The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic

August 2013

ISBN: 978-0-545-42493-6

Pages: 408

Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult

Henrietta, Virginia

Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother every year on St. Mark’s Eve. Blue’s mother sees the soon-to-be dead as they walk past them.  Blue has never seen them until this year when she sees a boy emerge from the dark and speak to her.

A rich student at Aglionby, a private school, Gansey is that boy.  Blue has always stayed away from the Aglionby boys also known as Raven Boys as they can only mean trouble. 

For the first time ever she ignores her policy of staying away as Blue is drawn to Gansey in ways she can’t completely explain.  He is on a quest that has drawn three other Raven Boys into it.  Adam is a scholarship student that resents the privilege around him.  Ronan whose soul has emotions ranging from anger to despair.  And Noah the watcher who notices everything but says very little.

All her life as long as she can remember Blue was told that she would cause her true love to die.  She never thought it would be a problem as she doesn’t believe in true love.  Now her life is caught in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys.  Blue isn’t so sure of anything anymore.

This is a start to a series that with this story proves to be very intriguing.  While it starts a little slow the pace picks up and moves at a faster pace that pulls the reader into a world where the possibility of magic makes for a book that is very engrossing.  The characters prove to be complicated and fascinating as they each deal with their pasts that aren’t as simple as they would wish.  The emotional roller coaster that each character takes sucks in the reader as they get lost in each one’s struggle to overcome the obstacles that are in their way.   While it ends with a cliff hanger of sorts it proves to be a good way to end the book and will have readers wanting to read the next book to see what is going to happen next and just how it will all play out.

I give this one 4 red roses

LRH