A review by agravereader
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

4.0

This was SO FUN. I wish I could have read this as a teenager, because I can guarantee this would have been a high school obsession of mine. But this book didn't exist when I was in high school and I was a pretentious college student when it came out, so I know I wouldn't have enjoyed it then. Reading it now, able to embrace my inner angsty teen, I absolutely loved this.

I loved all the main characters so much. I loved the spooky Virginia setting. I loved the magical forest. I loved the side characters. I loved the tropes and the themes. I think if the ending hadn't been so abrupt, I would have ranked it higher.

This book does such a clever job of creating characters that feel real and a lush, enchanting world for them to exist inside of. I'm so excited to read the next three books and explore more. 

I did not at all anticipate that

Noah was dead, let alone the friend Whelk killed.. until, of course, I learned Noah was dead; then it became obvious.

That blew my mind. 

I thought it was interesting that we only got POVs from Blue, Gansey, Adam, and Whelk. I'd love to see more from Ronan, who intrigues me the most. Adam started out as my favorite character, but he never learned which hills made sense to die on and which didn't. By the end of this book, Blue amd Gansey are tied for my favorite, but I can see Ronan taking that place if we get to dive into his character more.

Anyway, well done, Maggie. This was a blast.