Guest Review: The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Reviewed by: Millie
Format: Paperback
Pages: 454
Published: 19th Sept 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Children’s Books
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository UK I Book Depository US

Description:
Blue has spent the majority ofher sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey's spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why - either he is her true love or she has killed him. Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower - a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour. Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can't imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?

Review:

I really enjoyed reading this book. I was a little bit slow to start with which is the reason it’s only got a 4 rather than a 5 out of 5. The book follows the four Raven Boys, Gansey, Adam Noah and Ronan and the local physics daughter, Blue, in there search for ley lines and magic. The chapters are split mainly between Blue and Gansey with the occasional chapter from another character; the other characters chapters become more frequent towards the end giving the story more details as the plot peaks. I love the character of blue, she is eccentric but not in an out of control way. She is loyal to herself and always does what she believes is the right thing to do, at no point in the entire book did I even start to dislike her. Gansey, or President Mobile Phone as Blue first calls him, annoyed me to begin with, his obsession with his search throughout the book and his need to control those around him made me want to reach into the book as shake some sense into him, but he does redeem himself with the how much he shows he does care for his fellow raven boys. Adam is sweet and caring; he seems, to a point, to be the voice of reason in the story. Noah is quiet and has a hidden past, which I won’t give away; he does act partially like an older brother to Blue. Ronan seem to be the odd one out in the group, he has had trouble in the past and throughout the book seems to create more trouble for himself. Throughout the group explorations they become closer and all seem to change and grow into the people they need to be to complete what they want to do. The way the book is written is amazing, it flowed and was really easy to get into and read once the pace sped up.

Rate: 4/5