Book Nerds Across America: The Raven Boys

Showing posts with label The Raven Boys. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Book Summary
For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

Flo's Review
There is always that nervousness that comes with reading the final book in a trilogy or series. Unfortunately, this book can have the power to make or break everything that has come before it. (No pressure! Lol). So I was both excited and nervous when I picked up The Raven King. But I had no cause for worry. Honestly, this book may have been my favorite of the four. I was really into the character's relationships, dynamic, growth. I tweeted Jacque at one point that I had so many feels about this book. I simply loved how the relationships progressed, especially one that I did not see coming. (Even though it was hinted at in the other books. I just missed it.) The end was realistic, painful, and honest; and I appreciated that about it. It was also complete. I closed the book happy to have left everyone in a good spot. (Although one I still hurt about.) Then Maggie tweeted about this coming up:

It's a companion Ronan-centered trilogy that takes place after TRC. New characters! New themes! The rest is secret. https://t.co/ZFpKEVFvPz
— Maggie Stiefvater (@mstiefvater) August 23, 2016

Eeeep! Sign me up!!

Overall, I was super impressed with this series. Because when I started it I was like, "It's pretty good, I guess, but a little odd." By this book, I was all in. The writing is beautiful and lyrical, the characters are hopeful and flawed, and there is enough to make the imagination smile. If you are looking for something completely different from anything you have read before, then I'd recommend you pick up this series.

On a side note, if you have read the first three books of the trilogy and just need a refresher before you start TRK, Maggie wrote summaries of The Raven Cycle on Recaptains that are past awesome:

The Raven Boys
The Dream Thieves
Blue Lily, Lily Blue

And here are our reviews of The Raven Cycle:

The Raven Boys
The Dream Thieves
Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Monday, January 12, 2015

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Book Summary

There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

Flo's Review

"Omg just finished Blue Lily Lily Blue, hoping for Flo to finish it too so we both can share the FEELS."

I saw the above tweet from one of my friends when I was about halfway through this book. It came at the right time because the book really wasn't holding my attention at this point in my reading. As always, Maggie's writing is absolutely beautiful and poetic, and I wish I could be Maggie Stiefvater when I grow up. But overall, I was kind of, "Eh." New characters appeared and I thought to myself, "Hmm, that's interesting." And then I set it aside and read another book.

But then I was spurred into action by Cindy (author of above tweet) who promised me huge plot twists. So I read on. Not much later -- HUGE PLOT TWIST. The entire end of this book was just this twisty, pretzely thing. I finished it about 30 minutes ago and I'm still in book hangover mode. I love it. I love that feeling. Here are some other things I loved about this book:

1. Adam and Ronan. Their interactions made me smile every time and literally had me chuckling aloud at some points.

2. Adam's character development: Some of you may remember that back in the time of Book #1, I was actually Team Adam. I've always been drawn to his doggedness and his work ethic. But he made some great revelations about himself and his relationships in this book. He is evolving, he is becoming. I love it.

3. The Murder Squash song: Because-- what?!?! LOL!

This book leaves me with sooo many questions!! I can't even fathom how the Raven Cycle will end. I can't wait to read it.

Jacque's Review

The primary focus of this book is not only on finding Glendower, but also Blue's mother who left at the end of the last book. Ronan and Adam develop a stronger relationship as they combine their skills to strengthen the ley line. We also discover why Ronan is working so hard to restore the "power" to his family farm.

There are a few additional characters that appear throughout this book. Malory, the older gentleman Gansey worked with in England while researching their ley line, came to stay with the Raven Boys for a while. He added some insight into what Gansey was like several years ago as well as assisting with the search for Glendower. Colin Greenmantle is not only the new Latin teacher at Aglionby Academy, but he has a connection with the Gray Man and ultimately to the Raven Boys. His wife, Piper, becomes a major character towards the end of this story as well.

One character dies in this book, which was completely unexpected. This rattled the remaining characters and is forcing them to continue their quest to find Glendower at a more rapid pace. If death can come so suddenly and without ceremony, it could happen to anyone. With the foretold death of a certain character in the first book in this series, it is even more important to those with this knowledge to find Glendower and receive a favor.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this entire series so far and can't wait to see how it will conclude. I am confident Blue and Gansey's relationship will continue to develop and they will find Glendower, so they can live happily ever after. Authors never make it quite that easy for us, but that is what I will be hoping for until the release of the final book next October.

Read our other reviews about The Raven Cycle:
The Raven Boys: http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2012/10/the-raven-boys-by-maggie-stiefvater.html

Flo Loves Adam Parrish: http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2012/12/12-days-of-fictional-boyfriends-day-8.html

The Dream Thieves: http://www.booknerdsacrossamerica.com/2013/12/the-dream-thieves-by-maggie-stiefvater.html

Friday, December 21, 2012

12 Days of Fictional Boyfriends: Day 8

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our Fictional Boyfriends and we thought it would be nice to do a "12 days of Fictional Boyfriends". It is like the "12 Days of Christmas" but with hot men!

Because I am having fun loving on the guys that my fellow Book Nerds will not, today's pick is...

Adam Parrish

This is from a Raven Boys dreamcast I grabbed from graceroths.tumblr.com.

So, I was a little bit of a slacker on the Book Nerds October read a long, so I didn't get to The Raven Boys until after Tee and Jacque had finished. They kept telling me that Gansey was going to be one of our fictional boyfriends. So I read a bit, met Gansey and thought, "Eh..." They told me to keep reading. I read some more and thought, "Eh..." Meanwhile, I kept insisting, "I like Adam! Adam is a cutie!" At the end of the day, I stand alone with Adam Parrish, and that's alright by me!

What's not to love about Adam?! He is a dedicated friend, a hard worker, and a gentle soul. Though he may take it a little too far, his pride will not let him accept handouts from those who would toss them to him like it was no big deal, because it wasn't. He is also, as Blue notes, brave. I believe her quote is something like, "I'm only going to say this once and then I'll be done with it: but I think you're awful brave."

Since I don't have the book with me, it was a little hard to find some good Adam quotes, but here are a couple I like:

“Don't take this the wrong way," Blue replied. Her cheeks felt a little warm, but she was well into this conversation and she couldn't back down now. "Because I know you're going to think I feel bad about it, and I don't." "All right." "Because I'm not pretty. Not in the way Aglionby boys seem to lie." "I go to Aglionby," Adam said. Adam did not seem to go to Aglinoby like other boys went to Aglionby. "I think you're pretty," he said.”

“She watched his throat move, and then, he reached out and touched her face. "You sure are pretty," he said. "It's the stone," she replied immediately. Her skin felt warm; his fingertip touched just the very edge of her mouth. "It's flattering." Adam gently pulled the stone out of her hand and a set it on the floorboards between them. Through his ingers he threaded one of the flyaway hairs by her cheek. "My mother used to say, 'Don't throw compliments away, so long as they're free." HIs face was very earnest. "That one wasn't meant to cost you anything, Blue."

I am so curious to see how his actions at the end of The Raven Boys will affect everything that is going to happen in the next book. Also, in light of the whole Gansey situation, I am pretty sure my heart may break at some point.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Jacque's Review:

The Raven Boys is the first book in a planned four book series. I really enjoyed all of the characters, but there was something missing. Perhaps it was the third person narration, but I'm not really sure that was the problem because I enjoyed hearing the story from the different characters' perspectives. I just never felt a true connection to the characters or the story until the last quarter of the book.

The first 270 out of 408 pages were very slow for me. We learn about Blue, a high school girl, and her relatives who are all psychics. We learn about "the raven boys" (Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah) personal histories. They are all from privileged families with one exception, but they are all attending a prestigious boarding school in Blue's hometown of Henrietta.

Gansey recruited all of his friends to help him explore the "ley line". He has conducted research around the world and has come to the realization that Henrietta has the most powerful ley line and Glendower, his ultimate quest, may be buried here. He just needs to find out where. Their investigation breaks wide open once they meet Blue. The closer they get to finding the ley line the more dangerous things become. They make an unusual discovery, which directly impacts their circle of friends. Once this discovery was made, I really started to enjoy the book. I just wish we were given this piece of information sooner. It shed light on many of the events that happened earlier in the book. I actually went back and reread several sections to better appreciate and understand them.

I am anxious to see what happens in the second book. Now that we are past all of the history and build up that was required for this story, the next book should pick up where this one left off. There was a lot of excitement and energy the last quarter of this book, which I hope Stiefvater will be able to build upon.

Teri's Review

I was able to read part of this book on a blog tour. Unfortunately somethings happened at work and I was unable to finish it before having to send it on its way to the next person. I have been waiting patiently ever since to get my hands back on it .

I was instantly drawn into the beginning. Blue seeing Gansey on the corpse road, knowing he will die within 12 months, wondering if she will be the cause of it. What is not to love right? And the whole St Mark's day background was fascinating to me. We get to meet Gansey a bit later, along with Adam, Ronan and Noah. Tho I found all these characters interesting to some degree I found the character building and the story building a bit slow in the middle, and at sometimes confusing. Thank goodness I have a Scot/Irish husband who has a fondness for Celtic Mythology and was able to help me understand the ley lines in more simple terms.

The characters are good, even if a bit strange. A few that stood out to me were Persephone. She reminded me of Luna Lovegood of Harry Potter. Maybe it was her odd ways, or her mass of blonde hair, but everytime she spoke in the book, I heard it in Luna's soft spoken childish voice. Maybe that is why I loved her so. I admired Adam and his determination . A poor boy trying to make it in a rich boy world. I did at times, however find myself telling him to stop being so full of pride and just take Gansey up on his offer. Ronan did little for me, maybe his purpose in the story will be clearer in future books. I just sort of found him strange and weird. I loved Noah, and how Stiefvater composed his character. You really pay him no attention until a bit later in the book, but she ties him in amazingly . Maybe the star of the book is suppose to be Blue, but for me it was all Gansey. From the moment she sees him on the Corpse Road, seemingly confused and defeated I was hooked. I loved all about him, his need for knowledge, his constant journal keeping, his quest, his description of his apartment, his polo and boat shoes and even his junky Camero.
Despite the slow middle, the book really picks up about 250 pages in...about the time my Nook needed to charge ..naturally. It ends on a good note. You could totally walk away and leave it, but nope not me. I can't wait to see if Gansey finds his grail.

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