#30 The Raven Boys.

Synopsis:

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. Goodsreads

 

About the Book:

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book length: 409 pages

Series: The Raven Cycle #1

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, YA, Romance, Magic, Fiction, Supernatural, Mystery, Ghosts, Psychic, History

Rating: 5 out of 5 quills

Starting reading: June 21

Finished reading: June 30

“She wasn’t interested in telling other people’s futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own.”

 

What did I think about the book? [spoilers]

I love it!! I utterly love it!! It’s something new, not another vampire story – I do love those very much, I truly do – but about psychics, dark premonitions, ravens, ley-lines, compelling futures and the battle between rich and poor. Not in the PLL way, but the truthful way of fighting to fit in with the born rich while you’re poor and beaten at home, or while born rich and wanted to be seen as more than just money.

So today I will break down the characters for you. This I will do because I love these characters and I need to tell you my thoughts on them.

Raven Boys by Judilda on DeviantArt

Blue: Love her character. She’s afraid of her life premonition, afraid to fall in love. But intrigued of whom her true love will be. Not carrying the complete family gifts, but still has an important role to play in the business. Hates the Raven boys, but is intrigued by these four. They are different, one empowered by being polite. A boy with two faces, one the President Cell Phone rich guy, the other too polite, sounding old, intriguing. The second more powerless while being polite, not a typical rich boy. One kind and shy, not truly knowing what his story is yet. The last a boy to prove yourself to. A snake amongst them. Not a clear read for Blue. Her growth during the book is splendid. She stands up for herself, makes good friends. She wants to discover the truth and help her friends when needed.

Gansey: The Raven Boy with the death prediction. Looking for an ancient Welsh King who’s believed to be sleeping buried on a ley-line in Henrietta. Wants to wake him and get the favour. Is a true believer of ley lines and energy. Devotes his life to his quest, Aglionby is his fourth boarding school. Still talks with Malory, whom he’d got to meet in Wales; Writer of three books in the field of ley lines. Gansey turns out to be a lot more than just his money. Wants to save Adam from getting beaten. Wants to know the truth about what happened to Noah. Needs to find Glendower and set things right. ‘He lived when he wasn’t supposed to, when another died when he wasn’t supposed to.’

Ronan: The middle Lynch brother. Fights with Declan. Has a hard time dealing with the murder of his father. Knows the secret why he was murdered. Finds a raven baby girl, feels he needs to protect her and care for her. Feels the change in atmosphere and energy around them. Feels the start of something bigger coming.Eventually changes his game and wants to be the friend Gansey can build upon. But what intrigues me most about Ronan is the last sentence of the book “I took Chainsaw out of my dreams.”

Adam: Beaten by his dad, too proud to leave. Comes from a poor home, still an Aglionby Raven Boy. Feels pitied by Gansey, while they’re best friends. Believes Gansey’s research and helps him find what he’s looking for. Feels they’re being observed and spied on. Struggling with the fact Gansey wants to help him, he is too proud to take it. He works three jobs to pay for Aglionby with the partial scholarship. Eventually makes the hard choice to ‘save’ Ronan over the pride and leaves his family. Likes Blue a lot. What happens in the end of the book is confusing and a bit scary. I will find out what exactly happened to him in the second novel.

Noah: A scared, little brother he seems. Lives with Gansey, scared of Ronan. But you will discover the sad truth about Noah. He’s not just a boy. He ‘lives’ because of the ley-line. His body has been there for 7 years. Who killed him? That I won’t spoil.

Maura: Blue’s mother. Father unknown to Blue, not a topic to talk about for Maura. Psychic, yells a lot. Very direct. The premonition about Gansey she won’t help him with and forbids Blue to be around the boys. Comes around during the story and tells blue about her father Butternut. No, just kidding, that’s just one of his nicknames. Hehe

Persephone: An excentric woman. Allergic to being disturbed, most questions, high/loud noises. A good psychic with her own powers. Makes the best sweet pies. Is getting more and more specific premonitions, which scares her and Maura a bit. I like her.

Neeve: Friend of Maura, like family. Has more complicated powers. Has dark secrets and does dark stuff. A character so intriguing I think she will be back in the following books.

Calla: Loves crazy nail polish. Also a psychic living with Blue. Maura’s sister? Psychometric reflections; she touches things and sees what secrets they hold or what they’ve been used for.

Declan: Your typical rich bastard. But because of the family misery, the eldest brother. Always fights with Ronan. Every week another girl. We don’t see a lot of him after the first part of the story.

Orla: Another sister of Maura? Don’t see a lot of her during the story. But she seems attracted to pretty guys.

Barrington Whelk: Teaches Latin at Aglionby. The older version of Gansey. So it seems. But Whelk has dark secrets and it desperate to wake up the ley-line. No matter what the cost is.

 

So I’m psyched to continue this story and learn more about the group. I can’t wait!!

 

In case you’ve missed these:

• #29 The Moth in the Mirror.
• #28 Splintered.
• #27 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
• #MakeMeRead It Read-A-Thon TBR.
• #26 Red Queen.