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The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

Maggie Stiefvater

Start date: November 2, 2015

Finish date: December 1, 2015

Discussion: November 2015 Book Discussions

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November 2015 Book Discussions

November Group Read: The Raven Boys
By Ayunda · 22 posts · 23 views

last updated Nov 09, 2015 12:20AM

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November Group Read Nominations
By Ayunda · 10 posts · 13 views

last updated Oct 28, 2015 09:55AM

What Members Thought

Jul 29, 2015 Chenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

Spoiler-free:

When I started reading this I wasn't really into this, but when Blue 'officially' met the boys it got a lot better.
I don't care about their search, eventhough it's what the book is really about. I care about the characters and their lives. They're so well written and that's why I love this book. I love it when we see the boys in their daily life.
The scenes with Ronan and Adam are amazing! They're different, but that's probably what I like about them. When they said something at the ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 02, 2013 Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten) rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-review, i-own, publisher-sent, scholastic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Thank you to Scholastic Australia for providing me with a copy of this to read in exchange for an honest review!

Find my complete review on my blog here: http://rachybee-the-rest-is-still-unw...

The Raven Boys is the positively beguiling first installment in Maggie Stiefvater’s new The Raven Cycle series and marks the thrilling introduction to what I have no doubt will become another Maggie Steifvater classic!

As an author, Maggie Stiefvater is a masterful storyteller. I fell in love with Stiefvate Thank you to Scholastic Australia for providing me with a copy of this to read in exchange for an honest review!

Find my complete review on my blog here: http://rachybee-the-rest-is-still-unw...

The Raven Boys is the positively beguiling first installment in Maggie Stiefvater’s new The Raven Cycle series and marks the thrilling introduction to what I have no doubt will become another Maggie Steifvater classic!

As an author, Maggie Stiefvater is a masterful storyteller. I fell in love with Stiefvater and her writing a long time ago after reading Lament: A Faerie Queen’s Deception and its subsequent sequel afterwards. Once her Shiver Trilogy and the Scorpio Races were released I devoured those as well, and with each world she created, Steifavter managed to sweep me up into an adventure unlike anything I had read before. I’m thrilled to say, The Raven Boys is no exception to this rule.

From the very beginning, The Raven Boys is a mysterious and addictive read. Steifvater has immense talented for creating unique and intricate storylines that are full of mystery and are extensively driven. There’s always one secret after another to discover and each marks a different progression within the storyline. The Raven Boys was one of those books.

Told though the various POV’s of Blue Sargent and "raven boys", Gansey and Adam, The Raven Boys weaves together different aspects of the lives of all characters involved to create a plotline that never seems to let up. I will be honest and say that there were a few times where I found myself confused in the beginning, and I had to read extra carefully to understand, but I feel that was only due to the fact Stiefvater was slowly revealing certain hints and revelations in the story.

The characters within The Raven Boys were all very different, but all very likable. Each seemed to bring a different aspect to the story, especially Blue and the four raven boys, Ganey, Adam, Ronan and Noah. The friendship that developed between the five of them had a great impact on the storyline. I really loved how Blue and the boys slowly bonded despite their different social standings—they formed a really sweet group to follow and read about.

I found the smidge of romance and the possibility of an intriguing love triangle forming between Blue and two of the raven boys in future books to be nice additions to the story. It wasn’t too much and too over the top; rather a sweet undertone of the adventure and mystery already front and center.

Featuring plenty of developments and possibilities, The Raven Boys was rife with secrets, magic and danger. The slight cliffhanger of the ending guarantee’s I’ll be picking up the second book as soon as I have a chance, as Maggie Stiefvater already has me invested in this world and the characters that inhabit it!
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Sep 10, 2015 Zezee rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal

As posted on Zezee with Books.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this story from beginning to end. It starts out slow and takes its time building to its climax. During the slow beginning, Steifvater acclimates you to the characters, their troubles and motivations, as well as the setting, which has an eerie atmosphere about it. Once that’s done, the story takes off. Some readers might get frustrated with this slow start, as a few readers in the Goodreads readalong group did, but it pays off.

Once the story pic ...more

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Jun 12, 2015 A. J rated it liked it

By the end of the book I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. I was having such a hard time reading it in the beginning. All the cliches with the kiss killing her true love had me rolling my eyes and barfing in my mouth. Like why do I care? I don't because I haven't even had time to care about Blue yet. The plot got more interesting when the author stopped talking about that, and started talking about Glendower.
The characters: Blue was okay, her mom and the other psychic ladies ...more

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Jul 13, 2015 avery ♞ do something revolutionary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books

need the sequel now

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 09, 2016 Lauren rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

This book was so beautifully written, the amount of sentences I highlighted in this is ridiculous! The characters were definitely my favourite part of the whole story, each one has an intriguing story to tell, they all feel so real I just wanted to jump into a scene and go exploring with them...maybe give them all a hug.
My only problem with this book was that there were moments when the story glossed over some points I would have liked to see more about, particularly when all the main characters ...more

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Oct 29, 2015 Trisha added it

Did not finish.

Maybe I'll revisit this one some day, but I didn't find the characters engaging or the plot at all mysterious. Mysterious is not the right word, gripping? Either way, not terrible, just boring. ...more

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