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jelkebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
REREAD 2024
When I first read this book I gave it a full 5 stars, and despite dropping that rating by one this time around I do still completely understand why I did that. There are just so many absurdly strong aspects to this book. Starting of with the atmosphere. It truly is out of this world. I never wanted to put this book down because I was just so completely pulled into things. I truly felt like I was there together with these characters. I do not know how Maggie Stiefvater does it, but it is just brilliant.
The other strong suit of this book is the characters. They are amazingly written. We've got quite a large cast to get introduced to in this book, and it never feels overwhelming yet they are completely fleshed out already. Of course the 4 raven boys and Blue are the most developed of them all. They are each such interesting characters, and I loved seeing their dynamics. There's some complicated shit in there, but that just makes it feel so much more real, and interesting. In one book Maggie Stiefvater has completely made me fall in love with all 5 of them, and I can't wait to read the other books to see more of their stories. Blue's family also plays a pretty big part in this book, and I love them as well. It's just a house full of magical women, and its incredible. They aren't as well fleshed out as our main characters, but I still love them, and I especially love their relationship to Blue.
This world is also incredibly interesting. All the leyline stuff, I feel like it's an untapped thing in fiction. I feel like it made this book still feel fresh, even after it being out for a decade already. The magic isn't really explained at all, it's just present in everything these characters do if they realise it or not. I especially think Blue's role in all of this is quite interesting. This book also just sets the overall plot of the series incredibly well, and I can't wait to see how it is all going to unfold in future books.
So after giving you all the reasons why I get that I originally rated this 5 stars, let me give you the reason I gave it 4 stars now: not a whole lot happened. Despite this being a very addicting and quick read for me, I constantly felt like I was waiting for things to happen. I just feel like it takes quite some time for things to get going, and they only really do at the end. Now, I do get why this was the case. As you can probably tell from this review this book has A LOT to set up, and it does so brilliantly. So I completely understand why this first book wasn't super plot heavy, just to keep this book from feeling overly crowded. I'm really hoping the other books in this series will pick up a little though.
Graphic: Domestic abuse
ghoulkeats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
it is really taking me back to my tumblr days for some reason, and i had to keep going back to badlans by halsey for this.
i also did stay up way too late for having to work the earliest shift tomorrow. the characters of this book are very enjoyable and i love their dynamics. and the plot and motifs of the book felt wonderfully dreamy and absurd. i did enjoy my time with this story and its characters a lot!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
uselesspirateraven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Alcohol
bluelilyleest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
elzibub's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness and Misogyny
sweetjuicee_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
TWs listed below
"You're Maura's daughter," Neeve said, and before Blue could answer, she added, "this is the year you'll fall in love."
I read this book because I remembered how much my friend liked it during COVID-19. I saw her reposting memes and fanart of the series, so when I saw it in my (not so local) bookstore, I bought it on a whim with two other books of a similar price and I can still feel that £30-ish hole in my bank account. This book was worth it, though, and I hope I can say the same for the other two.
~~~
The book follows Blue Sargent, the daughter of a psychic who lives with other psychics yet doesn't have any psychic abilities herself, becoming friends with 4 boys who go to the private school in her small town Aglionby. The school's mascot is a raven, so boys from this school gained the moniker 'The Raven Boys', and together they try and wake the ley lines to find the old Welsh King Glendower, who disappeared after the English took over Wales back in the 13th century.
However, the almost nauseating pacing and emotional changes were not fun. The true mystery where they try to wake the Ley Line and find Glendower doesn't start until roughly halfway through the book.
The same goes for the emotional changes.
Finally, I spoiled myself after trying to look for fanart to understand what the characters looked like, but even before I did that, it was so obvious that something was wrong with Noah. What do you mean none of them could tell that something was wrong with Noah, let alone that he was a ghost? He never eats, he never drinks, he wears the uniform all the time but neither Ronan, Gansey nor Adam share any lessons with him, his bedroom looks untouched, only you, Blue and a select few people can see him and he appears and disappears multiple times a day? Did they just think he was a little quirky like that? If the only signs were the lack of eating and drinking, then sure, but they saw them all and chose to ignore it. When they confront Noah, he says he tried to tell them he was a ghost. This scene just made me question their relationships with each other. If they couldn't figure out that their ghost friend who never tried to hide that he was a ghost was, in fact, a ghost, do Ronan, Gansey and Adam even know each other?
~~~
I like Adam and Blue together. They're cute. They suit each other. They make a good "this is our first relationship" couple. I can't figure out much to say about them, other than that. I enjoyed their relationship,
~~~
This review is far too long, so I'll keep this short.
- Blue: For some reason, I thought her name was Lily while trying to write this. Either way, she suffers from something I've recently called Tumblr Syndrome. Plain enough that she can be a self-insert, and "so different" from others, so "not like other girls". Lucy Carlyle from my favourite book series also suffers from this, less from the characterisation, but she explicitly states that she has no female friends in book 2. I like Blue. She lives a relatively boring life despite her psychic family and truly plays a vital role in the story. One thing I found weird was how she hated the Raven Boys
but had no qualms about helping them with their search for Glendower , but she's a good character, even with slight Tumblr Syndrome. - Gansey: Not a fan. He's not a bad character or even a bad person, but he's definitely not as interesting as I thought he would be
, even though the only reason why he's alive is because of Noah's death . Money's been in his family for so long that he didn't realise how out of touch he is with Adam and Blue, and I hated when he said "I'm sorry your father never taught you the word repugnant. He was too busy smashing your head against the wall of your trailer while you apologise for being alive", it's insane how he thought this was appropriate to say to anyone, let alone Adam. He's old enough to know that words can be just as painful as a punch. - Ronan: Another sufferer of Tumblr Syndrome: edgy bad boy with some sort of parental (father) issues who takes it out on those closest to him (his brothers, Adam and Gansey) and has some sort of unhealthy coping mechanism (alcoholism) which makes his grades suffer in all but one subject (latin, for some reason), aka one of my least favourite characterisations, as a child of Episode. He's better than the rest of the men of these tropes since he does genuinely start changing his attitude and studies.
- Adam: I have a soft spot for characters like Adam. Maybe it's from consuming too much media that suffers from Second Lead Syndrome and mid-story-but-end-of-book-one character assassinations (*cough* War Hour *cough*), but I always looked forward to his chapters and enjoyed reading his thought process much more than the others. He's sweet and thankfully not creepy.
- Noah: Another character I have a soft spot for. Even though his friends are either dumber than they think or incredibly self-absorbed (both seems more likely), his strangeness was obvious from the start.
I left this review for too long, so now I've forgotten a good amount of things I probably could've written if I didn't start this review 1 month or 3 library books after finishing this. Even though this review seems like it's mainly huge complaints, this was a great read and I'm very excited to start book 2.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit, Grief, and Toxic friendship
kartoffelqueen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
peachymiki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Minor: Gore and Gun violence
joonjxne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
corvidcopia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse