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stargoddess's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beautiful blend of magic and teen life that never feels overwrought; narrator does a great job of bringing the characters to life. I mostly listen to audiobooks while driving and I found myself almost wanting to pull over while at the climax of the book because I was so entranced I felt like I couldn’t focus on anything else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, and Murder
nicamooch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was far too slow for me for the first 30% (I felt like I was fighting to get through it) but I got invested when Blue and Gansey (finally) properly met 😂
I’m not typically one for slow paced character driven books but there’s a quirky feel to this book and its characters that all ended up growing on me. The character development and their relationships with each other were interesting (especially Adam and Gansey’s 😭).
I also can’t remember the last time I got a little spooked by a book either! The Chapter 28 twist reveal was so good 🥲
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence, Vomit, Ableism, and Classism
jenarae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
tylercrow's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Child abuse
Moderate: Classism, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she had been told that she would kill her true love.”
Depsite not loving this book, it does have one of the best opening lines I’ve read to date. “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Steifvater follows Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah on their quest to awake magic sources called Ley lines, in order to reach a coveted treasure that could change their lives forever. Simple right? It would be if they were the only people looking for the ley lines. And if Blues physic family hadn’t foretold that one Kiss from blue would murder her true love… so no, not exactly simple.
This book is definitely a favorite for a lot of people, and don’t let my rating dissuade you from picking it up. It was a fun read with a unique plot and found family trope. All of my favorite things. But I felt like the ending was abrupt, and I really wish that Stiefavter would have gone deeper into the Ley lines themselves, because there were a couple instances that left me was confused.
All in all, I will probably be picking up the other books in this series, but not immediately.
Depsite not loving this book, it does have one of the best opening lines I’ve read to date. “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Steifvater follows Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah on their quest to awake magic sources called Ley lines, in order to reach a coveted treasure that could change their lives forever. Simple right? It would be if they were the only people looking for the ley lines. And if Blues physic family hadn’t foretold that one Kiss from blue would murder her true love… so no, not exactly simple.
This book is definitely a favorite for a lot of people, and don’t let my rating dissuade you from picking it up. It was a fun read with a unique plot and found family trope. All of my favorite things. But I felt like the ending was abrupt, and I really wish that Stiefavter would have gone deeper into the Ley lines themselves, because there were a couple instances that left me was confused.
All in all, I will probably be picking up the other books in this series, but not immediately.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, and Gun violence
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: death of a parent, violence, child abuse, human sacrifice/murder, gun violence, death by trampling
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is the first book in the Raven Cycle series, and was recommended to me by a friend who adores this series.
I loved this cast of characters right away! Blue is smart, funky, and perceptive as well as the daughter of psychic. Blue herself doesn't have psychic powers, but she tends to act like an amplifier of things that need energy, like ghosts. I also loved how many women were in Blue's life and that they were all delightfully weird and mysterious in their own ways. I liked Calla the best.
Then we have the titular Raven Boys. We have Ronan, the grumpy tough guy more likely to use his fists than words (he's secretly a softie, I know it!). Then we have Adam , the scholarship student at Aglionby who is poor, abused, and has a giant chip on his shoulder. Next is Noah, who is kind of the Eeyore of the group, but they always include him. And finally, we have Gansey, the ringleader who doesn't understand money and its affect on other (poorer) people.
Gansey is on a mission to find the Welsh King Glenbower along a ley line in Virginia. Creepy stuff happens in the gang's search, plus they unexpectedly uncover a murder. Some wibbly-wobbly stuff happens along with a lot of Latin. This was a fun read, with a great cast of characters. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is the first book in the Raven Cycle series, and was recommended to me by a friend who adores this series.
I loved this cast of characters right away! Blue is smart, funky, and perceptive as well as the daughter of psychic. Blue herself doesn't have psychic powers, but she tends to act like an amplifier of things that need energy, like ghosts. I also loved how many women were in Blue's life and that they were all delightfully weird and mysterious in their own ways. I liked Calla the best.
Then we have the titular Raven Boys. We have Ronan, the grumpy tough guy more likely to use his fists than words (he's secretly a softie, I know it!). Then we have Adam , the scholarship student at Aglionby who is poor, abused, and has a giant chip on his shoulder. Next is Noah, who is kind of the Eeyore of the group, but they always include him. And finally, we have Gansey, the ringleader who doesn't understand money and its affect on other (poorer) people.
Gansey is on a mission to find the Welsh King Glenbower along a ley line in Virginia. Creepy stuff happens in the gang's search, plus they unexpectedly uncover a murder. Some wibbly-wobbly stuff happens along with a lot of Latin. This was a fun read, with a great cast of characters. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Death
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Death of parent
thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Upon reread I find myself even more in love with this book than I was initially. Objectively, I can see the flaws in it (particularly, as many others have noted, the plot leaves something to be desired); however, this book (and the series as a whole) hits on so many of my specific loves (sentient forests, found family, matriarchal family structures, lyrical writing, creepy little towns etc...) that those flaws don't really bother me. I love this world and these characters so much, and I'm so excited to continue my reread of the series and finally get to the spin off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping, Classism, and Cursing
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
mandaraffe's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Grief
wellintendedbibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed the book both times I read it, but the characters aren’t always easy to connect with and the plot is slow to pick up. Much of the action happens near the end of the book and what happens before seems to be building up backstory for later books as it the author was less interested in telling a whole story so much as setting up an interesting enough cliffhanger to sell her next book. It’s sad that my favorite character is dead and doesn’t actually have much of a personality aside from being dead. There is an interesting section where one character deals with trauma that feels realistic, but is also unsettling in how the character is not able to fully come to terms with it in the first book. I can’t remember if it was addressed in the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Kidnapping and Violence
dunollie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Gun violence