The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Cycle #1. Scholastic Press (Sept. 2012) Library

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

I could not handle what was going to come at me as I read The Raven Boys. You see on almost every blog and it's given rave reviews. I couldn't prepare myself with the unbelievably AMAZING writing and storytelling that Stiefvater showcase in The Raven Boys. Everything and I mean everything was done brilliantly well. The pace, the characters, that story - all of it was perfect. I'm sure you have heard it before, but in case you haven't read The Raven Boys do yourself and read it and you can come back and thank me later.

I love that I keep on doing this. I don't read the summary of a book right before I read it. It's so much better that way because by then I've forgotten and it's oh so much more interesting when the story unfolds. Blue is our main character. She's weird. That's her niche and she's just so freaking cool. She lives with her mom and other psychics. She's known for the longest time not to kiss a boy because if she kisses her true love, he will die. Now with this premise you would think I would have dealt with a romance, but there isn't too much of that at all. The whole story revolves around Gansey who has an obsession that his friends Adam, Ronan, and Noah have tagged along on.

Blue is pretty much the coolest girl around. She's confident with herself and her weird upbringing. She has such an incredible voice and I just love her okay? Gansey took me a moment to like. He's supposedly dying this year and is a really integral part of the story. He's very... logical. It takes a while to get used to him, but the chapters in his POV help a lot. Ronan is the resident bad boy, but he takes that trademark into the next level. He's a brute with harsh words on his tongue and distrust in his heart. He's pretty much as amazing as he sounds. Adam was difficult for me to understand, but I think that's because I was seeing him from the eyes of Gansey mostly. Although, he had some chapters with his POV as well. He wants to so badly to be independent - to stand on his own two feet - that his decisions are still tough to process. Noah is kind of adorable because he has a really sweet bond with Blue. He kind of just knows things so he's pretty much in par with Blue.

I know I can't fully explain how glorious this book was. It's not a book I can review as best as I can because there is so much that is going on that I can't write. it's just a combination of weird and cool with a great pace, plot, writing, and characters. The raven Boys is just unbelievable good and I'm completely in love with Blue and her raven boys. I can't wait to read The Dream Thieves because that ending was insane. So many unexpected and thrilling moments and it's not even a fast pace read. Just read The Raven Boys. Just read it.

"She recognized the strange happiness that came from loving something without knowing why you did, that strange happiness that was sometimes so big that it felt like sadness. It was the way she felt when she looked at the stars"

Which character do you think resembles your personality the most?