I am going to be brutally honest with you guys. I have never been a fan of Stiefvater’s works. I have read two of her books and thought her overhyped. I mean, I enjoyed Ballad but was decidedly unimpressed with Shiver, plus with the whole “you guys write blog posts instead of reviews” hullabaloo, I thought I may as well keep my distance from her and the books she wrote. Until I went to the library the other day and found The Raven Boys staring at me slyly from the shelves, tempting me, singing sweet siren songs until I was overcome by helplessness and plucked it off the shelf, checked it out and bore it home in my book bag.Then it sat on my table, waiting for me to give me the attention I simply didn’t have time to give. Until one fated night when I, for some reason or the other, decided to give in and read a couple of chapters. I only meant to read a couple of chapters, I promise. I certainly didn’t intend to read the entire book in one sitting. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. However, I will say this now, I am glad I gave in to temptation and I am glad I decided to distance the author from her work because The Raven Boys is one of the best books I have read all year.I like quirky books. Books that present something different, offer something new and The Raven Boys did all that. The characterizations are one of the best aspects of the novel, each character is individuated and holds literary weight. Gansey, Adam, Noah and Ronan are all so strongly delineated with larger than life personalities that almost jump out of the pages and into real life. Blue, refreshingly enough, is not drowned out by the boys but holds her own as do her mother and the other two women. Even the villainous aunt has an individual spark to her as does the Latin teacher. I loved the dynamics of the relationships, all the relationships between the characters. The friendships and the enmities, the desperation, the misery, grief and despair. The love that cannot be and the love that should not be. The give and take of the friendship between the boys and the bewildered genius of Gansey who remains one of the most intriguing protagonists ever. Blue is interesting on her own, her reactions to people, her interest in Adam, her knowledge that her kiss will be fatal to her true love – all these elements come together to create a character with depth, a character you want to read about and go on a literary journey with.The beginning of the novel is fascinating. Dark, atmospheric and auguring a terrible grief. It spices up the narrative and warns the readers to not get too complacent and not to expect too much in the way of predictability. The plot has twists that you really cannot imagine, especially where one of the characters is concerned. I liked how sophisticated the narrative style is. Even though there is a large cast of characters and multiple viewpoints shown, there is no awkwardness in the transitions. The plot moves smoothly and does not hit a snag in a way that will jar the reader out of the narrative. I was surprised by Adam and Blue’s fledgling relationship because I was sure Gansey was the one but this just tells me that the author has more surprises up her sleeves. Adam is a fascinating character. His trajectory alone, his arc in the story alone could have made for a very readable book but woven into the narrative as it is, his story becomes intriguingly interspersed within the myriad experiences that construct The Raven Boys. I liked this one a lot, as I said before. If you want a strong story with incredible characters living incredible lives, read this book. I recommend it.
