The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue is irritated that she is the only person in her family without psychic powers, but she does have a strange talent and a mysterious curse. Her presence makes other people’s powers stronger, which makes her valuable to her family and other people trying to channel magic. Her curse is a long whispered warning that she will eventually kill her true love.

Blue doesn’t take this warning very seriously until she sees the ghost of a stranger dressed in the uniform of the local prep school, Aglionby Academy, in the graveyard during a ritual. According to her worried family, seeing this boy means that he is either her true love or Blue murdered him. With her curse, Blue is worried that both of these things will happen. Soon she meets the very much alive boy named Gansey that she saw in her vision and gets to know him and his friends.

Raven Boys fan art by Cassandra Jean

Although the story starts with Blue, it is also about Gansey and his friends, who are the Raven Boys of the title. I thought it was slightly confusing at first because there are so many characters and the reader is dropped into the middle of their lives without much introduction. However, I was soon hooked and couldn’t put it down.

The way that Stiefvater writes her characters makes them seem vividly alive, like you know them better than they know themselves. I could feel Ronan’s simmering anger and Adam’s nagging self doubt, which really immersed me in the story. The plot itself moved quickly and kept me fascinated. Of all the books that I have read in the last year, The Raven Boys is one of my favorites and one that has really stuck with me. I definitely recommend it to all readers. I was dying for more when I finished the last page and I've been waiting very impatiently for the sequel, The Dream Thieves, to come out in September.

Art by Maggie Stiefvater