There are apparently more in this series, but I think I'll end it here. I've seen it talked about a lot on bookstagram and I'm glad I got it out of my system and didn't end up buying it. ( )

First, I want to say, I found the synopsis to be pretty misleading. I was unable to connect with the characters, mainly because the story is written in third person omnipresent, a god-like POV, in which the narrator knows everything about everyone. Personally, I tend to not like books written in this POV. I had a hard time getting past the first 200 pages... after that, the story starts to grow on me a LITTLE. Not really much to say about this one. 2.5-3.0 stars. ( )

Another good YA book, this one was listened to, look forward to reading the other 3 in this series.

Re-read (listened) in January 2018, very enjoyable and this time I do intend to read / listen to the other 3 books in the series. ( )

March 2018:

Saw blink-182 last night. I hope Noah Czerny would be proud. ;)

-- ( )

The best word to describe how I felt about this book is whelmed. I can't say I had high expectations going in, but The Raven Boys somehow managed to disappoint anyway.

At her best, Stiefvater's writing is reminiscent of Annette Curtis Klause. However, while these times aren't uncommon, when she misses the mark, the errors are glaring. Stiefvater's sentences tend towards choppy and ill-formed, her adjectives occasionally poorly chosen, and she's overly reliant on awkward comparisons. There were a few times where I could tell that she was attempting to be deep or metaphorical and instead ends up with a nearly meaningless description.

While each character has what seems like a Fully Formed Personality, upon closer inspection they felt a little shallow, mostly focused on a single characteristic that defined each boy. One drawback to the characters having real depth is that the writing style didn't seem to change when the perspective character did. None had voices distinct enough to tell apart.

That said, while the beginning of the book and the opening plot complication (Blue can never kiss her true love or he'll die!) are simple and contain distinct echoes of YA romances of the last ten years, Stiefvater does expand the mythology of the series quite well, adding enough to keep you interested even when the book ends with only a few answers.

I can see why it's popular, but it's not quite enough to make me want to continue the series.

A generous 5.5/10 ( )