FICTION

The Raven Boys

by Maggie Stiefvater
2012. 408p. 978-0-54542-492-9.
COPY ISBN
Gr 8 Up–Blue was born into a psychic family with the misfortune of having no psychic ability of her own. However, her presence helps others “see” more clearly, which has led to every psychic she’s ever met predicting that if Blue were to kiss her true love, he would die. Not interested in boys yet and especially repulsed by the snooty lot at Aglionby Academy, she decides to simply never kiss anyone. When she has her first clairvoyant experience, it’s not as thrilling as she had hoped. She sees that Gansey, a boy from Aglionby, will die within the next year. She can’t get him out of her mind, a task made impossible when she meets him and his three friends. The Raven Boys, as Aglionby students are called, rope her into helping them with their mission: to locate a ley line. The line of energy could possibly connect them to the past and to the legendary “sleeping” Welsh king, Glendower, who will grant the one who awakens him a reward. Their quest puts each of them in harm’s way, made more imminent when Blue finally starts to feel as if her kiss of death is going to be a real problem. First in a planned quartet, The Raven Boys is an incredibly rich and unique tale, a supernatural thriller of a different flavor. The cinematic feel paces the novel well, and the many pieces of the story unfold with grace. The complicated relationships between the Raven boys and Blue are not of the standard main character/love interest variety and makes the curious plot all the more enthralling. Fans have been salivating for Stiefvater’s next release and The Raven Boys delivers.–Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, NJ
According to legend, a medieval Welsh nobleman named Glendower vanished to avoid capture after the English defeated his army. Fast-forward to present-day Virginia, where four boys believe that Glendower is eternally sleeping and was brought over to the New World along "mystical energy roads." Stiefvater's prose falls flat in places, but the fast pace and intriguing concept make up for any flaws.
Maggie Stiefvater artfully blends ancient mystery and contemporary class-conflict in a suspenseful tale of murder and magic. Teens will admire the independent lifestyle and charming camaraderie of prep-school friends Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah. Each character is distinctive and well-fleshed out, and their banter is realistic and captivating. Humor, especially Blue’s self-deprecating sarcasm, grounds the friends’ search for the tomb of an age-old king. When Gansey comes in for a tarot reading, Blue notes that he says, “the cards are very interesting like someone would say this is very interesting to a very strange sort of cake that they didn’t quite want to finish.” Stiefvater cleverly shifts the pacing and tone of scenes that take place in Cabeswater, a part of the forest situated on a magical ley line where “in a little over an hour, they’d walked through two seasons.” Dialogue becomes slower and less clear, emphasizing the feeling that this is “a place where time possibly didn’t work.”
According to legend, a medieval Welsh nobleman named Glendower vanished to avoid capture after the English defeated his army. Fast-forward to present-day Henrietta, Virginia, where four boys at exclusive private school Aglionby believe that Glendower is eternally sleeping and was brought over to the New World centuries ago along ley lines, "mystical energy roads that connect spiritual places." Friends Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah have been searching for Henrietta's ley line, hoping it will lead them to Glendower. Local sixteen-year-old Blue Sargent also knows about ley lines because her mother is a psychic who channels their energy. When the four "Raven Boys" befriend Blue, her knowledge and unusual ability to heighten energy help them awaken the Henrietta ley line. What that action may mean for future installments is left unknown, except that as fate intertwines lives in a town where everyone is keeping secrets, there will be plenty of mysteries to solve and dangers to overcome. This first book alternates between several voices, initially difficult to follow, but as Stiefvater reveals more information about the characters, their motives, and the fantasy aspects of the novel, the narration technique becomes effective. However, Stiefvater's prose style falls flat in several noticeable places, and there are numerous typos that regrettably disengage the reader from the narrative. Still, the overall fast pace, intriguing concept, and plot filled with psychics and ghosts -- plus the unanswered questions at book's end -- will leave readers forgiving of flaws as they await book two. cynthia k. ritter

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