Publication Date: September 19th 2012
Publisher: Scholastic
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult
Owned, Paperback, 454 pages
Synopsis:
Even if Blue hadn't been told her true love would die if she kissed him, she would stay away from boys. Especially the ones from the local private school. Known as Raven Boys, they only mean trouble.
But this is the year that everything will change for Blue.
This is the year that she will be drawn into the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys. And the year Blue will discover that magic does exist.
This is the year she will fall in love.
My review: ★★★★☆
"She recognized the strange happiness that came from loving something without knowing why you did, that strange happiness that was sometimes so big that it felt like sadness."
Reading this book required a good lot of patience. This masterpiece was mysterious, so magically mysterious that it had burnt a fair amount of my reading time to slowly devour the descriptive details. It was like a match - the plot constantly intrigued you, and you'd let curiosity to lure you in, hence you stayed and it unfolded layer by layer as you read, but still not enough to be fully grasped and thus hardly got you excited; it was still perplexing when you turned to the last page.
But the book was undoubtedly, beautifully written. The sentences were delicate with omniscient style that it felt like you were not merely reading. In fact, it occasionally sent me chills because it read like someone was narrating the ghostly atmosphere to me, and the scene was vividly depicted on my mind.
All of the characters in this imaginative story were very dynamic and distinctive from each other. Blue was unique and unlike the other heroins we had normally seen, eccentric but strong-minded. And there was a group of tight-knitted Raven boys - Adam, a boy who'd always yearned for more and strived to be better; Ronan, a troubled teenager who hid untold regrets and secrets with constant anger; Noah, who spoke the least and held the thinnest sense of existence but apparently knew more than the others; and also, Gansey, like a pack leader of four with some vulnerably soft spots who restlessly obsessed with the supernatural.
Speaking of which, I adored seeing the desperate side of Gansey. Perhaps it was the whimsical writing style that could speak through the words, I found his need to do something meaningful with life, the fear of oblivion was rather relatable. And oh, his banters with Blue were oftentimes entertaining and hilarious too!
"I guess I make things that need energy stronger. I'm like a walking battery.""You're the table everyone wants at Starbucks," Gansey mused as he began to walk again. Blue blinked. "What?"Over his shoulder, Gansey said, "Next to the wall plug."
All in all, I was utterly enthralled by the beauty of this book. Despite being confused at times, I loved the way Maggie Stiefvater played with words to allow readers to effortlessly see the beauty in ordinary things.
"In the end, he was nobody to Adam, he was nobody to Ronan. Adam spit his words back at him and Ronan squandered however many second chances he gave him. Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that chewed away more of his heart every year."
Perfect for this book:
Are you going to age with grace?
Are you going to age without mistakes?
Are you going to age with grace
or only to wake and hide your face?
When oblivion is calling out your name
You always take it further than I ever can
With love,
