The Raven Boys

Book Cover
Average Rating
Series
Raven cycle volume 1
Publisher
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Publication Date
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language
English

Description

An all-new series from the masterful, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

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.

More Details

Contributors
ISBN
9780545424929
9781338252828
9780545469791

Discover More

Also in this Series

  • The Raven Boys (Raven cycle Volume 1) Cover
  • The dream thieves (Raven cycle Volume 2) Cover
  • Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Raven cycle Volume 3) Cover
  • The Raven King: book IV of the Raven cycle (Raven cycle Volume 4) Cover

Excerpt

Loading Excerpt...

Author Notes

Loading Author Notes...

Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Both of these fantasy series blend mythology with the modern world (Arthurian legends in Raven Cycle and Norse mythology in United States of Asgard). Though Raven Cycle is creepier, both series blend developing romance with complex plots. -- Alina Gerall
Bringing ancient mythology into the modern world, these urban fantasy series deftly integrate the contemporary with the historical and make the paranormal painfully real. Raven Boys is more atmospheric and eerie, while Goddess War is more action-filled. -- Jennifer Brannen
Although Diviners is a 1920s historical fantasy series and Raven Cycle is an urban fantasy quartet, both feature strong paranormal/supernatural elements, complex plots and relationships between many characters, an atmospheric, romantic tone, and LGBTQIA diverse characters as the series progress. -- Rachel Morris
These paranormal romance series examine what happens when the spirit world overlaps with our own. Both focus on gifted teens searching for answers while juggling a possibly-dangerous romance. Though both series are creepy, Past Midnight is faster paced. -- Alina Gerall
Both of these atmospheric paranormal romance series follow teenage girls with psychic powers. Though Winterhaven is faster paced and Raven Cycle is creepier, both series include a compelling blend of mystery and romance. -- Alina Gerall
These compelling and atmospheric series blur the line between the spirit world and the world of the living. Both lyrical, leisurely paced romances follow teens drawn to each other amidst the turmoil of supernatural experiences and abilities. -- Alina Gerall
These series have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genres "urban fantasy" and "dark fantasy"; and the subjects "supernatural," "teenage boys," and "magic."
These series have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the themes "quest for magical items" and "dark academia"; the genre "dark fantasy"; the subjects "supernatural," "magic," and "demons"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These series have the theme "quest for magical items"; the subject "magic"; and include the identities "lgbtqia+" and "gay."
These series have the appeal factors creepy, leisurely paced, and intricately plotted, and they have the genre "horror"; the subjects "psychics," "supernatural," and "paranormal phenomena"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These series have the genre "urban fantasy"; and the subjects "supernatural," "ghosts," and "werewolves."
These series have the appeal factors intricately plotted, and they have the genre "urban fantasy"; the subjects "clairvoyance," "magic," and "visions"; and characters that are "complex characters."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted and multiple perspectives, and they have the genres "urban fantasy" and "contemporary fantasy"; the subjects "supernatural," "soul," and "secrets"; and characters that are "complex characters."
The fascinators - Eliopulos, Andrew
We recommend The Fascinators for readers who enjoy The Raven Cycle. Both are urban fantasy novels with LGBTQIA diverse characters. -- Jamie Langer
These intricately plotted fantasy series starters draw from British history (Owain Glyndŵr for Raven) and legend (Arthurian tradition for Legendborn) to combine them with mid-Atlantic Americana. Both novels feature haunting tones and intelligent, independent teen girl leads. -- Abby Hargreaves
Teen girls are drawn to alluring boys after having psychic experiences in these atmospheric paranormal romances. Heaven is fast-paced whereas Raven Boys' creepy story unfolds at a more leisurely pace. -- Beth Gerall
Though Grimoire Noir is a graphic novel and Raven Boys is told in prose, both of these atmospheric paranormal stories feature girls with mysterious magical powers and a search for a lost person. -- Stephen Ashley
NoveList recommends "Diviners" for fans of "Raven cycle". Check out the first book in the series.
While The Raven Boys is the first in a series and The Leaf Reader is a standalone, both of these atmospheric novels about those with psychic ability feature strong female protagonists, lyrical writing, and romance tinged with darkness. -- Stephen Ashley
Readers who enjoy paranormal romances and can let a story build gradually will be rewarded with either of these compelling tales where young teens are drawn to each other through supernatural experiences and newly awakened abilities. -- Beth Gerall
NoveList recommends "Goddess war" for fans of "Raven cycle". Check out the first book in the series.
Romance and menace gradually intensify in these compelling novels. Although the outcomes are different, particularly since Raven in the first in a series, the sense of living with a supernatural burden haunts both tellings. -- Diane Colson
These books have the subjects "clairvoyance," "psychics," and "spirits"; include the identity "lgbtqia+"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These urban fantasies are perfect for readers who appreciate a leisurely paced, unusual storyline filled with mystery and folklore. Fantastical creatures coexist with humans in Forest, while in Raven magical aspects subtly -- and believably -- mix with real life. -- Heather Cunningham

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Teenage fans of paranormal fantasy with strong romantic subplots will find many similarities between Maggie Stiefvater and Andrea Cremer. Both authors write popular supernatural series with suspenseful, mystery-driven plots and tons of steamy scenes. -- Pamela Manasco
Though Francesca Lia Block's work is grittier and more provocative than Maggie Stiefvater's, their books for teens blend urban fantasy, magic, and romance with alienation and angst typical of teenage years. Both writers' work is lush, lyrical, and stylistically complex. -- Kelly White
Both Brenna Yovanoff and Maggie Stiefvater share a knack for writing lyrical YA urban fantasies which feature emotionally realistic characters in fantastical circumstances, along with compelling plots, unexpected wit, and elements of folklore. -- Jennifer Brannen
Although Taylor's style is more lush and lengthy than Stiefvater's, both write with memorable lyricism, crafting intricate plots, richly detailed settings, pulse-pounding romance, and intensifying suspense. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
These authors write suspenseful paranormal romance series about teens with magical powers who face grave danger while unraveling secrets at their school. Tracy Wolff also writes romance for adults; Maggie Stiefvater writes primarily for teens. -- CJ Connor
Tessa Gratton and Maggie Stiefvater write fantasy novels for teens who like complicated romances mixed in with magic. Both authors dabble in fantasy genres like urban fantasy and mythology-inspired contemporary fantasy, and are known for lyrical writing, which often includes intricate world-building and star-crossed lovers. -- Pamela Manasco
Reality, magic, and the paranormal are all at play in the atmospheric and angsty works of Maggie Stiefvater and Moira Fowley-Doyle; books by both authors will captivate readers looking for ghosts and curses alongside authentic emotions and complex relationships. -- Rebecca Honeycutt
These authors' works have the genres "paranormal romances" and "paranormal fiction"; and the subjects "teenage romance," "crushes in teenagers," and "psychics."
These authors' works have the genre "paranormal romances"; and the subjects "dreams," "teenage boy-girl relations," and "teenage romance."
These authors' works have the genres "urban fantasy" and "paranormal romances"; and the subjects "shapeshifters," "psychics," and "fairies."
These authors' works have the genres "paranormal romances" and "dark fantasy"; and the subjects "end of the world," "prophecies," and "women rulers."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the genres "paranormal fiction" and "dark fantasy"; and the subjects "fairies," "elves," and "magic spells."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* The latest from Stiefvater, author of the Printz Honor Book The Scorpio Races (2011), defies easy synopsis. Consider that it is the story of 16-year-old Blue, from a family of psychics though she herself is not one. However, she does have the gift of amplifying others' psychic experiences. Oh, and she has been told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. Then there are wealthy, handsome Gansey and his three friends, Adam, Ronan, and Noah, all of whom are Raven Boys, students at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. Gansey is obsessed with finding the body of the legendary sleeping king of Wales, Owen Glendower, using ley lines, invisible lines of energy that connect spiritual places. That a sinister someone else is also searching for the sleeping king adds chill-inducing danger to the complex and artful plot. Indeed, reading this novel is like walking through a tangled thicket and coming across one unexpected and wonderful surprise after another. In that respect, the book is marvelous, for not only is it filled with marvels but it is also a marvel of imagination and, more prosaically, structure. Rich, too, in characterization, this fantasy-mystery rises to the level of serious literature, leaving readers hungering for more. And more there will be, for this is the first volume of a planned quartet. Waiting for the next book in the Raven Cycle will indeed be a test of readers' patience. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Stiefvater's readership grows with each book she puts out, and the 150,000-copy first printing hints that this might be her biggest splash yet.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Publisher's Weekly Review

By grounding this new series in what might be called everyday weirdness-a rich teenager's obsession with legend and glory, a shabby household of female psychics with a pay-per-minute hotline-Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races) avoids the burden of building a seamless alternate world, instead saturating our reality with magic. Haunting, distinctly individual characters are at the forefront: Blue, an outsider in her own home because she isn't clairvoyant; Gansey and his posse of misfits, who lack any sense of home and seek meaning elsewhere; and Barrington Whelk, a Latin teacher with a secret. Gansey and his fellow "raven boys" attend exclusive Aglionby Academy-itself out of place in working-class Henrietta, Va.-and Blue's goal is to avoid them at any cost. She can't, of course, but Stiefvater doesn't rush this inevitability. Hopes, fears, quirks, and forebodings gather gradually, coalescing as living portraits. It's a tour de force of characterization, and while there is no lack of event or mystery, it is the way Stiefvater's people live in the reader's imagination that makes this such a memorable read. Ages 13-up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Powered by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-Blue was born into a psychic family with the misfortune of having no psychic ability of her own. However, her presence helps others "see" more clearly, which has led to every psychic she's ever met predicting that if Blue were to kiss her true love, he would die. Not interested in boys yet and especially repulsed by the snooty lot at Aglionby Academy, she decides to simply never kiss anyone. When she has her first clairvoyant experience, it's not as thrilling as she had hoped. She sees that Gansey, a boy from Aglionby, will die within the next year. She can't get him out of her mind, a task made impossible when she meets him and his three friends. The Raven Boys, as Aglionby students are called, rope her into helping them with their mission: to locate a ley line. The line of energy could possibly connect them to the past and to the legendary "sleeping" Welsh king, Glendower, who will grant the one who awakens him a reward. Their quest puts each of them in harm's way, made more imminent when Blue finally starts to feel as if her kiss of death is going to be a real problem. First in a planned quartet, The Raven Boys is an incredibly rich and unique tale, a supernatural thriller of a different flavor. The cinematic feel paces the novel well, and the many pieces of the story unfold with grace. The complicated relationships between the Raven boys and Blue are not of the standard main character/love interest variety and makes the curious plot all the more enthralling. Fans have been salivating for Stiefvater's next release and The Raven Boys delivers.-Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, NJ (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Syndetics

Horn Book Review

According to legend, a medieval Welsh nobleman named Glendower vanished to avoid capture after the English defeated his army. Fast-forward to present-day Henrietta, Virginia, where four boys at exclusive private school Aglionby believe that Glendower is eternally sleeping and was brought over to the New World centuries ago along ley lines, "mystical energy roads that connect spiritual places." Friends Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah have been searching for Henrietta's ley line, hoping it will lead them to Glendower. Local sixteen-year-old Blue Sargent also knows about ley lines because her mother is a psychic who channels their energy. When the four "Raven Boys" befriend Blue, her knowledge and unusual ability to heighten energy help them awaken the Henrietta ley line. What that action may mean for future installments is left unknown, except that as fate intertwines lives in a town where everyone is keeping secrets, there will be plenty of mysteries to solve and dangers to overcome. This first book alternates between several voices, initially difficult to follow, but as Stiefvater reveals more information about the characters, their motives, and the fantasy aspects of the novel, the narration technique becomes effective. However, Stiefvater's prose style falls flat in several noticeable places, and there are numerous typos that regrettably disengage the reader from the narrative. Still, the overall fast pace, intriguing concept, and plot filled with psychics and ghosts -- plus the unanswered questions at book's end -- will leave readers forgiving of flaws as they await book two. cynthia k. ritter (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Syndetics

Kirkus Book Review

An ancient Welsh king may be buried in the Virginia countryside; three privileged boys hope to disinter him. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Blue Sargent, daughter of a small-town psychic, has lived her whole life under a prophecy: If she kisses her true love, he will die. Not that she plans on kissing anyone. Blue isn't psychic, but she enhances the extrasensory power of anyone she's near; while helping her aunt visualize the souls of people soon to die, she sees a vision of a dying Raven boy named Gansey. The Raven Boys--students at Aglionby, a nearby prep school, so-called because of the ravens on their school crest--soon encounter Blue in person. From then on, the point of view shifts among Blue; Gansey, a trust-fund kid obsessed with finding King Glendower buried on a ley-line in Virginia; and Adam, a scholarship student obsessed with his own self-sufficiency. Add Ronan, whose violent insouciance comes from seeing his father die, and Noah, whose first words in the book are, "I've been dead for seven years," and you've got a story very few writers could dream up and only Stiefvater could make so palpably real. Simultaneously complex and simple, compulsively readable, marvelously wrought. The only flaw is that this is Book 1; it may be months yet before Book 2 comes out. The magic is entirely pragmatic; the impossible, extraordinarily true. (Fantasy. 13 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* The latest from Stiefvater, author of the Printz Honor Book The Scorpio Races (2011), defies easy synopsis. Consider that it is the story of 16-year-old Blue, from a family of psychics though she herself is not one. However, she does have the gift of amplifying others' psychic experiences. Oh, and she has been told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. Then there are wealthy, handsome Gansey and his three friends, Adam, Ronan, and Noah, all of whom are "Raven Boys," students at the prestigious Aglionby Academy. Gansey is obsessed with finding the body of the legendary sleeping king of Wales, Owen Glendower, using ley lines, invisible lines of energy that connect spiritual places. That a sinister someone else is also searching for the sleeping king adds chill-inducing danger to the complex and artful plot. Indeed, reading this novel is like walking through a tangled thicket and coming across one unexpected and wonderful surprise after another. In that respect, the book is marvelous, for not only is it filled with marvels but it is also a marvel of imagination and, more prosaically, structure. Rich, too, in characterization, this fantasy-mystery rises to the level of serious literature, leaving readers hungering for more. And more there will be, for this is the first volume of a planned quartet. Waiting for the next book in the Raven Cycle will indeed be a test of readers' patience. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Stiefvater's readership grows with each book she puts out, and the 150,000-copy first printing hints that this might be her biggest splash yet. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.
Powered by Content Cafe

Library Journal Reviews

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been told that her fate is to kiss her true love and cause him to die. Her family of psychics takes these warnings seriously, and for this reason, among others, she avoids the arrogant Raven Boys of Aglionby, an exclusive all-male private school in her small Virginia town that sports the dark bird on its crest and tailored uniforms. Then on St. Mark's Eve (when the shades of those who will die in the next year reveal themselves), Blue sees an apparition in the tell-tale Aglionby uniform who identifies himself only as Gansey. Later she meets the ill-fated Gansey and his crew‚ brooding Ronan, affable Adam, and rumpled Noah‚ and, despite her misgivings, decides to help them on a project of supernatural scope. They wish to wake an ancient power beneath the land. Unbeknownst to our teenaged paranormal explorers, some devious adults are on the same trail and will stop at nothing to harness the power for themselves. Blue's mixed feelings are easy to understand. It would be hard to resist kissing even one of these endearing fellows, let alone four. Alas, Stiefvater leaves her ultimate fate hanging in the balance. The book is the first in a series starring these Raven Boys. Fresh from the success of her award-winning The Scorpio Races,¬†Stiefvater again proves that she does, indeed, rock. — "35 Going on 13" LJ Reviews 7/19/12 (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Content Cafe

Publishers Weekly Reviews

By grounding this new series in what might be called everyday weirdness—a rich teenager's obsession with legend and glory, a shabby household of female psychics with a pay-per-minute hotline—Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races) avoids the burden of building a seamless alternate world, instead saturating our reality with magic. Haunting, distinctly individual characters are at the forefront: Blue, an outsider in her own home because she isn't clairvoyant; Gansey and his posse of misfits, who lack any sense of home and seek meaning elsewhere; and Barrington Whelk, a Latin teacher with a secret. Gansey and his fellow "raven boys" attend exclusive Aglionby Academy—itself out of place in working-class Henrietta, Va.—and Blue's goal is to avoid them at any cost. She can't, of course, but Stiefvater doesn't rush this inevitability. Hopes, fears, quirks, and forebodings gather gradually, coalescing as living portraits. It's a tour de force of characterization, and while there is no lack of event or mystery, it is the way Stiefvater's people live in the reader's imagination that makes this such a memorable read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Sept.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC

Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC
Powered by Content Cafe

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 8 Up—Blue was born into a psychic family with the misfortune of having no psychic ability of her own. However, her presence helps others "see" more clearly, which has led to every psychic she's ever met predicting that if Blue were to kiss her true love, he would die. Not interested in boys yet and especially repulsed by the snooty lot at Aglionby Academy, she decides to simply never kiss anyone. When she has her first clairvoyant experience, it's not as thrilling as she had hoped. She sees that Gansey, a boy from Aglionby, will die within the next year. She can't get him out of her mind, a task made impossible when she meets him and his three friends. The Raven Boys, as Aglionby students are called, rope her into helping them with their mission: to locate a ley line. The line of energy could possibly connect them to the past and to the legendary "sleeping" Welsh king, Glendower, who will grant the one who awakens him a reward. Their quest puts each of them in harm's way, made more imminent when Blue finally starts to feel as if her kiss of death is going to be a real problem. First in a planned quartet, The Raven Boys is an incredibly rich and unique tale, a supernatural thriller of a different flavor. The cinematic feel paces the novel well, and the many pieces of the story unfold with grace. The complicated relationships between the Raven boys and Blue are not of the standard main character/love interest variety and makes the curious plot all the more enthralling. Fans have been salivating for Stiefvater's next release and The Raven Boys delivers.—Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, NJ

[Page 150]. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.