The Raven Boys

Title: The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Initial thoughts: better the second time around.

This book has a certain strange air to it, and I think the later books are even more so. Rereading it means that you already know what strange things are coming so they don't blindside you and you can watch them develop. It's much easier to understand the second time around and I'm glad I'm rereading it. Actually, the air of strangeness kind of reminds me of when I read Charlie Bone when I was younger (I actually decided to reread that as well so I checked it out from the library alongside this book. Coincidence. Of course. ;P ). Anyway, I rather enjoyed rereading this. The characters are fun. For all that he's a ghost, Noah might actually be my favorite, I don't know why. Noah is dead. Blue grew up among psychics. Ronan is a little crazy. Gansey is obsessed. Adam is the only one with a life that resembles normal (not good, what with his father, but, sadly, it could still be counted as normal), but he "wants to believe". He's probably got the most to gain, and the most to lose, from this venture. Noah is already dead, so he's kind of on borrowed time here. Blue just wanted to touch magic to feel more like the rest of her family. Ronan just wants to understand what happened with his dad, which he might get to on his own eventually, what with his dreams. Gansey just wants to pay Glendower back for his second chance at life. Adam, though, wants a different life entirely. He's not in it to satisfy some little part of himself, he wants to escape everything that makes up his life right now: his father, the trailer, lack of money, working 3 jobs, wearing secondhand clothes. If he doesn't escape, he'll slowly fade away until he loses his spirit completely or decided to just end it. He's proud and logical and sometimes that combination limits his options and actually keeps him in the very life he doesn't want. To Adam, he NEEDS to find Glendower or he'll have no life to speak of because he can't see any other way out now, which is a little sad, but it's also how a lot of people trap themselves in their own lives, because they can't see, or refuse to accept, other options, all because they are too proud or too narrow-minded. Blue, for all that she works so hard to stand out, actually just wants to fit in, it's just that she wants to fit in with her family rather than the rest of the world. Noah just wants to exist as long as he can since his life was ended too early and he wants to help those who allow him to do so. Gansey, having been given a second chance at life, wants to make sure it means something. Being grateful to Glendower, he has decided that that is how he can make a difference, by waking Glendower. Glendower or no Glendower, Gansey is going to do something with his life, find a passion to follow. For now, it's Glendower so that he can thank him or repay him for the life he was given. Eventually, though, he'll either find Glendower and move on to a new goal, or he'll have to set his search for Glendower aside if he wants to actually do something. He's so focused on Glendower that he's going to miss other opportunities to make something of himself and change the world. I'll analyze Ronan after one of the other books.

Rating: 4.5/5 Definitely rereading material.