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A review by labunnywtf
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
5.0
There's final lines, and then there's final lines. And then there's this book's final line. Good grief.
I don't understand. I don't, don't, don't understand. Based on 96% of the reviews I have made on Goodreads, I should have hated this book. Well, okay, maybe hated is too harsh. I don't think it's a hate, but the set up and plot should have been pretty boring for me.
And yet. And yet, and yet, I really legitimately enjoyed the hell out of this book. I'm very confused.
The book pretty much had me from the start. I have a certain affection for psychics and prophecy. And despite my deep dislike of all things romance, I was even more intrigued by the thought of a girl prophesied to kill her first love with a kiss.
But I didn't fall in love with these characters. Normally, with a book that pulls me in as much as this one did, I feel a deep emotional connection with the players. And while I certainly didn't hate any of the Fab Five, I wasn't really invested in them, either.
I like Adam. I like Adam a great deal. I suppose it's his overwhelming normalcy that appeals to me. He's not a rich boy, he's not the most handsome, not the most suave. He's a terribly normal kid playing in an utterly unreal world. Rich friends who have the luxury of living in a weird warehouse of some kind (?) and go looking for dead people and lay lines, while he's getting slapped around at home and working and studying and fighting for a life.
The rest of the characters are not bad. There is nothing inherently unlikeable about them. Blue is delightful, but drab. She's an amp that goes all the way up to 11, but she's just....boring. I desperately hope that there's more than the cardboard cutout in the next few books, because right now, I'm mostly annoyed with Maggie Stiefvater for giving the female lead the short stick.
Gansey is clearly the star of this novel, he's the one the most attention is paid to, the most character given to. I like him well enough, but I'm not dying all over the place that this apparent star crossed future romance is doomed to heartbreak and tears, because fuck that noise. Gansey clearly belongs with Adam 4eva, and I'm just going to sit and wait for them to make out in the back of the orange death trap.
And Ronan is just a bad ass. I mean, of all the characters, he should be my favorite. And I just can't talk about the Noah situation. I listened to the first 1/4 of this book after finishing it, and yep, it was spelled out beautifully, and I missed it, and I just cannot even talk about it.
I'm hoping that once I get through the series, and get a better feel for each character, I'll stop feeling kind of...
As far as the entire King/lay line/teacher guy storyline goes, I just...I mean...I got into it, but the interaction between the characters is really the meat of this story. The psychic bullshit part is obviously integral, but I just don't care enough about it to even discuss it.
Other than to say that of the myriad of people introduced in this book, the one I loved the most was named after my favorite god. Team Persephone FTW.
So...yeah. I don't understand why I liked this so much, and am starting book two tomorrow. It's very confusing.
I don't understand. I don't, don't, don't understand. Based on 96% of the reviews I have made on Goodreads, I should have hated this book. Well, okay, maybe hated is too harsh. I don't think it's a hate, but the set up and plot should have been pretty boring for me.
And yet. And yet, and yet, I really legitimately enjoyed the hell out of this book. I'm very confused.
The book pretty much had me from the start. I have a certain affection for psychics and prophecy. And despite my deep dislike of all things romance, I was even more intrigued by the thought of a girl prophesied to kill her first love with a kiss.
But I didn't fall in love with these characters. Normally, with a book that pulls me in as much as this one did, I feel a deep emotional connection with the players. And while I certainly didn't hate any of the Fab Five, I wasn't really invested in them, either.
I like Adam. I like Adam a great deal. I suppose it's his overwhelming normalcy that appeals to me. He's not a rich boy, he's not the most handsome, not the most suave. He's a terribly normal kid playing in an utterly unreal world. Rich friends who have the luxury of living in a weird warehouse of some kind (?) and go looking for dead people and lay lines, while he's getting slapped around at home and working and studying and fighting for a life.
The rest of the characters are not bad. There is nothing inherently unlikeable about them. Blue is delightful, but drab. She's an amp that goes all the way up to 11, but she's just....boring. I desperately hope that there's more than the cardboard cutout in the next few books, because right now, I'm mostly annoyed with Maggie Stiefvater for giving the female lead the short stick.
Gansey is clearly the star of this novel, he's the one the most attention is paid to, the most character given to. I like him well enough, but I'm not dying all over the place that this apparent star crossed future romance is doomed to heartbreak and tears, because fuck that noise. Gansey clearly belongs with Adam 4eva, and I'm just going to sit and wait for them to make out in the back of the orange death trap.
And Ronan is just a bad ass. I mean, of all the characters, he should be my favorite. And I just can't talk about the Noah situation. I listened to the first 1/4 of this book after finishing it, and yep, it was spelled out beautifully, and I missed it, and I just cannot even talk about it.
I'm hoping that once I get through the series, and get a better feel for each character, I'll stop feeling kind of...
As far as the entire King/lay line/teacher guy storyline goes, I just...I mean...I got into it, but the interaction between the characters is really the meat of this story. The psychic bullshit part is obviously integral, but I just don't care enough about it to even discuss it.
Other than to say that of the myriad of people introduced in this book, the one I loved the most was named after my favorite god. Team Persephone FTW.
So...yeah. I don't understand why I liked this so much, and am starting book two tomorrow. It's very confusing.