Book Review the Raven Cycle The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater
Upon first picking up the Raven cycle- the Raven boys I
didn’t know what to expect. I expected a good read via my bestie who
recommended this to me who also has a blog literarily obsessed. However having
read some of Maggie’s previous works as in the Shiver series I didn’t expect it
to make it onto my top book list.
The book starts out on Saint Marks Eve in Henrietta,
Virginia, Saint Mark being heralded as a forgotten saint or something of the
sort. But as it happens Saint Marks is the Day of the Dead, where the ghosts of
those to die within the next year appear.
The leading heroine Blue comes from a family of Psychics but
lacks in any clairvoyant ability herself only being a loud speaker to other psychics.
Generally in most books Blue would be psychic and see her own destiny taking disastrous
and tragic steps to avoid it. However this is not your typical book. A
prediction has been made which is guaranteed to come true that should she kiss
her true love he will die.
“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.”
Not much problem there. Blue hates boys and would never go
as far as to kiss one. Yuck! But when she encounters a ghost on St Marks it
could be a sign that she is the one to cause that persons death.
The book itself takes time to get going with the reader
getting a background into the various characters’ lives. I expected the book to
focus on the supposed male main who the romance is supposed to focus on (Gansey).
Instead it didn’t take particular favour to any character. With the predicted
romance not happening. O_o no complaints infect I like it when things don’t go
as predicted.
What my main love was that the book wasn’t just about the
romance instead after the first few chapters the focus was switched to finding
Glendower (which is a very old welsh king who grants wishes or something).
Glendower suspected to dwell on ley lines which are invisible. The reader gets engrossed
in the search as well as Whelks evil plans then find out a main character is
dead even though he said so before no ever believed him.
There are so many plot lines going on at once. Why do Ronan
and Declan fight so much? Why does Gansey search for Glendower? Who is Noah?
What is Whelk up to? Can Neeve be trusted? What about Blues true love? What do
ley lines have to do with a dead welsh king? Plus I find myself drawn into
wanting to find out about Blues family too. So many things you want to know.
With each and every sentence I have to restrain myself from
turning to the next page to find out what happens. A thrilling combination of
romance, mystery, thriller and just sheer beauty. I’m in love.
Each character throughout the story have their own reasons
for doing things whether it be nothing better to do or just for fun it makes it
all the more interesting. The book itself is a real page turner and I
absolutely adore the cover in a way you couldn’t get any more fitting (Rowans
bird) but it also describes the sinister plot which lies behind the sunshine of
a rich boys school and happy day to day life.
What is also interest is how she brings the characters
together but not in a forceful way. The characters mainly Blue and the boys
would never mix in the world she created but also in life however all through
lost property they were brought together.
Another aspect I enjoy is the humour. Sounds silly for such
a supposedly series book but crude comments from Ronan “Enjoy him for the night
it’ll be someone else tomorrow. Always is”. Gansey “Hence forth you shall be
known as Jane, Blue” (not an exact quote but near enough)
To sum up I loved pretty much every aspect of this book from
the snooty rich kids and funny names to the bizarre loveable psychics. Am I the
only person who finds the name Barrington Whelk hilarious? Not sure why it’s
funny just is. My odd sense of humour. Plus I think the last name Parrish is
strangely cute I just like the way it sounds. <3
On a Star based Rating 5 stars being best 0 worst the book
gets:
Overall 5 stars
Plot: 4.5 stars (a little slow at the start)
Characters: 5 stars *sniggers* “Barrington Whelk” ^0^ “Parrish”
*//*
Cover: 5 stars (love the fonts)
Writing style: 5 stars such lovely flow <3
Final comments: Your writing keeps getting better and
better. I read Shiver and liked it, I read the Raven boys and loved it.
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