Review: The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater

You know, I love John Green. And even if you don’t love him, well please, just keep on reading because I promise I won’t talk about him for that long. There’s just one quote from his book that reminds me of The Raven Boys, and perfectly sums up my feelings about it: “I fell in love the way you fall asleep. Slowly, and then all at once.” And this is what happened with The Raven Boys. On the very-hyped books shelf, it is here, standing, staring at me and everyone just screams at me to just READ IT NOW because it’s so good. And I am finally glad I did, because now I can say that I understand, and I can officially know that, yes. That book is weird. And I LOVE weird books like that.

MEET THE PSYCHIC FAMILY

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“Fate,” Blue replied, glowering at her mother, “is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

In her slightly strange psychic family full of women, Blue is the only one without the gift of clairvoyance. She only makes things STRONGER, when she stands next to her mother at a tarot reading or everything. But she doesn’t feel, doesn’t see anything abnormal, until one night. She sees a boy. He’s supposed to die in the next year. His name’s Gansey. And my feelings are already ALL over the place. If the beginning of the book was a bit slow, it really took us time to get accustomed to the particular setting and atmosphere of the book. Slightly eerie, fascinating, and completely addictive. A small-town life, yet with a family of psychic and where Maggie Stiefvater manages to make everything, even the slightest simplest words, look like magic. In the matter of a few words, she takes you away with her, to meet her delightful characters you can’t get enough of, and really, into a world of her own.

INCREDIBLY (AND QUITE INCREDIBLE) COMPLEX CHARACTERS

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“There is something really wrong with those boys. When your mother says don’t walk in front of a bus, she has a good reason.”

From the kitchen, Persephone’s soft voice called, “If someone had stopped you from walking in front of a bus, Maura, Blue wouldn’t be here.”

I think I could rant for hours about each and every character of this book, because there would be a LOT to talk about, and this surprises me the most. I’m a huge character lover – as every contemporary lover out there, probably -, and I was scared that, in this kind of fantasy story, characters would be a bit left out for the plot and the intrigue to be on the front stage. Well, that didn’t happen, and that probably explains the slow beginning a bit. Each and every character of this story are three-dimensional and we get to know them deep to their SOUL, to know their desires, wants, needs, complexities and just everything that could make them, and really makes us, human, and real, and three-dimensional. There are multiple POV in this book, but thankfully that didn’t refrain me, at all, on the contrary: I found myself eagerly waiting, for the first time, to EACH and every single POV, because I just loved them all and couldn’t wait to get to their sides of the story and to see a bit more of their feelings, as well. Our main character here, Blue, was so real I wanted to hug her. She was really relatable, in a world where you feel like everything can happen, that’s quite awesome you’ll admit. She’s just so GREAT I couldn’t even begin to describe my love for her. Gansey was incredibly cute and so COMPLEX, really, and the same goes for another character, Adam. Actually, I could describe them all with that word. COMPLEX. Not like a math problem you can’t solve and is making you crazy. Like three-dimensional, motivated and with its own way of thinking complex. Like, REAL.

THE WORLD-BUILDING, AND THE WORDS, ARE MAGIC.

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“The key, Gansey found, was that you had to believe that they existed; you had to realized they were part of something bigger. Some secrets only gave themselves up to those who’d proven themselves worthy.”

The whole world and mystery and just, the BOOK Maggie Stievfater created leaves me speechless, really. I’m realizing this is high praise, and do not take my word for it in case you’d be disappointed afterwards. But it’s got everything I’ve been growing to love since I started reading, and more recently, book blogging. It’s a book where you feel like you’re in something real, but in fact, nothing is. It’s just, different. There’s this little sparkle in the story making you believe anything can happen, magic can be real, trees can talk and you can be taken away pretty much anywhere. There’s a huge part of mythology in there as well. There’s a lost king, there are wishes to be granted, and there is a grand quest, all with Maggie Stievfater’s incredible writing style and unique voice, transporting us to another world…and leaving us craving for more magic after we close the last page.

OVERALL

So, okay. I think I fell in love there. If you don’t mind a bit of a slow beginning to get to know all the wonderful characters, if you love fantasy, mystery, a bit of magic here and there, a gorgeous writing style and just to be taken away with your next read, then what are you still doing here? Go read that book now. And please, come fangirl with me afterwards.

Final rating:  It’s a hurricane!

Did you read The Raven Boys? Did you enjoy it? Do you want to read it?

Should I buy the sequel right now?! Share your thoughts in comments!

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Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Boys,  Published by Scholastic Press, September 18th 2012.

 

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.