A Review for The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: September 19th, 2012
Finished Date: January 11th, 2014

Publishers: Scholastic
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Romance
Source: For Review

Format: Paperback
Pages: 416

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why – either he is her true love or she has killed him.

Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower – a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.

Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can’t imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?

The Review: 4.5 Flowers! 

The Raven Boys was one of those reads that really sucks you in and life becomes all about the story.
As the synopsis tells us…Blue is from a family of psychics but is not herself and has lived with this all her life, because of this she has been warned that if she kisses her true love…he will die. When watching the ‘corpse road’ - in which the people who will die over the course of the year are revealed – she actually sees a spirit for the first time ever, she interacts with it and finds out only one thing…his name is Gansey… and there is only one reason she is seeing him – he’s either her true love or she has killed him…or both! – and in her quest to stop this young person from dying, ends up meeting & getting involved with boys who attend the local prestigious school Aglionby Academy aka the Raven Boys. She discovers that the boys are on a quest to find the ley lines & its hidden secrets lead by none other than Gansey…. Because of who Blue is and what her family knows, she feels that she needs to be a part of this, she needs to help them but none of the will be prepared for what they discover.
So, this book was so good, I liked everything about it and for all it may seem like the focus would be on the love aspect of the story, it wasn’t… the emphasis was more on the magical with an adventurous feel and lots of mystery. I thought the book was filled with a lot of great characters, not just the main bunch and I was intrigued by them all. Blue of course was a cool character, I liked her attitude to life and where other books would have a character like her embarrassed or ashamed of her home life.. Blue embraced it, she embraced her individuality and I thought that was a great asset for her character. The Raven Boys are each a character of their own, each bringing something different to the story  - Adam, not what he appears at first and when you do get his story… you want to know more – Noah, quiet & mysterious, strange but again.. you want to know more and when we got it….it was gooooood! – Ronan, bad boy, rule breaker, tattooed, failing school but we glimpse a softer side & a dangerous side… who is he really? Yep, again… need to know more – and finally Gansey, the tie that holds them all together, an old soul, obsessed with this quest, disgusted by his privileged life and wanting to be seen as more than money.. and yes you’ve guessed it, you want to know more. They’re all mysterious in a way and Blue is a brilliant addition to the group, filling a space none of them knew was there.
The storyline for me was full of intrigue, first we have Blue’s family and all of the questions surrounding them, her warning about her true love… that definitely got the curiosity going but then the boys come along and bring along their own intrigue involving ley lines, lost kings, magical power, magical places.. the research they have done into their quest is astounding, it’s everything to them and then when they meet Blue and things start happening, well that adds to the intrigue & mystery. Combining their knowledge they make progress and at times yes, it was confusing but not in a way that you couldn’t still follow the story. I loved all of the history that led to the quest too and how involved everyone got in it. Obviously there are a few twists and turns to keep everyone on their toes but it was sooo good and I never would have guessed some of the reveals, this is just the beginning and after reading it… you’ve guessed it… I need more! 

Author Interview with Maggie Stiefvater; Author of The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys 
by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: September 18th, 2012

Publishers: Scholastic Press

Pages:  409
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

“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.

Author Interview with Maggie Stiefvater

1) What was your inspiration for writing The Raven Boys? 

It was a big combination of things, but the very first thing to inspire me was Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. I read it and re-read it as a teen. It was full of Welsh mythology and was set in contemporary Wales and England. It also aches with magic. I knew back then that I wanted to write a series like that. 

 2) How long did it take to write? 

The first one took eight months and the second has taken fourteen. I'm not sure why they take so much longer to write than my other novels — I used to write my rough drafts in four months. Possibly I need more caffeine.

 3) Are any of your characters most like you? 

Oh, probably James from Ballad. It's told in first person and I let him make all the jokes I would make. Also he plays the bagpipes, so we have that in common. 

 4) Do you have a favourite quote from The Raven Boys? 

Another blogger asked me that and I said Ronan's rotten joke from the Latin class scene, but I'm also a fan of most every line that describes a car. 

 5) Can you tell us what your working on right now? 

I'm knocking around the big pieces of the third book in the Raven Cycle, editing the third faerie book, copy-editing the second Raven Cycle book, and drafting a collaborative middle grade project for Scholastic. I can't draft two novels at the same time, but I can work on projects in different stages quite happily. Oh, I also have a secret project that I'm kicking to see if it will kick back. 

 6) Out of all the books you've written, which did you enjoyed writing the most? 

Oh, writing The Scorpio Races was bliss. It had been fermenting in my brain for so long that it feels as if it just fell out. I also adored writing the last third of The Dream Thieves. 

 7) Will you ever consider revisiting the Shiver characters? 

I cannot imagine myself ever returning to Sam and Grace's story, more on that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApB_kgtJGI0. 
Everyone else? Well, it's not pressing . . . X

Author Bio;

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

A review for Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Posted by Donna
Published Date: July 12th, 2011
Finished Date: July 10th, 2010
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 448
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The Blurb from Goodreads: In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. InLinger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.
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***Slight spoilers if you haven’t read Linger***
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The Review: Honestly, I’m struggling writing this review, so I’m just going to keep it nice and simple, so here goes. 

I’ve always been a huge fan of this series and so you can imagine my excitement, as soon as I found out it was released a few days earlier, of course, I rushed out to get it. 

Forever is the last instalment in the Shiver series and Maggie did a great job. You’re thrown back into the world of Sam and Grace but with Grace now being a wolf, you can real feel the tension surrounding our characters and the situation weighing heavy on their shoulders. Even though it sounds quiet depressing, Maggie manages to capture so many different emotions during this book because of the situation there in. There are happy moments, sad moments and even funny moments, moments were your heart breaks and moments were your jumping for joy. I felt every single emotion that the character’s felt throughout this book and it was an emotional rollercoaster. 

The story itself, headed in a nice direction with the wolves being in Mercy Falls. With Tom Culpepper still trying to get rid of the wolves, Grace and Sam have no choice but to try and move them. I honestly, don’t know what I expected to come from this book but I felt that this story line, was well fitted and it felt like it belonged in the story. Maggie’s descriptions of the wolves go even further than the first two books and it really gave you an insight to the wolves’ lives. I loved it. 

Now, the ending. Was I disappointed with the ending? YES! I know it was an ending about possibility but I was honestly hoping for a bit more than that. Don’t get me wrong, after a few days to think about it, I wasn’t as disappointed as I was but it was still there. It felt unfinished to me, like I could read a whole new book about the characters again, and that’s not what I like from a final book. I like closure, knowing the story is 100% finished but again, it felt unfinished. I also didn’t really like the way it ended with Cole and Isabel. I know it wasn’t their story but after showing us parts of who they are, watching them grow closer and making you love them like you do Sam and Grace, I wanted something more for them. But I ended up disliking their ending the most. 

Overall, I think Forever was a fantastic addition to the series and I'm really sad its come to an end.  I would read this series again but I just wasn’t keen on the characters ending. I hope my review doesn’t put anyone off but I felt like I should be totally honest.