Audiobooks

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome back to my blog, readers and writers!

Before we get to today’s review, I have some exciting news! I’m over halfway through draft two of my WIP The Fair Queen, and thought now would be a good time to share another excerpt (you may have read the first draft of my prologue when I shared it a few months ago).

So, now I’m sharing the first three chapters of The Fair Queen with you all! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it, email me, tweet me, or leave a comment on here.

All you have to do to get your chapters is sign up with your email address and you’ll receive a link to download them, and if you’re already subscribed there’ll be a link in every email so you can download and read them at your leisure!

Head over to my Books page to sign up by email and get your chapters!

Right, on with the review!

Let me start by saying that I am years behind, the final book in this series was published in 2016, and The Raven Cycle has been on my TBR for ages, but until I read The Scorpio Races recently and remembered how much I loved Maggie Stiefvater, it had languished at the bottom of the list. (I am ashamed. Too many books, too little time.)

Most of the book bloggers and readers I follow online absolutely adore this series, although some weren’t happy with the ending (I’ve only read the first book so far, so I can’t spoil that for you!). I heard that Maggie is writing a companion series about Ronan, so I’ll be looking forward to that when I finish. I’m going to try and avoid spoilers as much as possible – I’m desperate for some fan art, but Tumblr is a minefield!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is set in Henrietta, Virginia, a small town on a ley line, where psychics are real and magic exists. Gansey is searching for a dead Welsh king, and Blue is trying to avoid kissing any boys because her psychic mother and aunts have warned her that kissing her true love will result in his death.

“Impossibly, Blue realised that this other Blue was crying because she loved Gansey. And that the reason Gansey touched her like that, his fingers so careful with her, was because he knew that her kiss could kill him.”

Unlike her mother, Blue doesn’t have the Sight, but on St Mark’s day, she sees a spirit. The spirits that walk the corpse road on St Mark’s day are the people of the town that will die in the next twelve months. Mostly the sick and elderly. But this spirit is a young man, and for Blue to have seen him must mean that he is either her true love, or she is going to kill him. Or both.

The eponymous Raven Boys consist of:

Richard Gansey III, or just “Gansey” – a tortured soul in a Trust fund kid’s body.

“Gansey was just a guy with a lot of stuff and a hole inside him that chewed away more of his heart every year.”

Ronan Lynch – an angry, dark-humoured ruffian who drinks, swears and offends people. A lot.

“Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn’t know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves.”

Adam Parrish – a sweet, intelligent boy who works three jobs to pay for school and wants to make his own way in life.

“The most important thing to Adam Parrish, though, had always been free will, the ability to be his own master.
This was the important thing.
It had always been the important thing.
This was what it was to be Adam.”

Noah – a vague, gentle kid with a warm heart and cold hands.

“Noah appeared beside Blue. He looked joyful and adoring, like a Labrador retriever. Noah had decided almost immediately that he would do anything for Blue, a fact that would’ve needled Adam if it had been anyone other than Noah.”

All but Adam live together in an apartment building owned by Gansey, Monmouth Manufacturing. Adam lives in a double wide trailer with his parents, to his embarrassment, and works several jobs to pay for the half of his school fees that aren’t covered by a scholarship.

The emblem of Aglionby Academy, where the boys go to school, is a raven. Hence the name.

“Aglionby Academy was the number one reason Blue had developed her two rules: One, stay away from boys because they were trouble. And two, stay away from Aglionby boys, because they were bastards.”

The atmosphere of the book is heavy and intense, like a hot summer. For those few weeks in the story, it feels like everything Blue and the Raven Boys do is life-or-death, and it just might be. Stiefvater is brilliant at creating suspense and a sense of urgency, it’s slow-building, picking up speed with each surprise revelation along the way.

The plot, whilst gripping, is almost secondary to the relationships between the characters. I’ve seen the group described as “co-dependent” and that couldn’t be more accurate, I can’t think of another group of teens in a YA novel that need each other quite as much as these do.

“Gansey could’ve had any and all of the friends that he wanted. Instead he had chosen the three of them, three guys who should’ve, for three different reasons, been friendless.”

There are a lot of components to The Raven Boys, but Stiefvater commands them all effortlessly, and it never feels like a single element doesn’t quite fit. Combining Blue’s world of eccentric women, mysterious psychic abilities and strong principles with Gansey’s world of privilege, money and the all-consuming search for Owen Glendower, the lost Welsh king, takes real artistry, and Stiefvater makes it look easy.

I’m giving The Raven Boys 5 stars, it is definitely one of my new favourite books – probably not quite surpassing The Scorpio Races, if only because it’s the first in a series rather than a standalone and so I won’t be satisfied until I’ve read the entire series!

I would liken it to Beautiful Creatures, thematically, which I sadly didn’t finish, but this is definitely the better book!

Have you read The Raven Cycle? Which other books would you liken it to? If not, I can’t recommend it enough, stick it on your TBR or bump it up to the top, and let me know what you think of it!

Lyndsey

I am a member of the Book Depository affiliate program, so if you click through and buy any of the books mentioned in this blog I might make a little commission, but I am not paid to review books and all reviews are my own opinions!

Currently reading:

Audiobook

And I Darken by Kiersten White

I’m only about 50 pages into this but I’m enjoying it so far, it’s different to my usual YA reads because Lada starts off as a young girl and grows up throughout the book, so she’s only about 13 right now and already she’s a badass. It’s fascinating learning more about Romania and the Ottomans, and it’s a really interesting adaptation of the Vlad the Impaler/Dracula story.

Paperback

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

I finally finished my beta reading, so I’m going to dive back into this one because it’s been sitting on my bedside table for weeks now, untouched. I’ve heard there are dragons, so I’ll be picking this back up sharpish!

My growing TBR

Let’s not talk about the fact that I haven’t even read all of the books on my TBR from January.

Moving on! In the past two months, I have managed to acquire two new paperbacks and five audiobooks! I have, however, failed to join my local library and borrow any books, probably because of my already vertiginous to-be-read pile. There’s always next month.

Last night, I went to a local writers’ group. A local, published author, Julie Malone (pen name Jae Malone) who has written a series of middle grade fantasy novels about a boy from Nottingham, The Winterne Series, spoke about creating characters and world building. It was aimed at the fantasy genre, but most of Julie’s points were adaptable to every genre.

It was a really interesting talk, and reiterated the tips and advice I had already read about creating a fantasy world. It was reassuring to hear from a successful, published author that what I’m doing is right! Plus, now I have a huge list of fantasy authors to check out.

Everyone in the group was absolutely lovely, they meet fortnightly, with every other meeting being an informal ‘write-in’ where they are given a prompt and have to write as much as they can in an hour, and then share their work.

Having returned home from the group, I discovered that my lovely dog had decided to destroy my Illumicrate, which had arrived the day before. The box was absolutely shredded, and there were several teeth marks in one of the books. She is now banned from spending any time alone with any of my books, the little demon. Luckily, she didn’t actually eat any pages or damage it beyond reading, or she’d be for dinner tonight. Just kidding, she is my fur baby and any evil actions were probably learnt from me, I do love to devour books.

An unboxing of my Illumicrate (minus the box) will be up soon!

Right, on with the show, here’s what I’ll be reading if I ever get round to it.

Paperbacks

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

This was the first book I received in February’s Illumicrate, and it’s been on my wishlist since I first heard about it online. Based on the fairy tale about the Goblin King – and the movie, Labyrinth in which David Bowie played the character – it tells the story of Liesl, whose sister has been taken by goblins, and her quest to bring her back home.

The book is inspired by JJ’s love of music, Liesl composes songs with the Goblin King as her muse, having met him in the forest as a child. When the Goblin King refuses to let Kathe go without another maiden taking her place, Liesl volunteers. Captivated by the king, she finds that he still inspires her years later.

How amazing does that sound? I definitely feel the need to watch Labyrinth now!

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

This was the second book in my Illumicrate, a surprise ARC of Mark Lawrence‘s new book, the first in a new series called Book of the Ancestor.

I’m ashamed to say that I am yet to read a book by Lawrence, but I do have them all on my Audible wish list, ready to download at some point…That point has now been moved infinitely sooner! I get the impression this new series will be set in the same world as The Broken Empire and The Red Queen’s War, so I’ll have to work out if I need to read those series first.

According to the blurb, the Convent of Sweet Mercy trains young girls into lethally-skilled women, spending ten years teaching them to become deadly assassins. Women called Red Sisters. Nona Grey is eight years old and due to hang for a murder she didn’t commit. Saved from execution and taken to the convent, she must learn to become an assassin, but she can’t escape her secret and violent past.

Cannot wait to get to this one, it sounds right up my street. I tend towards YA fantasy, but a bit of adult fantasy will make a nice change and hopefully spark some ideas for my books.

King’s Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard

I’m currently listening to this one, but I have to say I’m struggling with it. This isn’t one of my favourite series, but I’m persevering to the end because I’ve invested so much time and want to see how it ends.

It’s not a bad series, loads of people love it, but it just hasn’t gripped me. I don’t like any of the characters, I’m not rooting for any of them – aside from the obvious division between right and wrong. I’m not a huge fan of the story, it’s heavy on the politics and war strategy, and I prefer stories that focus on the characters. Also, it seems to borrow heavily from a few others series that I have enjoyed a lot more, like The Hunger Games and The Grisha Trilogy.

My feelings on this book are that a lot of it could have been cut or condensed, making it a trilogy instead of a four book series. The bits where Mare is held captive are quite dull and drag on, and I don’t like Cameron’s POV. But that’s just me! You might love this one, don’t let me put you off!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I’ve heard a lot about this one, and it was on offer on Audible for £1.99, so I had to buy it. I’ve read that it’s similar to Caraval, which is a new book that I’m really keen to read, so I thought I’d check this out first so I can compare.

Le Cirque des Reves appears one day without warning, and is only open at night. It is utterly unique, unlike any circus you have ever seen. But behind the scenes, two young magicians, Celia and Marco, have been raised to compete in a game that can only end one way. Only one will be left standing. Until, they fall in love.

How magical does that sound? I absolutely cannot wait to listen to this one, I bet the audiobook will be fantastic. There are certain books that are just made for audio, they really come to life, and I can imagine this is one of them.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Another one I’ve downloaded thanks to the amazing reviews I’ve seen online, I wasn’t sure whether to get this one on audio or in paperback as I read that it includes footnotes and I wasn’t sure how that would work on audio, but the Audible reviews clinched it for me.

Mia Corvere is the daughter of an executed traitor, a fledgling assassin seeking vengeance against those who destroyed her family. Mia has an ability, she can speak to the shadows, and she is apprenticed to the deadliest group of assassins in the Republic, the Red Church. With a killer on the loose in the halls of the Church, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation going on in the shadows she so loves, will she survive initiation and have her revenge?

I can’t get enough of books about assassins, the Throne of Glass series is one of my absolute faves, and this sounds just like my cup of tea. Plus, apparently, there is a talking shadow cat, so yeah…

And I Darken by Kiersten White

This is a Dracula retelling where Vlad the Impaler is actually Lada Dragwyla, a brutal Wallachian princess torn between her gentle younger brother, Radu and Mehmed, the heir to the Ottoman throne.

I am really excited about this one, I’ve been desperate to read it for ages and can’t wait to get to it, but as you can see, I’ve got so many amazing books on my TBR!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

If you read my review of The Scorpio Races, you’ll know I’m a massive Stiefvater fan. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read The Raven Cycle yet, I know it’s most people’s favourite Stiefvater series, and it’s been on my radar for a long, long time, I just never got to it. But, now I have the first book and I think I’m going to listen to it next, despite not having the other three books, and having so many others in my library (that’s my Audible library, sadly I do not have a physical library in my house).

So, The Raven Boys centres around the myth of the Raven King, which is a Welsh legend about Bran the Blessed. It follows Blue and Gansey, the daughter of a clairvoyant who can’t see, and a rich, private school boy who, unhappy with his lot, goes on a strange and dangerous quest, with his three friends. Blue has always known that she will be the cause of her true love’s death, and now she is being drawn to Gansey and starting to worry about what that means.

I have high hopes for this one, thanks to the buzz it gets online, so it better not let me down! Especially, after I adored The Scorpio Races.

So, those are the books I have added to my TBR in the last two months! What with the several books from my last update that I still haven’t read, I definitely don’t need to be buying any more books for a while! I wish I could read more quickly, but I’m still editing my novel, and beta reading for a couple of writer friends.

I also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo this week, which takes place in April, and I thought was a real life camp, like a writers retreat, but have discovered is all online, like the November version. So, yeah, I’m pretty busy for the next couple of months! If you’re taking part in Camp Nano, add me as a buddy, I’m lyndleloo (same as on Twitter and Instagram!).

Lyndsey

Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I am a big Stiefvater fan, having read The Wolves of Mercy Falls series and Books of Faerie (Lament and Ballad – still waiting for that third book, Maggie!) years ago. The Scorpio Races had been on my list for so long, but to be brutally honest I wasn’t sure about the premise. Flesh-eating water horses? A standalone?? No sequels???

How wrong I was. This novel is perfection! Yes, I am gutted that there won’t be a second or third instalment, but the story tied up so neatly at the end that I can’t even complain.

TL;DR Every November flesh-eating water horses crawl out of the sea onto the island of Thisby, and riders race them on the beach to win money. The boy who wins every year wants to buy his horse off the stables he works for. A girl who’s parents were both killed by the horses needs to win enough money to save the house she and her brothers live in. Throw in magic, rituals, an island with its own personality and a supporting cast of vividly drawn characters, and you’ve got The Scorpio Races.

This book has one of the best opening lines in all of literature (according to me):

“It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.”

If that doesn’t suck you into the story and make you want to read it, nothing will. But I’ll go on anyway…

Stiefvater (pronounced steve-otter, the things you learn listening to audiobooks) based the book on the myth of the Capaill Uisce (pronounced ca-pull ish-ka – again, audiobooks), which is a legendary Celtic water horse that lives in the sea and eats human flesh.

At the end of the audiobook, Maggie read her Author’s Notes, and explained some of the inspiration for the story. She got the idea to write about water horses when she was younger, but she was never happy with the story she created or how the myth fit into it. In the end, she realised she could pick and choose which bits of the myth she wanted and which bits to discard. So, her version of the Capaill is different to every other.

Back to the story, then. The action takes place on an island just off the mainland called Thisby. We’re never told the name of the mainland, but the audiobook is narrated by two Brits, so I like to imagine it’s England, and Thisby is maybe the Isle of Wight? The aesthetics of the island fit for me, and the Isle of Wight is a major sailing mecca, so the idea of Thisby as a big racing community (albeit, on horses instead of yachts) makes sense to me.

The island is almost a character within itself, the residents regularly refer to Thisby as though it is a living thing rather than a piece of land. Especially, when the riders each had to make a blood sacrifice to mark their participation in the races, I felt that the island was more than just the place where the characters lived, it had a power over them.

“Tell me what to wish for. Tell me what to ask the sea for.”
“To be happy. Happiness.”
“I don’t think such a thing is had on Thisby. And if it is, I don’t know how you would keep it.”

One of the major themes in the book is the choice between staying on Thisby and leaving for the mainland – this is the root of one of the main conflicts of the story. For many, the island has a grip on them that they don’t understand, for others, the island is oppressive and they need to get away.

The mystical elements in the book were really interesting – the horses themselves and the magic they seemed to possess, convincing humans to walk into the sea and be dragged under or eaten. The luring power of the sea to both the horses and the men – Sean is constantly referred to as having one foot on the land and one foot in the sea. The festival where the woman in the horse head mask gave Sean a seashell to wish upon. There were lots of references to superstitions, rituals and beliefs held by the people of Thisby.

My favourite thing about the book, though, was the characters. Sean is a stoic, reserved nineteen-year-old, whose father was a rider before him, and has won the Scorpio Races four times in the last six years. He has a way with the horses, both normal and Capaill Uisce, and his Uisce mount, Corr, is the fastest and most loyal horse on the island. Kate, or Puck as everyone calls her, is a strong-willed, resilient girl, living with her two brothers since the death of both of their parents at the hands of the Capaill Uisce. She decides to take part in the Scorpio Races, despite her brothers’ protests, in order to win enough money to make sure they don’t lose the house they grew up in.

Both Sean and Puck had such strong motivations and reasons for winning that I found it impossible to decide who I was rooting for to win.

I loved the incredibly slow-burning romance between them, it was far more believable than many YA romances, especially with two such independent, stubborn and hard-headed characters. They were a perfect fit!

“I think every now and then about Sean’s thumb pressed against my wrist and daydream about him touching me again. But mostly I think about the way he looks at me – with respect – and I think that’s probably worth more than anything.”

I gave The Scorpio Races 5 stars, it’s my new favourite by Maggie Stiefvater, but I have heard nothing but good things about The Raven Cycle, which is next on my list now!

The one question I have left over is whether the book has any further links to A Midsummer Night’s Dream than the names of Thisby and Puck? I Googled it, but haven’t found a definitive answer. I’m just curious because the names of some of my characters (Auberon, Xander and Baz Demitree) are inspired by the play too (Oberon, Lysander and Demetrius).

If you read and enjoyed any of Stiefvater’s other books and haven’t picked this one up yet, do it now! It’s the best audiobook I have listened to in months, if not ever. The performances were excellent, with Steve West reading for Sean and Fiona Hardingham for Puck.

Have you read The Scorpio Races? Did you love it? Tell me in the comments, I must know! And, how perfect is this image? She reminds me so much of Puck 🙂

Lyndsey