Saturday, October 06, 2012

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys is my first book by Stiefvater, but will not be my last.  I'll be looking for some of her previous books while waiting for the next installment of The Raven Cycle.

Blue Sargent is the daughter of a psychic, but is not a psychic herself; Blue's ability is amplification.  Her presence makes makes things clearer, more powerful for Maura, her mother, and the other psychics who live with them.  

Most of Maura's readings are nonspecific: true, but vague.  Her ability to tell who will die within the next year, however, is specific...and so is her prediction about Blue, a prediction affirmed by the other psychics.

The small Virginia town of Henrietta is the home of Aglionby, a prep school for the rich.  The boys who attend are wealthy, privileged, and entitled, and Blue has a rule about avoiding them.

Of course, this rule will eventually be disregarded.  Blue meets Gansey, Adam, and Ronan (three of the four Raven Boys) in the diner where she works, and fate steps in to draw the Raven Boys and the psychic's daughter together in a search for ley lines, Glendower, and magic.

The book is character driven, and the relationship of the four boys is my favorite part.  The friendships are genuine, but complicated;  Blue's inclusion aids the boys' search, but adds another complication to the relationships.

The book is not without flaws and ends with the frustrating promise of more to come, but I loved it and couldn't put it down.  Hate having to wait for the next one, but thoroughly enjoyed this first in the series!

Net Galley.  Read on my Kindle.  Many thanks, Net Galley, for this one.

Fiction.  YA.  2012.  print version 416 pages.

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