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

Reviewed By: Siobhán
Format: Kindle Ebook
Pages: 468
Published: 18th Sept 2012
Publisher: : Scholastic Inc
Source: Bought
Genre: YA Paranormal
Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository

Description:
Blue has spent the majority of her 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?


What can I really say about The Raven Boys? For the most part I actually hated it. Now I know that is a strong word but I did. I found it boring and slow and I wanted to kill the characters. But something kept me reading. I actually couldn't put the book down. And I have no idea why.

The Raven Boys is by Maggie Stiefvator and if you know me, you know I have a love/hate relationship with her books. I loved first 2 books in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series but hated Forever and I hated The Scorpio Races, so I was wary of this title. It started out fantastic. I hooked with the first chapter. I found it intriguing and different but I have no clue what happened. After the initial first few chapter  the story was just going nowhere and I just found it mind numbingly boring. It had the potential to be truly amazing but instead I found it confusing and I skimmed a lot because there are scenes that are completely pointless. There was too many different stories going in within one book that it gave me a headache. The characters....argh drove me insane. To me they had no depth at all. Expect maybe Adam he is actually really likeable.

However!!!! At around 2/3 of the way through the story picks up and the story really comes together and started to get exciting. There are a few twists that I did not see coming and I loved that. I like a good surprise in stories. The characters still bugged me but not as much. I found myself completely transfixed on the story and how it would play out. And the ending, pretty damn awesome. And the last 50 or so pages saved this book for me. I am now really looking forward to the next book so see how the story goes and to see if the characters can make me like them. I doubt it but the story itself is intriguing enough that I will continue with the the series.


4 comments :

  1. I agree totally with your review!!! I found the start good, then it got so boring but yet near the end it picked up again. I wasnt going to finish but am glad in a way I did. It was a 3/5 for me too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad I'm not alone. I don't get all the reviews that are raving about this title. Makes me wonder if I was reading a completely different book. Lol.

      Delete
  2. I've been really hesitant to read this one, mostly because the book jacket synopsis sounded so... weird? I liked the Wolves of Mercy Falls books for the most part, and actually liked the Scorpio Races, but your review has kinda enforced my uncertainty towards this one. Glad it picked up and got good at the end, though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm now always wary of the authors work.

      Most people seems to love the book though.

      Delete

// This Pinterest Hover Button is brought to you by bloggersentral.com. // Feel free to use and share, but please keep this notice intact.