Sign in with Facebook
Robin (Bridge Four)'s Reviews > The Raven Boys
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)
by
by
Robin (Bridge Four)'s review
bookshelves: 4-5-stars, ya, re-read, awesome-audio, chick-i-want-to-hang-out-with, book-boyfriend-material, fantastic-fantasy, uf-pnr, ghosts
Feb 08, 2013
bookshelves: 4-5-stars, ya, re-read, awesome-audio, chick-i-want-to-hang-out-with, book-boyfriend-material, fantastic-fantasy, uf-pnr, ghosts
Read 3 times. Last read March 27, 2013 to September 11, 2013.
Sale Alert: One of my all time favorite YA series is on sale for $2.99 here 9/14/19
REREAD for the end of the series with Buddies Books and Baubles
Once upon a time it began with
Time to relive this wonderful, magical and slightly crazy story and on my 3rd read I totally love it just as much.
If you don't have time to reread the series going into the final book Maggie wrote the recap for recaptains herself and it is hilarious.
The Raven Boys Recap
I was actually only going to read the recaps last year before Blue Lily, Lily Blue but they were so great and I missed Maggie's writing so much that I totally reread the series. The last book is coming out soon....no time like the present to jump in.
Review after 2nd read
Because The Dream Thieves is coming out in a few days I re-read/listened to (whispersync rocks) The Raven Boys so that everything was fresh in my mind.
Blue has been told by her mother and every other psychic she has met that if she kisses her true love he will die. She has had so many theories throughout the years of how kissing someone would cause their death that it almost seemed like a dream. But that all changes one night for Blue when on the corpse road she sees the spirit of Gansy. There is only one reason that she would see his spirit; either he is her true love or she will kill him. For Blue they are almost the same thing.
The Raven Boys are a group of three boys that all attend the affluent private school in Henrietta. Gansy is the boy with a quest to find a lost welsh king, Ronan the misunderstood bad boy with daddy issues and Adam is the quiet scholarship kid from the wrong side of the tracks with a chip on his shoulder. Together they are an unlikely grouping but it works. They each bring something to the quest and each seems to have a bit of magic and mystery surrounding them.
This is a beautifully written book. The wording of sentences, the imagery produced, the soft southern drawl the book encompasses make it truly special.
There is a peak into a magical world of possibilities and Blue will definitely play some part in the uncovering of that world. Never did the magic of the book seem overdone, I bought into it all, I rolled with the story and as some foundation were laid for future books some of the mysteries were revealed.
I especially liked that Blue is surrounded by psychics, her mother and the two other women that live with them. They are particularly interesting and added just enough to the story to give glimpses. They were lovably odd and intriguing.
I’m engrossed in the world and characters that Maggie Stiefvater has created and look forward to the next installment in this very original work.
P.S. This is a fantastic audiobook the Will Patton is phenomenal. If you are at all a fan of audiobooks it is my preference for this one he gets the southern feel of this fantastically.
March 2013
Unexpectedly fantastic.
I don't read a lot of paranormal fiction. But this book made me question why not. The blend of the quest for a mythic king, the ghost road, psychics and a murder were engrossing I just couldn't get enough. I have a lot of questions after this first book in the trilogy and really want to find out so many things. Blue's kissing destiny, Why Gansey seems like he has two different personalities in him, what is up with Ronan's dreams and what happened to his father, will Adam be forever changed....etc. But the story telling was done extremely well. For a first book I never got bored with the details of it, while world building. Blues mother and Aunts were fantastic as well the trio was so fascinating to me Persephone especially.
I can't wait to see what happens to our band of Raven Boys and Blue in the next book.
REREAD for the end of the series with Buddies Books and Baubles
Once upon a time it began with
Time to relive this wonderful, magical and slightly crazy story and on my 3rd read I totally love it just as much.
If you don't have time to reread the series going into the final book Maggie wrote the recap for recaptains herself and it is hilarious.
The Raven Boys Recap
I was actually only going to read the recaps last year before Blue Lily, Lily Blue but they were so great and I missed Maggie's writing so much that I totally reread the series. The last book is coming out soon....no time like the present to jump in.
Review after 2nd read
Because The Dream Thieves is coming out in a few days I re-read/listened to (whispersync rocks) The Raven Boys so that everything was fresh in my mind.
“He strode over to the ruined church. This, Blue had discovered, was how Gansey got places - striding. Walking was for ordinary people.”
Blue has been told by her mother and every other psychic she has met that if she kisses her true love he will die. She has had so many theories throughout the years of how kissing someone would cause their death that it almost seemed like a dream. But that all changes one night for Blue when on the corpse road she sees the spirit of Gansy. There is only one reason that she would see his spirit; either he is her true love or she will kill him. For Blue they are almost the same thing.
The Raven Boys are a group of three boys that all attend the affluent private school in Henrietta. Gansy is the boy with a quest to find a lost welsh king, Ronan the misunderstood bad boy with daddy issues and Adam is the quiet scholarship kid from the wrong side of the tracks with a chip on his shoulder. Together they are an unlikely grouping but it works. They each bring something to the quest and each seems to have a bit of magic and mystery surrounding them.
This is a beautifully written book. The wording of sentences, the imagery produced, the soft southern drawl the book encompasses make it truly special.
“More than anything, the journal wanted. It wanted more than it could hold, more than words could describe, more than diagrams could illustrate. Longing burst from the pages, in every frantic line and every hectic sketch and every dark-printed definition. There was something pained and melancholy about it.”
There is a peak into a magical world of possibilities and Blue will definitely play some part in the uncovering of that world. Never did the magic of the book seem overdone, I bought into it all, I rolled with the story and as some foundation were laid for future books some of the mysteries were revealed.
I especially liked that Blue is surrounded by psychics, her mother and the two other women that live with them. They are particularly interesting and added just enough to the story to give glimpses. They were lovably odd and intriguing.
I’m engrossed in the world and characters that Maggie Stiefvater has created and look forward to the next installment in this very original work.
P.S. This is a fantastic audiobook the Will Patton is phenomenal. If you are at all a fan of audiobooks it is my preference for this one he gets the southern feel of this fantastically.
March 2013
Unexpectedly fantastic.
I don't read a lot of paranormal fiction. But this book made me question why not. The blend of the quest for a mythic king, the ghost road, psychics and a murder were engrossing I just couldn't get enough. I have a lot of questions after this first book in the trilogy and really want to find out so many things. Blue's kissing destiny, Why Gansey seems like he has two different personalities in him, what is up with Ronan's dreams and what happened to his father, will Adam be forever changed....etc. But the story telling was done extremely well. For a first book I never got bored with the details of it, while world building. Blues mother and Aunts were fantastic as well the trio was so fascinating to me Persephone especially.
I can't wait to see what happens to our band of Raven Boys and Blue in the next book.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Raven Boys.
Sign In »
Quotes Robin Liked
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
Finished Reading
February 8, 2013
– Shelved
March 27, 2013
–
Started Reading
March 31, 2013
– Shelved as:
4-5-stars
March 31, 2013
– Shelved as:
ya
September 9, 2013
–
10.0%
"Re-listening before TDT releases. I forgot how much I liked this group
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said. "Either you're his true love . . . or you killed him.”"
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve," Neeve said. "Either you're his true love . . . or you killed him.”"
September 10, 2013
–
30.0%
"
“More than anything, the journal wanted. It wanted more than it could hold, more than words could describe, more than diagrams could illustrate. Longing burst from the pages, in every frantic line and every hectic sketch and every dark-printed definition. There was something pained and melancholy about it.”
"
September 10, 2013
–
45.0%
"
“It's like scrying into that weird space. There's so much coming out of him, it shouldn't be possible. Do you remember that woman who came in who was pregnant with quadruplets? It was like that, but worse."
"He's pregnant?" Blue asked.”
Ronan....I can't wait to see what I find out about him in TDT"
"He's pregnant?" Blue asked.”
Ronan....I can't wait to see what I find out about him in TDT"
September 10, 2013
–
60.0%
"
“There was nothing particularly intimate about the way they sat, but something about the scene made Gansey feel strange, like he’d heard an unpleasant statement and later forgotten everything about the words but the way they had made him feel.”
Um the forest totally reminds me of the Island on Lost."
Um the forest totally reminds me of the Island on Lost."
September 11, 2013
– Shelved as:
re-read
September 11, 2013
–
Finished Reading
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
awesome-audio
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
chick-i-want-to-hang-out-with
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
book-boyfriend-material
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
fantastic-fantasy
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
uf-pnr
June 26, 2014
– Shelved as:
ghosts
March 14, 2016
–
2.0%
"No one in the house ever really doubted that Blue was destined to kill her true love with a kiss. It was a threat, however, that had been around for so long that it had lost its force. Picturing six-year-old Blue in love was such a far-off thing as to be imaginary.
"
"
March 14, 2016
–
7.0%
"Unlike Ronan, Adam’s Aglionby sweater was secondhand, but he’d taken great care to be certain it was impeccable. He was slim and tall, with dusty hair unevenly cropped above a fine-boned, tanned face. He was a sepia photograph.
"
"
March 14, 2016
–
11.0%
"Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn’t know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.
"
"
March 15, 2016
–
16.0%
"...she’d dream idly about careers studying tree rings. Swimming with manta rays. Scouring Costa Rica to find out more about the scale-crested pygmy tyrant.
Really, she didn’t know if she’d truly like to find out more about the pygmy tyrant. She just liked the name, because, for a five-foot-tall girl, pygmy tyrant sounded like a career.
I could be a Pygmy Tyrant."
Really, she didn’t know if she’d truly like to find out more about the pygmy tyrant. She just liked the name, because, for a five-foot-tall girl, pygmy tyrant sounded like a career.
I could be a Pygmy Tyrant."
March 15, 2016
–
21.0%
"
More than anything, the journal wanted. It wanted more than it could hold, more than words could describe, more than diagrams could illustrate. Longing burst from the pages, in every frantic line and every hectic sketch and every dark-printed definition. There was something pained and melancholy about it.
"
March 15, 2016
–
30.0%
"Calla blew into the room, her eyebrows quite angry at being disturbed. She was wearing lipstick in a dangerous shade of plum, which made her mouth a small, pursed diamond under her pointy nose. Calla gave the man a lacerating look that plumbed the depths of his soul and found it wanting.
Yes! Do not disturb eyebrows"
Yes! Do not disturb eyebrows"
March 16, 2016
–
33.0%
"“There is a 1973 Camaro in front of the house! It matches my nails!”
The last time Blue had seen Orla’s nails, they’d been a complicated paisley pattern. She wasn’t exactly sure what a 1973 Camaro looked like, but she was sure that if it was paisley, it must be impressive.
*snickers* I'd like to see that."
The last time Blue had seen Orla’s nails, they’d been a complicated paisley pattern. She wasn’t exactly sure what a 1973 Camaro looked like, but she was sure that if it was paisley, it must be impressive.
*snickers* I'd like to see that."
March 16, 2016
–
40.0%
"“There’s someone who knows your name there. And there’s someone else who is looking for this thing that you’re looking for.”
“That I’m looking for!” Blue echoed, dismayed. There was nothing she was looking for. Unless Neeve was talking about the mysterious Glendower. She recalled that feeling of connection, of feeling tied up in this web of raven boys and sleeping kings and ley lines.
That's spooky"
“That I’m looking for!” Blue echoed, dismayed. There was nothing she was looking for. Unless Neeve was talking about the mysterious Glendower. She recalled that feeling of connection, of feeling tied up in this web of raven boys and sleeping kings and ley lines.
That's spooky"
March 17, 2016
–
51.0%
"“So it stands to reason there’s something about the line that fortifies or protects a corpse. The soul. The … animus. The quiddity of it.”
“Gansey, seriously,” Adam interrupted, to Blue’s relief. “Nobody knows what quiddity is.”
“The whatness, Adam. Whatever it is that makes a person what they are.
Quiddity...new word of the day. Use it in a sentence."
“Gansey, seriously,” Adam interrupted, to Blue’s relief. “Nobody knows what quiddity is.”
“The whatness, Adam. Whatever it is that makes a person what they are.
Quiddity...new word of the day. Use it in a sentence."
March 18, 2016
–
54.0%
"Impossibly, Blue realized that this other Blue was crying because she loved Gansey. And that the reason Gansey touched her like that, his fingers so careful with her, was because he knew that her kiss could kill him….Though she couldn’t understand why, her real, present day memories in the tree cavity were clouded with other false memories of their lips nearly touching, a life this other Blue had already lived."
March 19, 2016
–
63.0%
"“This is what you get, Maura, for using your DNA to make a baby,” Calla said.
“Blue, I know you’re not an idiot. It’s just, sometimes smart people do dumb things.”
Calla growled, “Don’t be one of them.”
“Persephone?” asked Maura.
In her small voice, Persephone said, “I have nothing to add.”After a moment of consideration, she added, “If you are going to punch someone, don’t put your thumb inside your fist"
“Blue, I know you’re not an idiot. It’s just, sometimes smart people do dumb things.”
Calla growled, “Don’t be one of them.”
“Persephone?” asked Maura.
In her small voice, Persephone said, “I have nothing to add.”After a moment of consideration, she added, “If you are going to punch someone, don’t put your thumb inside your fist"
March 21, 2016
–
68.0%
"She had made it only a few steps when Neeve said to her back, “You’re looking for a god. Didn’t you suspect that there was also a devil?”
Blue froze in the doorway. She turned her head, but didn’t quite face Neeve.
“Oh, I haven’t been poking around,” Neeve said. “What you’re doing is big enough for me to see while I’m looking at other things.”
Neeve is creepy"
Blue froze in the doorway. She turned her head, but didn’t quite face Neeve.
“Oh, I haven’t been poking around,” Neeve said. “What you’re doing is big enough for me to see while I’m looking at other things.”
Neeve is creepy"
March 24, 2016
–
83.0%
"In the end, he was nobody to Adam, he was nobody to Ronan. Adam spit his words back at him and Ronan squandered however many second chances he gave him. Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that chewed away more of his heart every year.
They were always walking away from him. But he never seemed able to walk away from them.
The writing is so beautiful"
They were always walking away from him. But he never seemed able to walk away from them.
The writing is so beautiful"
March 28, 2016
–
86.0%
"“My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them....
Ah Gansey you are adorable when toy are pouty"
Ah Gansey you are adorable when toy are pouty"
Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Ash Wednesday
(last edited Sep 09, 2013 03:55PM)
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Sep 09, 2013 03:55PM
Is this first person POV, Robin? And does it have a good dose of funnies?
reply
|
flag
It isn't first person the chapters kinda float between being about Blue, Gansy, Adam and one of the teachers from the Boy's academy they go to. It has sarcastic and witty moments but it is more intriguing than anything. I read this back in March but the second book in the series comes out Tuesday so I want to refresh before I read that.
I remember it had a lot of details that could or could not be important and I had a lot of theories right after reading it. I think I'll revise my review a bit after I go through it again. I think this is one of the first I wrote.
So... Infodump book? I don't mind infodumps, but I want to be aware coming in just so I can brace myself :)
No not really info dump I think. There is a lot going on and it gets crazy at times.I just look for easter eggs everywhere and it had a good mystery going for it. Plus if Blue kisses her true love he will die. I'm a sucker for a forbidden romance of sorts.
I listened to it on audiobook and the narrator has a southern drawl at times that I found melodic and relaxing.I like Maggie Stiefvater books on Audiobook, sorta like Laini Taylor. I think the language just lends itself to it well.
Oooh. Motivation right there. Okay, moving this up the pile :)
Ash Wednesday wrote: "Oooh. Motivation right there. Okay, moving this up the pile :)"Haha. if your pile looks anything like mine.....so many books so little reading time.
I just borrowed the audiobook from my library to "reread" before TDT comes out next week. You're right. The narrator is fantastic!
Yay!!! Kim agreed with me so I must be right. Kim its almost like a buddy listen.
I need to finally start on a Maggie Stiefvater novel. I keep hearing so many fantastic things about them.
I haven't read her first series but The Raven Boys and The Scorpio Races were both good. I listen to them on audiobook for the most part if you like audiobooks that is the way to go on these I think
WONDERFUL review, Robin!! ♥ This is probably one of my favorite series ever. I'll have to do a reread soon, before The Raven King is released
Destini Mia~ ♕ Sassy Lassie wrote: "WONDERFUL review, Robin!! ♥ This is probably one of my favorite series ever. I'll have to do a reread soon, before The Raven King is released"Yeah I don't want to forget anything. Plus I want to be able to take my time in the reread. The Raven King....I'm both so excited and so worried. I don't think there will be a middle ground either it will be fantastic or possibly break my heart forever.
Wonderful review, Robin! Sounds like another audiobook worth picking up. :)
Robin wrote: "Destini Mia~ ♕ Sassy Lassie wrote: "WONDERFUL review, Robin!! ♥ This is probably one of my favorite series ever. I'll have to do a reread soon, before The Raven King is released"Yeah I don't want..."
Or both, lol. I'm slowly trying to prepare myself for the pain that's sure to come. If only I didn't love these characters so much :/ then life would be easy
Destini Mia~ ♕ Sassy Lassie wrote: "Robin wrote: "Destini Mia~ ♕ Sassy Lassie wrote: "WONDERFUL review, Robin!! ♥ This is probably one of my favorite series ever. I'll have to do a reread soon, before The Raven King is released"Yea..."
True bit that would mean I didn't care about the characters nearly as much as I do....so I'll take whatever heartache MS will deliver. I might even love her for it
