Review | The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Sex: discussion about a girl kissing a boy
Language: some swear words including a couple uses of the f-word
Violence: a boy is murdered, a man is nearly killed in a ritual

For as long as she can remember, Blue Sargent has been warned by the clairvoyants in her family that she will cause her true love to die if she kisses him. Blue doesn’t doubt her family’s multiple prophesies regarding her love life, she’s just fairly dubious that she’ll ever allow herself to fall in love because of them.

Every year, Blue stands next to her clairvoyant mother in the freezing churchyard as the spirits of the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them, she doesn’t have the family ‘gift’—but something strange happens this year when the spirit of a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

The boy’s name is Gansey. Blue soon meets him in real life and discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys who are known as the Raven Boys. They’re snobbish, narcissistic, and always mean trouble. But Blue is drawn to Gansey and his small group of friends in a way she can’t entirely explain. Gansey and his friends are on a quest after an ancient, mysterious power and it isn’t long before Blue is pulled into their search.

Stiefvater is a fantastic writer. She does such a great job developing interesting characters that have multiple layers to them.

I found The Raven Boys to be quite interesting in its fresh, supernatural aspect. There were a handful of moments in the book that were completely eerie and somewhat surprising. I’m looking forward to next book in the series, The Dream Thieves, which releases on September 17, 2013.

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