Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her. 

His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

---

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is a series that honestly wasn’t really on my radar at all. I knew of the books & had seen them around Bookstagram, but for one reason or another, it wasn’t a series I had given much thought to. But a close friend is a HUGE fan of the series, was kind enough to gift me a beautiful hardcover of THE RAVEN BOYS, and well…here we are.

And wow. WOW!! I fucking adored this book & devoured it in just a couple of days. It’s always fun going into a book not knowing much about it at all, and that was the case for me here. THE RAVEN BOYS is just instantly engaging & atmospheric, sharply written, and the cast of characters is super memorable.

While it’s truly an ensemble cast, at the heart of the story is Blue Sargent, a teenager from Henrietta, Virginia. Henrietta is home to a private all-boys school called Aglionby Academy. Henrietta is also right on top of a ley line, which lends a mysterious & supernatural vibe to the town.

Blue lives with her mother & a house full of women, all of whom are psychics. Except for Blue. But Blue has a unique attribute: her presence sort’ve amplifies the ability of a nearby psychic. On a hallowed night in a creepy churchyard, Blue has a chance encounter with the spirit of a boy named Gansey.

Only, it turns out Gansey is very much alive & is about to become a big part of Blue’s life. In another story, Gansey could be a stereotypical prep school boy: his family is fantastically rich, he’s handsome in an All-American Boy kinda way, and he could have the world at his fingertips. Instead, he has an obsession with the supernatural, drives a shitty orange Camaro called “The Pig,” and lives in a strange warehouse with his closest friends. He’s kind of like the moral center of this group of friends, and he cares deeply for each of them. He can be a little out of touch when it comes to money, but there’s something so pure about Gansey. I just loved this character so damn much.

You really get to know these kids quite well over the course of the book, as this is an incredibly character driven story. In fact, if I’m honest, THE RAVEN BOYS is rather lightly plotted. But it works. Really fucking well. There’s something fundamentally compelling about this whole group of people…Gansey & Blue & Ronan & Adam & Noah…I’m invested in these characters already, and I’m anxious to catch up with them again.

I really got the sense that THE RAVEN BOYS was setting the table for the rest of the series. This one particular supernatural quest that has consumed so much of Gansey’s time seems like it’s about to spiral into Some Really Serious Shit. And I’m here for it.

I’m not sure what else I can say here…I loved this book a lot…oof. It’s just moody & weird & vivid…there’s a sort of fun/romantic adventure vibe about things, but also this undercurrent of true darkness. Yeah, this was fucking radical…

*slams ADD TO CART button for the rest of the series*