About the book. 

My thoughts.

{ SUMMARY }

So, a quick note before we begin. I am going to do my best to summarise the book because I was initially quite confused when I had read it because I didn’t understand what was going on, so avoid you guys getting confused, I’ll try and explain (without spoilers) to the best of my ability!

Blue Sargent lives with her clairvoyant mother, and is the only one in the family who is not psychic. Every year, she stands at the graveyard and watches the dead pass, but she can never see them. Until one day, she sees a boy. His name is Gansey and he goes to a private school, Aglionby. But Blue has a policy of staying away from boys, especially Aglioby boys, also known as Raven Boys as they only mean trouble.

Gansey and his three friends, Adam, Ronan and Noah are on a quest and have been searching for the sleeping Welsh king, Glendower. Using lay lines, they try and find places he could be resting.

But what happens when the lives of Blue and the Raven Boys collide?

{ WRITING }

The writing of the Raven Boys was really beautiful. It was descriptive and unique and I really liked the way Stiefvater had this original writing style. I liked the imagery that was created, especially because the scenes were quite picturesque and I could vividly imagine these lush green forests and rain droplets on leaves and a grey, damp sky and these characters exploring the woods.

I found the writing complemented really well with the whole mystical and atmospheric vibe of the book. It really enhanced the beauty of Virginia and the personality of the characters.

{ IDEA }

I’ll be the first to say I am not a big fan of mystical, spiritual books because those just don’t really interest me. I was really hesitant and sceptical going into this but I had heard such lovely things that I wanted to give it a try.

AND I ENDED UP LOVING IT! Yes, it isn’t what I’d always go for and I don’t think that has changed – but this book was just so unique and different that I adored it. I loved the whole psychics and the lay lines and the entire spiritual/magical/mystical vibe of this book and the setting (Virginia) really enhanced that.

I believe Stiefvater steps a lot of her books in Virginia such as The Raven Cycle and her other series, Shiver. Not really relevant but I thought I’d add that in there.

It was such a cool book, and it really gave me a different perspective. The whole idea of it was just so spectacular and everything else was developed so well along with it.

{ PLOT }

So, originally, I had wanted to put this book down. I had started it and I was getting really bored. I didn’t understand anything, I didn’t enjoy it and it took me a while to get into it (which is the reason I cut two stars off the rating) and I was seriously contemplating putting it down. It took me two days to read 100 pages (which for me, is absolutely insane because my reading average is probably one book in two to three days) and I was just dragging through it. I didn’t care about the characters or the plot or the whole mystical ‘rubbish’ (don’t worry, I no longer think it’s rubbish – it’s actually pretty cool).

The only thing that kept me going was how good I had heard the book was from other people.

And I’m pretty glad I did.

There wasn’t a huge amount of progression in terms of plot for this book, I won’t lie, but whatever progression it was, it was pretty cool and had me hooked! The book picked up after a hundred pages in and I became more interested in it as the characters met, they became friends and I could make sense of the whole mystical, Glendower, lay lines thing.

{ CHARACTERS }

AHA, the characters! I know a lot of people say these are the best parts about this series, and while I haven’t read enough of this to say for sure, the characters are pretty damn fine!

Blue is such an awesome, down-to-earth and calm character and her presence in the book just had this soothing effect on me, almost. I loved how simple she was, how she cared about her friends and family and I thought she was a great protagonist.

Gansey, you’re up next! I know he is such a popular Raven Boy and I can see why. Yes, he’s bossy and a bit condescending and all but he’s got such a great heart and he REALLY, TRULY CARES about his friends, which is the sweetest thing ever. He’s so determined and another great protagonist and I can’t wait to see more of him, too!

Adam was the character I really fell in love with! He was so sweet and hard-working and I liked his spirit and determination. Although we didn’t learn too much about his personality in this book, I adore him anyway.

Ronan and Noah weren’t really huge in this book which is why I don’t have much to say on them but I know Ronan appears quite a lot in the next book in the series!

{ FINALLY… }

I can’t wait to get stuck into the next book in the series, which is The Dream Thieves, which like I mentioned earlier, has a focus on Ronan, which I am pretty excited for because he seems like such a complex and layered character so I can’t wait to get to know him!

Overall, despite the rocky start, The Raven Boys was an awesome, mystical novel and I highly recommend it to people looking for a unique read!

OVERALL RATING:

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it?