Review - The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is 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 has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, 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 never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

It's taken me a while to finish The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I started it a few times, but I'm on my 3rd copy since I first attempted to read it. It's gotten lost twice since I've moved so it kind of puts a damper on enjoyment. This says nothing about the book itself. It was fantastic. Once I was finally able to get in to it.

Blue is what I wish I could have been at 16. Heck, she's what I wish I could have been now. Personality-wise at least. She seems responsible, mature, and she doesn't really care what other people think about her. I don't think she gave Gansey an entirely fair shot when they first met, but in her defense he was kind of puffed up and egotistical. Like a guy who is rich and powerful and wants everyone to know it.

Gansey is the kind of person you have to really get to know to appreciate. Once you get past his name and his money, he's a pretty interesting person. Searching for mythological and magical ley lines and not-dead kings. He's the kind of guy you go on adventures with. But he's also the kind of guy who can buy his way out of trouble.

Adam and Ronan were probably my favorite characters out of the 4 boys. Adam is just a small town boy (go ahead and sing that part) trying to make something of himself so that he can get out of where he is. Ronan is an angry, but super loyal, hothead who you definitely don't want to cross. If you'd put the two of them together they'd be like the perfect person. Compassionate but fierce. Loyal and looking to make his own way in life.

The story itself is absolutely magical (although, I am trying to figure out what a Virginian accent sounds like... apparently the boys all have a certain accent and being from Virginia, I'd like to know what it is... I'd always operated under the impression that Virginians don't really have accents unless you're from super south VA or you're Appalaichan, if its a cool accent then I feel left out... I want one). Hidden kings and corpse roads and clairvoyant families are just a little bit of what makes up The Raven Boys. And most of the good stuff happens after the first half of the book.

That's when we find out about Noah and his... "disability". That's when we meet the trees that can speak Latin and the teacher from Aglionby who will stop at nothing to find out everything Gansey knows and then use it to his advantage. Ok, so we met the teacher earlier, but didn't REALLY see his true colors until later on. Halfway through the book is when they travel in to the forest and through seasons and turn night in to day and time stops. It's just fantastical and it makes me wish that there truly were places like that here.

If you're a fan of Maggie Stiefvater then you need to read this book. If you like mythology and magical legends then you need to read this book. If you live in Virginia like I do, you should read this book. It's fine for all ages, although it may take an older reader to truly understand what's going on. Hopefully if you do buy the book you don't lose it as many times as I did!

Review - Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer's Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind.

But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

Thanks to my husband for buying Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann for me. I'd seen a lot about it, but it was one of those books I hadn't gotten around to buying yet.

Kendall has OCD. And a best friend named Nico. And goes to school in a one room school-house with the rest of the highschool students in her tiny town. Only, one of the students disappears without a trace. Never to be seen from again. It shakes the town to their core and ruin's Kendall's routine which causes her OCD to go in to overdrive.

Along come Jacián Obregon and his sister Marlena. Marlena is friendly and likeable, but Jacián seems pissed at the world and doesn't want to let anyone close to him. That's fine with Kendall until her best friend in the entire world, her beau Nico disappears... again... without a trace. Just like months before when Tiffany Quinn vanished.

Kendall is beside herself and doesn't know what to do. She starts to befriend Marlena and spends a lot of time at Marlena's grandfather's house, where they're living to help him out. But because of new town rules, no one under the age of 18 is allowed out alone. Not to walk to school or to a friends house or to the store. So going to visit Marlena and her grandfather means getting rides with Jacián. It also means she gets to ride to school with him too. The pair become friendly if not necessarily friends and Jacián seems understand of Kendall's OCD and the rituals she feels compelled to perform.

The world sucks for Kendall. At least that's how she sees it when Nico disappears. And I don't doubt that it's horrible. Her best friend, the only one she just KNOWS she can count on 100% is gone and wont ever come back. She just wants to know where he is and until she does.... but then she starts having feelings for Jacián. Ones that she never felt with Nico and she feels guilty, like she's betraying Nico's memory. She's grieving and scared and can't stop the jumble of thoughts racing through her head at a mile a minute. And it's exhausting her.

Marlena was the kind of friend Kendall needed after Nico's disappearance. Kind and sympathetic and enthusiastic about the friendship. She became a shoulder when Kendall needed it.

Jacián was not someone I wanted to like right away. But it soon became clear where his relationship with Kendall was going and even when she didn't want to feel the things she was feeling around him, I knew eventually she'd be okay with them. Whether or not they found Nico. He was stand-offish at first, but who wouldn't be. Torn away from the place you've lived and loved forever. Having to leave behind friends and girlfriends and a soccer team where you're a star. Anyone would be angry. It's totally understandable. But he has a soft side. One that I liked almost as instantly as I had disliked him in the beginning.

The story was good. It was eerie and the kind you'd expect to find in the horror section of a video store. But I think I was just expecting a LITTLE more build up to the finale. The story had this... crescendo up until Kendall was "taken" and then just kind of stayed on that line without the big grand finale I was hoping for. I wanted more OOMPH in the back story and the scary bit of things that I just didn't get. I mean, I could ALMOST picture Nico when she found him. And Tiffany. But that wasn't enough to be ENOUGH for me, do you know what I mean? It was pretty awesome that the OCD, which had been the bane of her existence up until that point, ended up being what saved her in the end. But I still felt kind of let down. It was like so much effort had been put in to building up the story that the end had to be hastily thrown together because there was nothing left to tell.

Overall, though, I enjoyed the story. Interesting twists and completely weird plot. I'd recommend this for anyone who loves the paranormal. While the end was a bit of a let down, it did tie everything together and I think the rest of the book makes up for it.