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The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)

Maggie Stiefvater

Start date: November 1, 2012

Finish date: November 30, 2012

Discussion: Mock Printz 2013

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Mock Printz 2013

* The Printz Award for 2013
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What Members Thought

Nov 19, 2012 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: youngadult, strongfemalecharacters, paranormal, bulletinblueribbon, audiobooks, 2012reads, 2012-pub, pyriteshortlist2013, abrahamlincoln2015

The second half of this book was awesome. The first half was ridiculously slow. I get that we're setting up a complex world that's going to last for four books, but I just kept waiting for something to happen and it wasn't until the 6th disc of 10 that things really got going! I did appreciate that the book is complete on its own - you can tell it's a series starter with some threads waiting for follow up, but you're not left completely hanging for the next book. The subtlety with which Noah's s ...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Dana Berglund rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult

Wow.
The titular Raven Boys are a group of friends at an elite private high school in rural Virginia, in a town that also happens to be rife with psychic energy. Blue, the main character, is the daughter of a family of psychic women, but has no direct power of her own. How she, a townie, comes to be entangled with a motley crew of Raven Boys is intriguing and a bit of a roller coaster ride.
I thought the characters were marvelous. If they were a little too bright and shiny in whatever their part Wow.
The titular Raven Boys are a group of friends at an elite private high school in rural Virginia, in a town that also happens to be rife with psychic energy. Blue, the main character, is the daughter of a family of psychic women, but has no direct power of her own. How she, a townie, comes to be entangled with a motley crew of Raven Boys is intriguing and a bit of a roller coaster ride.
I thought the characters were marvelous. If they were a little too bright and shiny in whatever their particular character traits were, I could overlook it because of the humor and distinctiveness of each of them. Blue is a gem, and I would love to get to know her family better in future books.
Several things, however, disappointed me about this novel. First, so many red herrings and/or trails to future books were laid out that I was left wanting at the end. (I hear that book 2 of this four-book series will be out in September 2013, at which point I'll have a better idea of whether the holes/red herrings will pay off or still leave me empty handed.) One of these involved a major character, who never met the expectations I felt were there for him, but may (I guess) in future books. [I'd love to discuss this with someone else--anyone else feel that there was a character who you thought would go a certain direction but never did?) Second, the pacing of the ending felt like it was on fast forward, only to break the tape completely. There's action, action, then a couple of pages of exposition, then the most perplexing final sentence I have ever read.
Okay, so that's only two things that disappointed me, but they were big enough that I keep going over them again and again in my mind. As I do, I find more and more plot or setting details that I thought were clues and guides for this book, but were perhaps meant to lead us astray, or set us up for the next book. It may be that I'm becoming anti- series books, and want to have the experience of reading a book with a satisfying ending.
With all of this talk of disappointment, how did I still give it 4 stars? Because I would gladly read a 900-page book about the Raven Boys and Blue if I knew I would be satisfied at the end. ...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Christina Getrost rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

An excellent fantasy, although it did take me a few chapters to really get into it. I'm not sure why--maybe I just needed to have a long uninterrupted span of time to get in the right mood, when all I could find were fifteen minute short chunks to read-- but for some reason the characters were hard for me to tell apart for the longest time. (There are four "raven boys", students at an elite college prep school for boys, so-called for the raven on the school logo, and I kept confusing them.) But ...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, fantasy

This is the problem with series. You get hooked on the characters and then you have to wait.

This one was all about the characters and atmosphere for me - it all felt very real and tangible, despite all the fantasy elements. There's some suspense, and the romance elements felt relatively subdued, and there's a bit of Welsh mythology thrown in, with a pleasantly Susan Cooper-ish feel to it. Also, I love Stiefvater's sense of humor - the descriptions of the raven, for example, regularly cracked me ...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen, dystopian, fantasy-scifi, paranormal

Not as good as Scorpio Races, but I really enjoyed the "magic" aspect of the story. All of the characters have a lot going on, so I think it'll make a pretty interesting series. She's becoming one of my go to authors for teens...boys and girls. ...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Megan rated it liked it

Shelves: listened-to, ya, whatthehelljusthappened

Oh, dear, sweet, quirky, brilliant Maggie. What kind of trip are you taking us on? I don't get it. But I like it. Kind of. I'm not sure. I'm so confused. ...more

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Jun 15, 2012 Danielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, romance, arc, fantasy, paranormal

Lovely writing and very intriguing characters. There were some oddities in the plotting, but overall a really fun book.

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Oct 06, 2012 Kristy rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, mysteries, magic, romance, favorite-young-adult

I really enjoyed this latest effort by Maggie Stiefvater. I start and abandon so many teen novels. But this one hooked me from the very first page. Psychics, ghosts, talking trees: all plot points that could have come across hokey but some how came out elegant and understated and downright spooky. Just like "The Scorpio Races" which I loved so much.
All of the characters were believable and interesting and I am very excited to learn what happens next.

A great supernatural teen read, if you're in ...more

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