My Thoughts: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

3.5 frosted ginger cookies.

Cover Love:

Yes.  I think this is eye catching and hints at so much!

Why I Wanted to Read This:

It's Maggie Stiefvater!  I adored the Shiver series and was excited to give this one a try.  Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Romance?:   Not so much, but lots of chemistry!

What I Liked:

I really liked the people that surrounded Blue in her world, but once again, I get so tired of adults keeping secrets.  At least they fessed up when they saw the path Blue was one (however if they are good psychics they knew what path she was on and should have told her sooner).

I really liked Gansey.  We found out why he was obsessed about the ley lines but I also loved that he was so open about his obsession.  He was very willing to let everyone into his world.  I felt that everyone respected Gansey and he was their glue, but that none of those boys truly loved him.  They were all just getting something out of their friendship with him.  And although Adam would deny that, he got to be involved in the search for Glendower which could ultimately help him out.

Speaking of Adam, I didn't really like him.  I know he was supposed to be kind of a sympathetic character, but he was kind of a butthead.  The fact that he thought Gansey just wanted him to move out of his house so Gansey could have all his "things" under one roof was kind of a son-of-a-bitch thing to say.  Anyone would want to move their friend out of an abusive household if they could.  It was for protection.

I also didn't really see that Gansey was as condescending as Blue and Adam kept saying he was.  It seems to me that they just had chips on their shoulders about rich kids and no matter who he was that chip wasn't going away.
 
I don't quite understand everything about ley lines, but I think the next book in this series will be a great one!  I met a lot of interesting characters and look forward to visiting them again soon.

To Sum Up:  Interesting read and a good set up for a new series.

eGalley requested and received from Scholastic via NetGalley.