Release Date: September 18th 2012
Published By: Scholastic
Pages: 408
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: “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.

Review: Blue Sargeant’s life is anything but ordinary. She lives in a household filled with clairvoyants for a start. And whilst Blue herself is not clairvoyant, she has the gift of making the clairvoyants visions clearer. She conducts energy and makes everything brighter. She is the “table everyone wants at Starbucks”… the one closest to the power point.

So when Blue finds herself standing in a cemetary with her mother and aunt on St Mark’s Eve waiting for the soon-to-be dead to walk by them, she is not surprised. Only this year it’s different. Because Blue DOES see one of them for the first time. A boy her age. His name is Gansey and he is going to die within the year. And Blue is told “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve, Blue. Either you’re his true love…or you killed him.”

Blue was always warned by psychics around her that whoever her first love is, will die from her kiss. It’s already been written in the cards, and Blue has known this for many years. So when she meets Gansey and the Raven Boys, she has her guards up.

Strangely enough though, the book focuses very little on Blue’s love life, and the focus is more on the relationship between the Raven Boys themselves (although I see the sequel changing focus). There’s Gansey, undeniably the leader of the pack. Rich beyond words. Adam, Gansey’s best friend who takes an immediate interest in Blue. He has a troubled family life and lives in a trailer. Ronan, who has huge anger issues, and I feel there’s more to him than we know right now and Noah, who is quiet but at times seems troubled.

I absolutely loved the story of their friendship. There are so many layers of complexity to them and this book has just scraped the surface and left much more of their story to be told in the next couple of books.

The teenagers are in search of the ley lines and a Welsh King. Really though, this is Gansey’s journey and everyone else just goes along for the ride. Gansey is obsessed with this mission and won’t stop until he finds it. Instead they encounter the supernatural in a big way, as well as uncover a murder victim opening even more cans of worms than they ever could have intended.

I was left with SO many questions at the end of this book. It’s a love/hate relationship. So well written, and I know that the next book in this series is going to be amazing and answer a LOT of my questions - however I know I’m going to be waiting a LONG time for those answers in the time being! ARGH!

Definitely worth the read though, so fresh and original. Hands down my favourite Maggie Stiefvater book that I’ve read yet.

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