Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: September 18th, 2012 - Scholastic Press
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Synopsis:
"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.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the
bestselling and acclaimed author of theShiver 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” (Source: GoodReads.com)
My Thoughts:
I heard many good reviews about The Raven Boys and even on GoodReads, the book has 4.07/5 stars - therefore I gave it a shot! To be honest I wasn't very impressed. Maybe it's not my type of story but I wasn't captivated at all. I obviously finished the book but it felt dragged. I wanted to finish it so I can write a review for you guys.
Storyline:
In my opinion, the book, the overall story, felt somehow dry and hard to read. I also thought that it took a very long time for the actual story to start - I was almost half way through the novel when I finally understood the story a little bit better. Also, there was a lot of background information that wasn't provided by the author for the readers. The novel starts off very sudden and I felt like I was already in the middle of the story, without any announcement or "flashback" or anything in order for me - the reader - to have a better understanding, which I clearly did not.
Characters:
Another detail that bother me was the development of the characters. I am a firm believer that characters development has a lot to do with whether a book is good or not - and for me The Raven Boys lacked character development quite a lot. Even after finishing the book I still didn't feel like I knew the characters - something that I usually do feel when i finish a novel.
I feel bad that I didn't jump on this wagon and I am quite shocked that I didn't because I'm usually the type of girl that will read almost anything and everything that the majority of people like. Unfortunately, The Raven Boys didn't work for me.
With that being said, I am curious to see how the story unfolds - even though I would probably not read the sequences. I didn't completely hate the book, it does have very funny and cool moments and I enjoyed the idea of high class students that go on this fantasy hunt. But, surprisingly it lacked something in order for me to get hooked.
I give this book a B-, or a 3/5 stars. It's not horrible - but I wouldn't recommend it for a fast read unless you have nothing else to read.
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