Charlotte Kersten

Summary

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is 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 has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, 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 never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Review

Nothing hits the spot quite like a good YA fantasy when you’re in the right mood, which makes me keep picking them up sometimes even as my tastes grow and change. I think I’d avoided the Raven Cycle despite its status as highly beloved by many partially because I knew the general premise of the friend group and felt that it was a prime setup for lots of “not like other girls” bullshit (I think it’s called being a pick me girl these days??); I also tend to prefer fantasy set in secondary worlds because the relationship between the magical and the modern/mundane just isn’t the most interesting to me. Happily all my preconceived notions were off-base here!! I like that Blue’s relationships with her female relatives remain really important even as she starts bonding with the raven boys, and I also think Stiefvater’s incorporation of magic feels truly wondrous, strange, and ominous.

From what I’ve seen, most fans of this series are deeply invested in the characters and their relationships, and I can see why – they’re all flawed and complicated and ultimately bound by a lot of love. I’m perhaps the least interested in Gansey and his rich boy woes at this point in time, but I still have a good time reading about all the hijinks and nuances of their bonds, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds moving forwards.

I also want to praise Stiefvater’s writing, which is not what I typically think of as beautiful or lyrical but feels very clever and engaging with a unique knack for descriptions and small observations. Overall, a pleasant surprise!