T;LDR: A slow start, YA themes, good prose, and an interesting backstory, The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater was just good enough to finish.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Teenagers in small town Virginia from different sides of the tracks cross paths as they investigate ley lines, folklore, psychics, ghosts and magics. They do this while navigating high school, life, and family drama.
This book started out slow. So slow that I wondered if YA was no longer a genre for me to read. I just couldn’t relate to the characters and their drama at all. Then it picked up and I wanted to know what was going on and how the series ends. But I don’t want to read the rest of the books to get there. And yet I want to get there yesterday. I’m a bit conflicted about this book, but it was well-written, great prose and had deeply fleshed out characters. For all that and more, I give this 4 stars.
The Plot
Blue Sargent is the daughter of a family of psychics and they all tell her if she kisses her true love, he’ll die. Then, on St. Mark’s Day, she joins her aunt Neeve in the local abandoned churchyard and has an encounter, one she’d never had before. She spoke to a spirit and his name is Gansey.
Gansey is one of the many rich boys who attend the local private school, Aglionby, but he is unlike many of them because he is on the hunt for ley lines and a long-dead king he believes is buried nearby. He is the linchpin amongst his three friends, Noah, Adam and Ronan, who assist him in his research.
When Gansey and Blue cross paths, it sets them on a crash course to discover magic in the woods, ghosts, wishes fulfilled and prophecies come to light. Is Gansey Blue’s true love and will she be the reason he dies in next twelve months? Will they find the Welsh king or die in the process?
What I liked & liked less
This book starts off slow and focuses on a clear backstory build up for each of the characters. This creates deeper characters, but also made me wonder if this book or series was right for me. I just couldn’t connect with them at all. I felt as old as I am reading this book and that is not what I want when I pick something like this up.
It did pick up once all the characters met each other and more background was given as to why Gansey pushed to find the dead king, why Blue wanted to rebel, and what her psychic family members only allude to in much of their interactions.
Blue’s character arc was interesting, and yet felt a bit flat. She wanted to meet Gansey, did, didn’t like him, liked his friend Adam more. There is the lukewarm desire to find out who her dad is as well that feels like a convenient plot point and not something she actually cares about. I get the sense her missing dad is tied up in the magical space they stumble upon, but still it felt lackluster as a plot driver for Blue.
I liked Blue’s family and home life. The characters were interesting, the imagery of tripping over each other in the bathroom and in the kitchen as chaotic as any household with a lot of people vying for the same space.
I didn’t get a good read on Neeve and felt she too was a bit of a throw away character. Maybe she’ll come back in, but she’s the antagonist here as well or at least that is how she’s portrayed even though they are all family.
The boys were interesting, varied and had different wants and needs. It appears as if each of them gets whatever it is they want (to their detriment) and need (to their character arc) in later books. I’m not sure I care enough to read about it though.
The author created a faceted rich kid in Gansey, one who is driven but also careless with money. He is the opposite of the antagonist in this book in many ways, someone who was once as rich as him but was no longer. I like the different facets of Gansey and the struggles he has with keeping his friends safe and alive.
The author has an amazing way with words and description, something that captured my interest and held it even I struggled to stay invested. And that is what I didn’t like – it took too long for me to care and even made me question if YA books are something I’ve aged out of (nope.)
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
A slow start, but strong prose and an ultimately interesting tale kept me reading to the end of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I liked this book and I am intrigued by the rest of the series, but is it enough to tempt me to read them? Most likely not. Or yes, definitely. I think it will depend on the day, which is why this book is 4 stars for me. Good, but not great.
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.
Maggie Stiefvater plays several musical instruments (most infamously, the bagpipes) and makes art in several media (most generally, colored pencils).
She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband, their two children, many dogs, a bunch of fainting goats, and a mating pair of growly tuner cars.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.
Originally published on Feedium. This fills in the LGBTQIA+ square on my Fantasy Bingo 2022 card.