The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The 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.
From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

My Thoughts:
Long synopsis, isn't it?

So, I think I probably knew about this book pretty much a year before it even came out, even before it had a cover.  For those of you who don't know, I happen to be a huge fan of Maggie Stiefvater.  Huge.  I could probably use this entire review to just rant about her, but this is a book review, not a fangirl rant.  But when the opportunity came when Maggie did her launch for The Raven Boys in my state, it's safe to say that the day was filled with fangirling, squeeing, and hyperventilating.  Plus, I met my best bud, Monica from Cover Analysis!  That was a fun day.

When it came to the book, I'm wasn't exactly sure how to explain it.  There's Blue, a daughter to a family of psychics, but has none of their powers of premonition or clairvoyance and such.  However, she's got this ability to amplify a psychic's power, and that's why her family keeps her around. (Kidding! Her family loves her!)  And there was something about Blue that I really liked about her.  She's one that I can easily relate to.  Plus, she doesn't try to try.  What I mean is that she isn't fake when she's with the rich and adventurous Raven Boys.

The main part of the story is that Gansey and his friends Noah, Ronan, and Adam are on this quest to discover where this Welsh king is buried.  It has to deal a lot with the theory with ley lines, and if you don't know what lay lines are, you're not alone.  If I had not gone to the launch, I'm not sure I would even understand the topic well enough to understand it in the book.  So if you're curious about ley lines, go here.

The idea of The Raven Boys was so original!  I absolutely loved it.  The future books to this series have plenty of potential.  Unfortunately, I thought the beginning was a little slow.  I would get bored, and I understand what Maggie was trying to do was create anticipation and suspense, but I really wanted it to get to the point.  Things did pick up right around the middle of the book, however, so I can't complain too much because I extremely enjoyed the book.

The Raven Boys, I think, rivals The Scorpio Races in its genius.  I thoroughly enjoyed The Scorpio Races and its originality and with that piece, I felt that Stiefvater had truly outdone herself.  I was wrong.  Out-of-the-ballpark-wrong.  If anything, Stiefvater has outdone herself with The Raven Boys.  The Raven Boys is not your average book in any way possible.  It was mysterious and dark, adventurous and quirky in a way that you can only identify as Stiefvater's work.  I can tell you right here that it is one of my top favorites of the year.