The Raven Boys

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

"There are only two reasons a nonseer 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 best-selling 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.

©2012 Maggie Stiefvater (P)2012 Scholastic Audio

Cute for YA

I listened to this one ages ago and forgot how much I liked it. I love the relationship between Blue and the guys - it’s age appropriate and unique.

Each character feels real enough to touch

The author has a fantastic way of describing characters in an aching, poetic-yet-grounded way that I can't get enough of.

Also, the performance is brilliant. The narrator's ability to subtly adjust each character's voice is incredibly engaging.

I'm buying the next book RIGHT NOW! 😆

Unique & Intriguing!

This is my 2nd time listening to this series but the first time was years ago; I remembered enjoying it then & I really loved it all over again this time! I love rereading stories & picking up on things you didn’t the first time. Maggie has a way with a unique story with sprinkles of magic, found family, twists & love. I’ll be reading the accompanying series after this for the first time too!

The Rave boys series

I love how the book makes you feel like you are there, the start of how and who they are is remarkable how each book explains how and why things were happening I recommend these good reads or listen ..

Fascinating and Rich

I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of depth and wasn't simply an excuse to pair a girl with a harem of rich handsome boys.

Blue Sargeant is the daughter of a psychic and has lived with the supernatural all her life. But mysterious occurrences are starting to happen in Henrietta Virginia. And her fate appears to be inexplicably linked to four mysterious boys from the local elite academy.

I really like that the author delved into the background of each of the characters. As well, there were quite a few surprises as the plot unfolded and I found myself eagerly looking forward to each page of the story. Blue was an interesting character, well developed and plucky without being illogical about it. The boys were also interesting - not the knight in shining armor heroes but rather driven and haunted individuals looking to make sense of their lives.

This is definitely not a romance in the traditional YA sense. I eagerly look forward to where the author will take the storyline from here.

Good story but ending did not resolve plot.

It was a really good book but it stopped without tying things up neatly in the end as most books do. It felt like a part one, as opposed to a whole book

Good But...

I loved Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, so when I saw this under suggestions for me I grabbed it up. The story itself is interesting, but it is very hard to follow. Everything starts slowly and can be a little confusing with the back and forth from one character's view to another without any explanation of the back story. That being said, as soon as you get a few tidbits of how things were connected before everything falls into place and the story loses its stale confusing air. I will listening to the second book in the series shortly to continue in the story line.

Engaging and Extremely Entertaining

This is an exceptionally entertaining story that includes a girl whose kiss is going to kill her "true love," a "corpse road," and a character who has been dead for seven years. The characters are multidimensional, complete with baggage. Ms. Stiefvater manages to make us believe the paranormal bits which on the surface are beyond bizarre. I loved it!

Wow!

This was an awesome book and I'm looking forward to hearing more in the series. I loved all the characters and it was narrated perfectly. I can't wait to listen to book 2.

My new fave Stiefvater!

With this series, I would definitely rank Maggie Stiefvater as one of the best YA writers today. I'm writing this review after relistening to the first 3 books in the series -again-x3?- and just before #4 comes out. Can't wait!!! Book 1: the group is complete with the addition of Blue. Backgrounds on Blue, Gansey & Adam. Revelation about Noah. Things start to happen with the discovery of Cabeswater; Nemesis #1 dealt with. Ends with a surprise by Ronan, which starts Book 2.