The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1)
                                                 - Maggie Stiefvater
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why – either he is her true love or she has killed him.

Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower – a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.

Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can’t imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?(Description from Goodreads)
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After months of building anticipation for ‘The Raven Boys’ I finally got the chance to read it. Dark mysteries, dangerous prophecies and a quest to uncover a power greater than anyone could imagine; ‘The Raven Boys’ captured my attention right from the start and I loved every moment of it.

Blue Sargent has lived in Henrietta with her psychic mother, and various psychic aunts, her whole life. She’s never questioned the future, having always had others to tell her what might be coming – including her own future: If Blue kisses her true love, he will die. Now her prophecy seems to be putting itself in motion and Blue is trying her hardest to make sure it won’t come true. I’ve always been a sucker for prophecies; they make things more interesting. The part that made Blue’s future prediction so much fun was discovering it so early in the novel and watching it start to unfold. There was a sense of mystery and adventure. You knew of a potential outcome for Blue and her true love, but there was no telling when or if it was actually going to come to pass. Despite the mentions of true love, and having Blue hang around a bunch of wealthy, nice-looking guys; ‘The Raven Boys’ isn’t a romance story; but the mystery of her ‘true love’ definitely gets the heart fluttering every now and then.

This wasn’t the only mystery in the book, there’s also one that involves The Raven Boys – a private boys school situated in the town of Henrietta. It’s not so much the school that is involved in a mystery, but four Raven Boys that are tied up in a whole heap of danger and excitement. There was something so captivating about Gansey and his gang (Adam, Ronan and Noah) – you couldn’t help wanting to know everything about them. Each boy seemed to have a troubled past; with Gansey being the exception, but he helped hold the group together. I always find troubled boys to be very interesting, I want to know what makes them tick and uncover their secret pasts. What made their side of the story so addictive was their passion to discover the mystery of the ley lines (powerful energy lines that can be found all over the world) – especially the line that could be found near Henrietta, as it was meant to hold Glendower, a famous Welsh noble. It was said if you could wake him from the ley line he’d grant you a favour. One of my favourite parts of the book was all the talk of ley lines, psychics and the potential for magic. While they rarely mention it as ‘magic’, the spirits, psychics and search for energy lines that’ll bring centuries old people to life again screams of semi-magic to me and I love it. I can’t pass up a good magic book!

The book spends a lot of time asking and answering questions. You can’t attempt to solve and uncover mysteries if you’re not going to ask questions along the way. Blue and the Raven Boys quartet definitely make you question everything as they search for the centre of Glendower’s ley line. I really liked this constant questioning; it pulled you into the story and you couldn’t let go – not without all the answers you were looking for. Unfortunately, the answers weren’t so easy to find and you were often left with more questions than before; especially towards the end of the novel. I thought the ending was a little rushed. You were sort of thrown into all this craziness which left you with a pile of previously unanswered questions and a heap of new ones. But it worked to cement my love for the story. The ending made me desperate for more. I don’t know how I’ll stay sane waiting for the sequel.

An incredible start to a mysterious series. I predict the next book will be just as fantastic!

5/5 stars

Kim
(Originally Posted on Goodreads)