The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) in The Bookish Circle

Apr 28, 2016 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars

This could quite possibly be one of the best audiobooks I've listened to. It was absolutely brilliant! ...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars

'Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that chewed away more of his heart every year.'
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I fell in love with Maggie Stiefvater's writing when I read The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. So much that I went and bought everything else she's written. I'd heard nothing but amazing things about The Raven Cycle series, and because of my previous experience with this author, my expectations were super high. So I actually put off starting The Raven Boys because I didn't want to be ...more

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Jul 20, 2016 Amanda [darjeeling_and_jade] rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-and-na-literature-i-love, read-in-2016, favorites-of-2016, reread, read-in-2020, favorites-of-2020, audiobook, recommend-as-an-audiobook, favorite-books-i-recommend, owned-read

I really don鈥檛 know where to start with this one. The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater (an author whose last name I鈥檒l never be able to spell without referencing goodreads) is a book that is so lyrically beautiful that I had to stop reading it late at night because I wanted to enjoy the words instead of plowing through them.

Blue Sargent is the daughter of a psychic鈥搃n fact, most of her family have some sort of psychic ability, except Blue. She鈥檚 come to terms with that fact, just as she鈥檚 come t I really don鈥檛 know where to start with this one. The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater (an author whose last name I鈥檒l never be able to spell without referencing goodreads) is a book that is so lyrically beautiful that I had to stop reading it late at night because I wanted to enjoy the words instead of plowing through them.

Blue Sargent is the daughter of a psychic鈥搃n fact, most of her family have some sort of psychic ability, except Blue. She鈥檚 come to terms with that fact, just as she鈥檚 come to terms with the fact that there are some things she can鈥檛 escape: namely, that her kiss is going to kill her true love. Her mother foretold it, her aunts foretold it. Blue decided when she was much younger that she鈥檇 never kiss any boy. This year, staying away from boys proves to be difficult when she gets wrapped up in the quest of four of the Raven Boys, normally well-off students from the local private school. As Blue gets to know them, she realizes that each of the Raven Boys have something that they can鈥檛 get away from. And there鈥檚 the possibility that their quest may be more dangerous than the five of them expect.

The Raven Boys is a great start to a series. With a focus on how the paranormal relates to the real world, I was impressed with the balance that the author had created. It doesn鈥檛 focus to heavily on one over the other, which gave the plot realness even as it dealt with mystical elements. The mystery gradually builds as the story progresses, but I never found it boring or too fast paced. Things have their beginning in The Raven Boys, but they were not concluded. There鈥檚 going to be threads that run through the series which I found really nice. It makes me want to continue the series when not everything has been answered. However, enough has been answered in this first book that I feel satisfied at its conclusion.

I really liked all of the characters. Each of the Raven Boys鈥揋ansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah鈥揾ad unique personalities and drives. I also particularly liked that they also had something that they were ashamed of OR had something that they wanted to change about themselves. Desperately. That often meant they longed for things they didn鈥檛 have. Their jealousies made them so relatable that it truly felt like they were real people. And Blue. Such a wonderful protagonist. She had a unique way of looking at the world and she managed to balance her own wishes, the Raven Boys鈥�, and her family鈥檚. She鈥檚 quirky, but not annoyingly so. She鈥檚 not quirky just to be a different sort of young adult protagonist in a field that is heavily populated by similar protagonists.

First and foremost I felt that this was a book about friendships and familial relationships rather than the romances. There was a romance angle that I imagine will become more important in later books, but right now it鈥檚 only subtle. The romances are tentative and not pushed at the reader. It allowed all of the characters to breathe and to be. The friendship between the four boys was so lovely鈥揻ull of love, trust, and familiarity that comes with being in close quarters with someone. They had their issues and had to work through them. I loved it. Blue fits easily in to this group and through their interactions with her we鈥檙e given more glimpses into who they are. As for Blue鈥檚 family, they鈥檙e great. I found it impossible not to draw parallels between Blue鈥檚 family and the Halliwell sisters from Charmed. They just care for each other so much but also know when to give each other space. I liked that they were present in the story and that they were concerned with what Blue was doing, but they were also willing to allow her to make her own mistakes and choices. Stiefvater has a talent at building characters who are extremely realistic and who have their own good and bad traits. I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised if I ran into them in Virginia. That鈥檚 how real they seemed.

The writing style was so lyrical and mysterious. It really helped build up the setting. It wasn鈥檛 overdone or drawn out; somehow it managed to maintain a realness even when the writing was a bit whimsical. I鈥檝e talked a lot about balance in this review, and this is yet another thing that I found incredibly well-done and balanced. A lot of times when I enjoy a book, I stay up late to finish it. I found while reading this that I did have that sense, but I also forced myself to stop because I wanted to enjoy the prose. If I hurried through it, I was afraid that I wouldn鈥檛 be able to see how prettily it was written.

The only downside (but I don鈥檛 really have to worry too much since I鈥檓 late to the series!) is that The Raven Boys ends very much in the middle of the action. Of course, the main action of the novel is finished with the exception of the larger plot of the series. It鈥檚 almost like the series is a larger book broken up in four installments because of this. I would have been very annoyed if I鈥檇 read this book when it had first come out and I鈥檇 needed to wait for the next one. Luckily I can go on to the next one immediately, because I get the sense from the first book that I鈥檒l burn through the entire series rather quickly.

I recommend this for young adult readers and for fans of young adult novels. I usually don鈥檛 particularly love paranormal novels鈥揑 tend to go for fantasy鈥揵ut the wonderful prose, plot, and the very strong characters in this book won me over almost immediately.

5 stars. ...more

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Mar 14, 2020 Nicole Alycia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2020, books-read-in-2024

4.5/5 stars rounded up
This is another book that turned out to be nothing like I thought! And yet again it was a good thing!
I was far more intrigued by the book than I thought I would be and I鈥檓 definitely looking forward to picking up the second book!

2024 update
Still 4.5/5 馃専
I definitely didn鈥檛 remember much about this one. There were a few things that came back to me when I started it but not enough where a good portion of the book felt like I was reading it again for the first time.
I still re ...more

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Feb 15, 2015 runedbooks rated it it was amazing

Ms. Stiefvater is one of the best of our times. One of the absolute best.

The Raven Boys, a story that chronicles the lives of Blue Sargent and the Raven Boys (Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah), is now one of my favorite books of all time. It tells the tales of magical ley lines, sleeping kings and deadly kisses. It tells the tales of spirits bewitched, of things beyond our control. I am in love with this book.

Maggie world-builds so effortlessly, and it comes out intricate, yet so simple and hypnoti ...more

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Oct 26, 2015 Ali rated it it was amazing

I loved this book! I can't wait to read the rest of the series, its just soo unique. The mythology/magic and the characters of this book really made it special and stick with me. LOVE IT! ...more

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Jul 30, 2015 Laura rated it really liked it

Really enjoyed this one. I had very high expectations since The Scorpio Races is a favorite of mine and I enjoyed the Shiver series. The twists and turns in story-line and the air of mystery and piecing things together was really fun. All of the characters were interesting in their own way and the only point of view I didn't like reading was Whelk... and you weren't really supposed to :) but Gansey was my favorite. I've already ordered the 2nd book and I know I'll finish the series. I only gave ...more

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Apr 05, 2017 Lindsay rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, books-i-own

4.5

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Jul 02, 2015 Lucile rated it liked it

Shelves: ya

First read:
3,5/5

I've finally read the first book of this series, with all the hype around it and the last instalment which is supposed to be released soon, I had to give it a shot !

At first, I had a hard time reading through the first 100 pages and more. It wasn't that bothering, because it's normal to take time to introduce the characters and the plot, which is in itself quite cool (I love Celtic's myths eheh) but I secretly expected more action. I wasn't really in the story though even if the ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 Kelly rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned, fantasy

4 stars only because this was a bit slow in places, but overall, I loved it. I loved the plot, but the characters are my precious cinnamon buns that must be protected.

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