Title: The Raven BoysAuthor: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: September 19th 2012
Page Number: 454
Rating: 2/5
Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why – either he is her true love or she has killed him.
Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower – a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.
Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can’t imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?
I was really looking forward to reading The Raven Boys since I have heard nothing but great things about the series. And since it was about Welsh Mythology, and I am Welsh myself I though that I would really, really like it, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
The Prologue and Chapter 1 were so interesting and they easily captured my attention. I wanted to know more. I needed to know more. But after that things started to get.....boring. Nothing was happening apart from the fact that we learn that Blue has a job and Adam skips school because his father hits him. That was it. There was nothing interesting going on to keep my attention, and by the time that I was on page 160, I had to give up. I couldn't force myself to continue reading a book I simply wasn't enjoying.
What I really liked about the book were Blue's eccentric family. They all harness psychic abilities, but they're all very unusual as well and I found them to be very charming. They reminded me of Nanny McPhee, not in a bad way. Just how their personalities were very similar. I also liked how Maggie showed that family doesn't always have to be of a blood relation, sometimes your best friends can be like your brothers and sisters.
I did, however, have a few problems with the Mythology in the book. Like I said, I am Welsh so I knew what Maggie was talking about, but when she started calling Owain Glyndwr, Glendower then things started to go wrong. Owain Glyndwr is a Welsh legend, so changing his name - even though it was so that people could pronounce it - just didn't sit well with me, I know it also didn't sit well with a friend of mine.
Overall, I would recommend this book to readers. But it does heavily depend on what books you like to read. So if you think you'd like this book, then go ahead and read it!
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