Book Buddies
Books
Book Buddies: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
11/25/2015
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The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 416
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: September 18th 2012
“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.” 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. From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.
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If you would like to read the other half of the discussion click here to go Lauren's blog!
(There are some spoilers in this discussion so be cautious!)
1. This book talks a lot about "ley lines" and energy and stuff. Did it confuse you anyway as you were reading the book? What are your thoughts on the author's use of these kind of things?
L: I really wish I googled ley lines the second they were mentioned, because I stayed pretty confused throughout the beginning of the book! I think the concept is really unique; I had never heard of them before, let alone heard of them being used in a book. There are so many common elements in fantasy or paranormal books, like werewolves, vampires, or other creatures... but this topic was brand new to me. To be honest, I'm still reeling a little bit from this plotline! I still don't fully understand Gansey's motivation for the ley line quest and want to go back and reread that part.
K: It is definitely a new concept and I have not ever seen it in the small amount of paranormal books I have read. They do seem a bit complicated once you start reading about them but the more I read about ley lines it started to make a bit more sense to me. I can guess they play a pretty big part throughout this series so I am really looking forward to reading more about them and why Gansey is so interested in them!
2. Which Raven boy is you favorite, can you relate to the most, and did you want to see more of from this book?
L: Hmmm, I don't think I have a favorite yet! I think I'm mostly interested in Gansey and Ronan, because there's probably so much more in their history that we haven't found out yet. I feel like there's a LOT more going on with Ronan than meets the eye. Adam was interesting but he seemed the closest to a "regular guy" in this book. Noah was... different. I wasn't sure what to think about him before we found out the THING we found out, and even less sure about afterwards! Why did he stick around with them? How did they not know?! Anyways, I think I'll give the edge to Ronan as of RIGHT NOW because I'm intrigued by him.
K: Based on the synopsis of The Raven Cycle, Ronan is definitely a super interesting character. I mean he definitely knows more about things that happened in his past and I am excited to find out about those secrets sooner later. I wasn't able to name a favorite boy yet because there really wasn't much to them so far. Ronan was definitely interesting but I do want to know more about Noah and I am interested to see what happens to Adam throughout this series. Noah was super surprising to me and the boys definitely didn't notice anything, which is weird because if I don't see any of my best friends during school, I would certainly try to find them. Why he still sticks around? Don't know but I do want more Noah in these books.
3. It's really not that often we read books that are written in 3rd person and the Raven Boys was definitely written in 3rd person. Did the 3rd person writing work for you in this book?
L: Oh, I think that seriously helped. There are so many characters in this book and its really beneficial to get inside their heads, even just a little bit. I was really interested in the chapters that were kind of in Blue's head because her family life was interesting to me. (More on that in my post!) I think that was the right choice here because all of the characters seem like they will be equally important to the plot - if not in this book, definitely in a later one. It was also helpful to have Whelk's point of view. Third person made hearing alllll of those people's thoughts a bit more manageable.
K: Third person definitely helped me out as well because there are soooo many characters. Blue, the four Boys, Whelk, it's all so confusing! I actually didn't notice the book was third person until half way through (How that happened? Don't know...) I agree with the fact that all these characters will play a part in this book. It was also nice for this book to be in third person because it didn't feel like we were jumping around with perspectives and when you have a big group of characters, that tends to happen when it comes to first person.
4. This series really gets a lot of hype, did it live up to the hype and did that affect your enjoyment in it?
L: The hype 100000% affected my enjoyment, to be honest. I wasn't sure I ever wanted to read this series but really couldn't resist the hype any longer. I don't read a lot of paranormal YA; I tend to go towards contemporary or full-on fantasy. This series is an absolute all-time favorite of SO many people that I was expecting so much... more from it. I was really intrigued right away, then my interest slowed down for about 50 pages, and then it picked up again towards the middle. I think my feelings are kind of all over the place at this point, and I blame that purely on the hype. I want to rate this higher because I feel like I should like it more, but I just don't think I do quite yet. I have a feeling that my feelings will get stronger as the series continues, but for now... I'm a littttle underwhelmed.
K: Okay, yeah this book was definitely a bit underwhelming. It was interesting at times don't get me wrong but I had definitely been expecting more from the first book. Have heard that the next book is better and I really hope that because of the fact that it's so hyped, I really wanna enjoy it. I would probably give is a solid 3.5, going any higher than that in my rating is definitely debatable. I enjoyed it but I probably wouldn't prioritize to finish the series if I wasn't buddy reading...
5. I read the synopsis for the next book and it looks like it will be focusing on Ronan and this ability to bring things out of his dreams. We got a small preview of that in this but what do you expect from the next book and what are your thoughts, so far, on Ronan's ability to bring things out of his dreams?
L: I have literally no idea what to expect from the next book! It feels like a lot of things were left open after this book, but I have no idea where the author is going to take them. I am definitely interested in learning more about Ronan and seeing what his powers may or may not be. I think learning more about the Raven Boys and how they're special in different ways will be the focus for the series. I also am hoping to get more feels about Blue and the boys! I like their friend group at the moment but want it to get expanded further. I want to ship them as a group a little more.
K: I am so excited to see Blue get closer to the boys because sooner or later, they are really going to connect and she is going to have a group of four protective older brothers sooner or later. (YES GIVE ME THAT!) Looking forward to seeing more of Ronan's power in and also looking forward to reading more about these boys because they are definitely interesting people.
6. What are your final thoughts and rating on this book?
L: I have to be a huge pain and say 4.25 stars, for my own peace of mind. It's a big toss-up for me because I feel like 4.5 is a little too generous based on how MEH I felt towards the end and at the beginning. The middle of the book was really interesting for me and I definitely look forward to finishing the series. I can't go with 4 because it feels too low. hahha. Overall, this is definitely the start to a promising series for me. I'm excited for us to keep going and I wish we didn't have to wait until January!!
K: My overall rating has to be a 3.5 but I would give it a 4 is someone asked me give them a rating. It was a good reading, I loved the characters, writing, and the plot but I feel like nothing happened basically. That is what brought my rating down a bit and pacing was off. I am looking forward for this series on getting better! :D
Like what you read? See the other half of this discussion here!
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