The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Sargent is the only normal person in a family full of psychics, but that doesn’t mean that she leads an ordinary life. Ever since she was little, she’s been warned that if she kisses her true love, he will die. Blue never thought this would be a problem, having resolved that she would never fall in love, but everything changes when she meets Gansey, or, more accurately, his spirit. Gansey, a wealthy student attending Aglionby, is to die within the year. Going against all she knows, Blue finds herself getting involved with Gansey and his friends from Aglionby, people she’s always despised as Raven Boys, and their crazy quest to find something that most people don’t believe exists. Only, as it turns out, what they seek is very real—and they’re not the only ones who will do anything to find it.

I definitely enjoyed reading Shiver way back when, but hearing readers who previously didn’t much care for Stiefvater’s books rave about The Raven Boys was what really convinced me that I needed to read this book. And I have to say that was a very good decision. The Raven Boys spirits readers away to a vivid, complex world where the supernatural coexists with nature and nothing is truly as it seems. I became thoroughly invested in almost every aspect of this story, especially Blue’s journey in figuring out her relationship with the Raven Boys and the true meaning of the prophecy of the death of her true love. The only thing about this book that was in the slightest bit off-putting was the fact that its scope is just so enormous; I sometimes found it difficult to keep track of some of the subplots and smaller details that, though they may not be so significant for this book, surely will be more important in subsequent books. Despite this, I still found The Raven Boys an enthralling and epic story.

The Raven Boys will be enjoyed by readers who both liked and disliked Stiefvater’s earlier books as well as fans of City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher Scholastic