Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: First published & Audio unabridged edition on September 18, 2012
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 409 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 11 hours
Narrator: Will Patton
Source: Library Loan via Overdrive
Genre: YA Paranormal
Review Date: July 10, 2013
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: 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.
Release Date: First published & Audio unabridged edition on September 18, 2012
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: 409 (Hardcover) / Audio Length: Approx 11 hours
Narrator: Will Patton
Source: Library Loan via Overdrive
Genre: YA Paranormal
Review Date: July 10, 2013
Rating: 3 bookmarks
Synopsis: 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.
Let me say, I think that this book had a lot of hype last year. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly deliver to the heights that I expected. I gave rated this a 3 only because I don't do half ratings. If I did, I'd give this 2.5, but instead it got a bump to 3. Thanks to SYNC's free summer downloads, I got this audio book for free! Yes, FREE! And I didn't even have to return it! I have the ebook version, via Net Galley, but I never had time to get to it. This book seemed to always get pushed back lower and lower down the TBR list. Finally thanks to SYNC, I was finally able to get to it, on audio!
Now on to the book. I'll start with the things that I definitely liked. I like that in comparison to Maggie's previous trilogy, Shiver, this book was much more complex and a tad older feeling. So instead of a tweeny feel, it was more appropriate for older teens. I appreciated a male narrator! Love it. It's been ages since I've listened to an male voice on audio and his voice fit.
I didn't exactly grasp what the main theme in the book was about. Themes included magic, ghosts, psychics, lay lines and murder. Some parts were a bit creepy, which was cool, as it is partially a ghost story of sorts. The romance factor was really odd. The synopsis leads us to believe the romance was all about Blue and Gansey, but it really wasn't that way. For 80% off the book or so Blue didn't like Gansey and instead sort of liked one of his friends. Never once did this story did I even feel like Blue thought Gansey was her true love. Very strange.
Blue was an interesting character. I liked her over all. She's a loner, no friends of her own. She mostly is with her mother and mom's psychic friends. She seems pretty level headed, not to much whining and she's witty and smart. Gansey on the other hand is a bit snobbish, never thinks before he talks and he's the ring leader of his group of friends and seemed almost fatherly to them all. I'm not even sure how I felt about his character. His friends all have interesting stories, especially one of them. I don't want to get into spoilers, but there was an interesting twist in regards to one of these boys,
I don't have much else to say about this book to be honest. It was just "okay". The story kept my attention and over all was entertaining. Most likely, I will not continue on with the series. I feel that there are way too many excellent books out there to waste time on so-so ones, especially series. I don't want to be invested, time-wise into a series that doesn't grab me right off or at the very least has something about it that makes me want to continue just to see what happens. In this case, this book had neither.
Talk to me peeps! What did you think of this book?
Happy Reading,
~Tamara
