Blue is the only non-psychic in a household of psychic women, and all of them have predicted with certainty that when she kisses her true love, he will die. On St. Mark’s Eve, when the veil between the world of the living and the dead has lifted, she sees her first ghost, who identifies himself as Gansey before fading away. Her aunt, Neeve tells her that beca
Gansey turns out to be a student at Aglionby, an expensive private boarding school for boys with a raven as its mascot, obsessed with finding Glendower, a Welsh king he believes was transported near where the school is located. He has drawn his friends into his search: Ronan, another wealthy and very troubled boy; Noah, an insubstantial boy; and Adam, a town boy who works to pay for his schooling. When Blue and Adam become involved, she begins to spend her free time with the boys searching for Glendower and magical places of power that might lead to him. Gansey and Blue recognize each other from their encounter on St. Mark’s Eve, but she does not enlighten him as to what that means. Their search leads them to what they suspect is a possible “spirit road” that could lead them to Glendower if they can wake it with the right ritual.
Gansey and his friends are not the only ones seeking Glendower, though. Blue’s ambitious Aunt Neeve and Barrington Whelk, an unsavory teacher at Aglionby who sought the power of the spirit road when he was a student there, are also planning to attempt the ritual before Gansey and his friends can wake the spirit road.
The Raven Boys has been nominated for a Stoker Award for Best Young Adult Novel, but I’m not sure why that is. While it does have supernatural activity, it’s not actually scary. In fact, it’s not even suspenseful, because we know that Gansey is Blue’s true love from the very first pages, so the angst she feels over getting involved with Adam seems forced. The relationships between the women in Blue’s home and between the “raven boys” were the highlight of the book.
I didn’t find Blue to be an especially sympathetic, likable, or well-developed character. I can’t tell if this is on purpose or not, because Stiefvater did a great job of developing Gansey, as well as the supporting and minor characters, often with just a few sentences. As this is the first in a trilogy, I am hoping she’ll do a little more with Blue in the next book, give Gansey some challenges his money can’t overcome, and reveal a little more about the ongoing conflict between Ronan and his brother. The Raven Boys is a nicely readable and entertaining urban fantasy, but teen horror readers looking for a good scare will be disappointed.
Contains: Violence, the supernatural
Reviewed by: Kirsten Kowalewski