Tuesday, 11 December 2012

[book review] The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater




Series: Raven Cycle (1)
Paperback: 454 pages
Published by: Scholastic (September 19, 2012)
My Copy: WHSmith (November 28, 2012)

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. From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.


Oh wow. Where do I even start with this book... Love the cover. Its as simple as that. I just love it, who knew ravens where beautiful? Not me, that's for sure. The title threw it a little for me. I was expecting some kind of transforming human/raven hybrid (I had just read Shiver so who can blame me) but what I got was completely different, not in a bad way just in a 'would-have-liked-it-better-like-this' kind of way.
Although this story had me mega confused to begin with once I realised what was happening, it was yet another Maggie Stiefvater masterpiece. Thankfully I already had a concept of 'ley lines' and what they're about (thanks to 'The Vampire Diaries' books) so I don't really know what had me confused. I think maybe it was the characters, there was so much going on with them that I was a little lost at times. I didn't really feel any emotion towards the characters, to be honest. There was so much mystery surrounding them that I didn't feel like I got a firm enough grip on them as people. That being said I loved Blue's family, they where so eccentric it was fun hearing from them. I love quirky characters and these had the quirkiness down to a tee.
This ending of this book really just ruined it for me though, it seemed incomplete and just lacking. Obviously there's more to this story, we know that from the first few pages but I just can't see any surprises in store in the next book. You never know though lesser authors have managed it. I will be reading the next book as I can't just leave all my questions unanswered. Like who Blue's father is, I actually have some theories on that but will have to wait to share them.
It was a nice book but it didn't blow me away like I was expecting from its reviews.


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