Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis: 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 Goodreads)

Maggie Stiefvater never fails to create something completely new and completely magical. She has this talent for transporting you into a hazy place where her worlds can't help but exist. Reading her books is a feeling that's hard to describe, unless you've experienced it. Because reading Maggie Stiefvater really is more of an experience and a feeling than a process or a story. It's so hard to put my finger on what makes it this way, it just is.

Maggie takes folklore that already exists and then completely makes it her own. Which is exactly what she did here. I didn't completely understand everything that was going on with the tale behind Gansey's obsession, but I understood enough of it to be enthralled with the story. Because while Gansey is chasing soemthing magical, it's more about how these characters lives play out and how their relationships form and fluxuate. Which is it's own kind of magic.

I'm in love with this band of misfits. You have the three boys who go to an uppity private school, who seem to have nothing in common, but are best friends. As well as they mysterious Noah, who just sort of seems to be there. And then Blue, who dresses weird, comes from a family of psychics, and has always known that if she ever kisses her true love she will kill him. None of these characters seem to naturally form relationships, yet they all work together so well. It's fascinating to see how their lives play out in relation to one another.

Everything in this book subverts your expectations - which is sometimes a little jarring, in a good way. When it starts out with the message that Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him, you kind of expect the story to go in a certain direction. Every time you think something is going to happen, it doesn't - it often goes places I wouldn't have even thought of. And I can't even explain how much I appreciate and crave that.

First, if you haven't read Maggie Stiefvater yet - get on that. She's an incredible writer and I recommend any of her books. If you're already a Maggie fan, then you're going to adore this book.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis: 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 Goodreads)

Maggie Stiefvater never fails to create something completely new and completely magical. She has this talent for transporting you into a hazy place where her worlds can't help but exist. Reading her books is a feeling that's hard to describe, unless you've experienced it. Because reading Maggie Stiefvater really is more of an experience and a feeling than a process or a story. It's so hard to put my finger on what makes it this way, it just is.

Maggie takes folklore that already exists and then completely makes it her own. Which is exactly what she did here. I didn't completely understand everything that was going on with the tale behind Gansey's obsession, but I understood enough of it to be enthralled with the story. Because while Gansey is chasing soemthing magical, it's more about how these characters lives play out and how their relationships form and fluxuate. Which is it's own kind of magic.

I'm in love with this band of misfits. You have the three boys who go to an uppity private school, who seem to have nothing in common, but are best friends. As well as they mysterious Noah, who just sort of seems to be there. And then Blue, who dresses weird, comes from a family of psychics, and has always known that if she ever kisses her true love she will kill him. None of these characters seem to naturally form relationships, yet they all work together so well. It's fascinating to see how their lives play out in relation to one another.

Everything in this book subverts your expectations - which is sometimes a little jarring, in a good way. When it starts out with the message that Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him, you kind of expect the story to go in a certain direction. Every time you think something is going to happen, it doesn't - it often goes places I wouldn't have even thought of. And I can't even explain how much I appreciate and crave that.

First, if you haven't read Maggie Stiefvater yet - get on that. She's an incredible writer and I recommend any of her books. If you're already a Maggie fan, then you're going to adore this book.