The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Genres: Fantasy (YA), Paranormal (YA)
Pages: 416
Goodreads
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.
His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.
With The Raven King coming out & me never having read this book before, I figured it was about time I did. Let me tell you, it was one interesting experience. I’m going to mix up my review style today with a What I Liked, What I Didn’t Like review – because I like to break the rules.
What knocked My Socks Off
I liked the characters. They were all so different, even Blue’s family. I enjoyed the various personalities, goals, mindsets, all of that. I cared about most of them & want to know more of their back story and where they are headed. Except Blue, she irritated me because she was so judgemental.
The friendship. This is probably the first book I have ever read that included such a strong friendship between a group of boys. It was unique and refreshing.
The romance. Because it was kind of non-existent. It was an entire book that depended on the main story and not romance. Points to Stiefvater! (Although, it’ll most likely play a bigger role later.)
What totally made me eyeroll
The whole premise. A bunch of 16-year-olds are playing Tomb Raider? Because View Spoiler » I understand that was probably a dramatic event in his life, but I just didn’t buy it. Also, JUST DON’T KISS HIM. I mean, really, it’s that simple. Don’t kiss him. Story over. The end. Handle your sexual urges, girl.
Everyone seemed to be Lara Croft. The teacher. The random colleague in the UK. The “raven” boys. Blue. Everyone was Lara Croft. And they all just so happen to have grown up/live in the same town, where there is something to be found? They literally have to travel 20 minutes to get to the mysterious place. At least Lara Croft has to work a little harder.
I had a hard time imagining everything. The world-building and descriptions were a bit lacking. What does Gansey’s apartment look like? I kept imagining an old warehouse in the middle of nowhere, but that’s not livable. I never felt like I knew what any of the characters looked like. And did they really go to school? What was the time frame here?
The writing & pacing. This: “But the elegant boy was rather elegant.” made me think this:
I found her writing to be very dull and parts seriously drug out. There were random bits of back story that really had nothing to do with anything – I would actually skim over them to get back to the main plot.
I found bits to be predictable. View Spoiler »
The character’s names. Blue. Ronan. Gansey. Barrington. Orla. Neeve. Persephone. They do live in Virgina, right? And they aren’t animals, correct?
Also, I get it, the boys are rich. I GET IT. Can you please shut the hell up about it now? They aren’t aliens from another damn planet. They’re just wealthy. I. FUCKIN’. GET. IT.
My final thoughts
I’m disappointed. I really expected to love this book, but I barely got through it. I thought it was going to be my first DNF since I started this blog. I trucked through it, though, begrudgingly. While I did enjoy the characters, I just wasn’t sold on the story. It was a bit out there and the writing made it drag on. I felt like, as a first novel in a series, it didn’t develop well enough. Nothing happened until the end, so it was just a giant build up to book two, which seems greedy to me.
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| Overall: | 2 / 5 |
22 Comments
Well, this is hugely disappointing! I have kind of been biding my time until the whole series was out so I could binge read it, although I have had my reservations. This seems different from the books I usually read, but it seems like EVERYONE loves it so I thought… maybe. Now I’m not so sure thought. The rich thing being shoved in your face seems like something that would really get on my nerves. I feel the same when an author will not shut up about any part of a character. I’ve almost DNF’d books because the author wouldn’t stop telling me what a bookworm a character was. Things only need to be reiterated so many times! I’m sorry you didn’t love this one! Maybe I’ll go for the audiobook…
Tracy @ Cornerfolds
hahahha xD It is super annoying when an author continuously addresses something about a character. Definitely happened in this book, so yeah, you’d probably get annoyed. Obviously, I don’t tell anyone to not try a book just because I didn’t like it – but maybe now that you’ve read a review that’s negative you won’t be as disappointed if you end up hating it!
I totally get what you are saying. I personally love this series… but it wasn’t love at first read. I had to get to a point where I was just INTO it before I really appreciated the books. It’s weird. Anyhow, Blue is my least fave character also. I just don’t click with her. Book 2 has a lot more action than book 1 does. I think a lot of book 1 was setting an atmosphere. And I agree…. just DON’T KISS HIM. How hard is that??
Yeah, I don’t like her. She was super judgy over the boys, and then all the sudden they’re her best friends? I don’t know, I just wasn’t buying it. I don’t know if I’ll continue on, I had such a hard time with this one. There was WAY too much setting up things than I wanted. BUT UGH. more than one person has now said book 2 is better so I don’t know!!
I have this book on my TBR but haven’t read it yet because I wasn’t interested when I first saw it and don’t tend to like the popular, over-hyped books, but then I started seeing all these things about how amazing the characters and their friendship is, and I LOVE that in books. So I’ll most likely still read it at some point, but I’m glad I read your review since it’s probably the first negative one I’ve read, and now I know what to brace myself for lol instead of expecting perfection and being disappointed.
The friendship between the boys is great. I’ll give the book that. It was just EVERYTHING else that I didn’t like xD But yeah, I hadn’t seen any negative reviews when I started reading it so I really was expecting perfection xD
Aw, sorry you didn’t enjoy this one! I personally LOVE this series to pieces, but I totally understand the points you brought up. I’m a huge fan of the writing style Maggie uses, but I can definitely see how it wouldn’t be for everyone! It was really interesting to see this from another perspective! Great review 😀
I really haven’t heard any negative things about this book so I went in expecting a lot ><
Aw, that’s always the worst when it comes to hyped/loved books. I don’t know if you plan on continuing the series but the second book is better. It does have the same writing style and a lot of the same things you weren’t a fan of too though so… haha.
EVERYONE is saying the next one is better. So I might try it :/ The writing, while annoying, wasn’t the worst part. It was mainly just the story. And Blue. I didn’t like Blue.
I love Blue, but she definitely takes a back seat in The Dream Thieves. You might have a problem with the third book in the series though because that’s basically all about her. I don’t want to tell you to keep reading and make you waste your time, haha. I get so ridiculously worried about recommending things to people ? If you do decide to continue though I hope you have a better reading experience 🙂
Oh, man, I know what you mean. Everyone’s tastes are different so I always stress when someone reads a raving review and is like “I’m totally going to read this now!” because what if they hate it!? Then get mad at me for wasting their time!? xD The struggles.
ANYWAYS. I may continue this one day, a lot of people are telling me too. It kind of goes on the shelf with the Shatter Me series (which I also disliked the first book to but everyone is telling me to go on because it gets better). So, maybe when I feel like checking it out from the library xD
Haha, yes!! It’s something I always worry about. I know it’s irrational, but I can’t help it ?
Sounds like a good plan! I’ve yet to read the Shatter Me series becuase I’ve heard heard so many mixed reviews – especially about the ending of the series. I’ll get there one day though, haha.
Waahhh I don’t know what to doooo
I hope I’ll like this more than you did 😛 Great review, Molly, you made me laugh! Also at least there’s a strong friendship? I like that. I’m so curious about this book now. But more wary. Which is probably good. Thanks!
I went in expecting perfection because I hadn’t seen anything negative about it, so maybe you won’t hate it as much now that you read something bad about it?!?! I don’t know xD I hope you like it more than I did! Let me know 🙂
CAN I JUST SAY ONE THING?!
I thought I was the only person in the world who struggled with this book! I have picked it up and tried like 5 times but I just can’t finish it. Its SO SLOW! Everyone raves about it so I kept trying, but I just can’t get into it! So glad it wasn’t just me!
Nope! You aren’t! I’m surprised I finished it to be honest xD
I didn’t particularly care for The Raven Boys, either. However, I will say the other books are phenomenal. How/why that happened, I have no clue. I almost didn’t continue with the series, but people kept raving about it. Still, it took me 6 months to finally read The Dream Thieves.
hmmm…. maybe I’ll try the next one. I have multiple people telling me it gets better.
If you ever continue, The Dream Thieves is so great. And a lot of the little pointless asides become important later on! I think if you at least like the characters and the group dynamic, you’d like the series going forward. It has more plot and it begins to make more sense even as it gets stranger. I thought Raven Boys was just ok when I read it, I couldn’t get used to the writing style. But it’s a great reread and easier to understand. Anyway! Not every book is for every person either, but hopefully you enjoy them more if you read the sequels 🙂
Hmmm… maybe I will read the next one. I did like the friendship (except Blue), and I kind of do want to know what happens hahah xD