always saw a picture in my head but it was just too much sometimes. I felt like she described way to many things at once. That just made the book unnecessarily longer.

Misc.- This is random but this book reminded me of The Outsiders a lot. That's a good thing. Now on to my favorite topic that I haven't mentioned. Adam and Ronan. I'm sorry but I just felt so much of a connection between them and I loved it. I think they would make such a great couple and I really want it to happen. Sadly it probably will not... seeing as how there are rarely any LGBT characters in books. I still have hope though. <3

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