Cover Blurb:
Legend holds that Glendower, a vanished Welsh king, sleeps beneath the hills until he's needed. The first person to find him will be granted a wish—either by seeing him open his eyes, or by cutting out his heart.
Gansey has it all—family money, a car, time for extracurriculars and friends—but he's always loved the tales of sleeping kings. He thinks he's found one, too, or at least the area where one might be: in the town of Henrietta, Virginia. And the best way to be there is to attend the prestigious Aglionby Academy for Boys.
Blue is the daughter of the town psychic in Henrietta, Virginia, but is too practical to believe in things like spirits or true love. Her policy is to stay away from Aglionby boys...but it may be that one in particular can change her mind about magic, and maybe even love.
I don't know why I haven't reviewed this book. It's one of the most interesting paranormal, mythology-based series I've ever read, and it definitely has some of the most interesting and complex characters I've read in a long time. It's definitely worth the read, and the rest of the series doesn't disappoint.
Characters:
I say it almost every review I write, but I absolutely adore realistic, unique characters, and the characters Stiefvater creates here are some of the most realistic, original, and unique characters I've ever read. It reminds me of when I was young and related so strongly to characters in books that it felt like I really knew them.
Blue, the main character, is one of the most unique protagonists I've read. She is definitely "not like other girls", but without falling very much into the trap of being a "special snowflake", She's the only non-psychic in a house full of them, and because of this she feels a pressure to prove herself and make herself 'special' - so she makes herself eccentric, making her own clothes by shredding and layering them. Her policy is to stay away from boys, especially 'Raven Boys' - the boys who attend Aglionby Academy. Naturally, she doesn't keep this policy.
Gansey, the apparent leader of the Raven Boys, is rich, and struggles with this fact. He constantly battles with the thought that he is nothing but his money. He is obsessed with finding Glendower, because he thinks it will allow him to make a mark on the world - to finally become more than just a spoiled rich boy. He struggles to balance his "President Cell Phone" persona, the person he's expected to be at his prestigious school and with his influential family, with the real him, the scholar obsessed with a mission everyone thinks is insane. He pulls Ronan, Noah, Adam, and eventually Blue into his mission with him and infects them with his enthusiasm and obsession.
Adam is a student at Aglionby Academy along with Gansey and Ronan. Unlike them, though, Adam doesn't coast through life on his family's money. He lives in a doublewide trailer with abusive father and a mother who can't fight back. He doesn't want to accept Gansey's offer to move into Monmouth Manufacturing because it will mean he's indebted to Gansey. Adam has trouble believing Gansey's stories about Glendower, but he still goes along with him. He is cautiously attracted to Blue, even though their initial meeting was awkward.
Ronan is the 'tough guy' of the group. He drag races in his BMW, drinks too much, and has very vivid dreams. He got a $900 dollar tattoo just to spite his older brother, Declan, and his grades are the literal least of his concerns. He covers his door in speeding tickets and shrugs off the warnings that he'll be kicked out of school if his grades don't improve. Despite all of this, he attends a Catholic church every Sunday, making an uneasy truce with Declan for the sake of religion and their youngest brother, Matthew. As Calla, one of the psychics who lives with Blue, says, a secret killed Ronan's father, and Ronan knows what it is.
The final Raven Boy is Noah, a strange boy who jokes about having been dead for seven years. He's by far the strangest and most mysterious of the Raven Boys. He's not always with them, and sometimes he can't be found at all. There's a lot more to Noah that's revealed in this book, but that's too big of a spoiler to reveal here.
There's more characters, of course; Blue's mother Maura, Maura's best friends Persephone and Calla, and the other psychics who live with them, as well as characters that eventually evolve into antagonists, but for the sake of time and avoiding spoilers, I won't mention them here.
I have to admit; many of these characters are dislikable, at least at first. And that's exactly why I like them so much. It's difficult to really elaborate on, reviewing only the first book, and it's difficult to see in only the first book, but all of these character change and evolve - some for better and some for worse. But if you look past the first impression, which may paint the characters in an unflattering light, you can see the complexity and depth of them, which is really what made this book for me.
Plot:
The plot of this novel is fairly complex, and easily spoiled, so I won't go too in-depth. The novel starts out with Blue and her half-aunt, Neeve, sitting the 'church watch' on Saint Mark's Eve, writing down the names of all the Henrietta residents who will die that year. That's where Blue sees Gansey's spirit - the only spirit she has ever seen. This provides a major tension to the story, as it is now known Gansey will die, but Blue doesn't know why or how. She's even told by Neeve that if she saw his spirit walking the ley line without being a psychic means he's either her true love, or she killed him.
The plot goes on from here to Blue meeting Gansey and the Raven Boys and getting off on a very wrong foot. Eventually, mostly due to Adam, she agrees to go with the Raven Boys on one of their searches for the ley line, along which Glendower is said to be buried, and is sucked into their quest.
Of course, that's where things start to get intense and go wrong. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say this: this book will shock you, surprise you, and impress you all at once. It's definitely worth the read.
Overall, I love this book. I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of paranormal and fantasy literature, and especially someone looking for a mythology-based book on a little-known mythology. Two of the three sequels are out, The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. The fourth, The Raven King, is coming out this year - and personally, I can't wait.
5/5 stars!
