My rating: 2 of 5 stars
*Spoilers Below*
I wanted to like the Raven Boys. I really did. The premise sounded great, there were so many people raving about it being wonderful, it's part of a series that is beloved, and Maggie Steifvater seems like a really cool woman. So I wanted to enjoy it, to fall for it, to be swept up by it. I just... wasn't. It wasn't because of the story. Sadly, it was because of the delivery. There were a lot of things wrong with it. I tried to breathe out, forgive the mistakes when I encountered them and focus on the story. By the end, I was so overwhelmed by everything wrong that I couldn't ignore them any more. I might get a lot of flack for this review, but... this book wasn't well written.
For starters, Steifvater told me everything, and showed me very little. The old adage 'show don't tell' is one that anyone who's taken a writing class has had drilled into their brain. The Raven Boys was so frequently a 'how not to' example of this, that it was just depressing. She told me about the boys financial situation over and over. She told me how rich Gansy was, how poor Adam was. She told me how much Gansey wanted to find the King. She told me that Ronan was a troubled bad boy. And for every fiftieth time she told me, she showed me a tiny little glimpse. I wasn't able to form a picture of any of these characters in my head, because every time she showed me something that allowed them to start taking shape, she told me more about them, and it all fell apart.
Then there was the head jumping. I like books written in third person. Particularly if they are limited P.O.V., but take turns moving from character to character. What I don't like, is when the third person narrator 'jumps' to another character head mid-scene. Now, Steifvater doesn't explicitly jump at any point, but she comes so damn close so many times it was uncomfortable. There were so many scenes with multiple characters, it felt like she forgot on occasion who she was supposed to be focusing on. Because of this, none of the characters had a clear narrative. After a while the only thing that differentiated them was what she told me made them different, which was disappointing.
Finally, there was the execution of the plot. There were too many things that seemed... unnecessary, only for me to later be told that they were vital to the plot. The reveal about Noah would have been more poignant if he hadn't spent the first half of the book feeling like a tacked on character that should have been removed in editing. Adam's insistence to do things 'his way' was just irritating and illogical, so his 'sacrifice' lacked any impact. The domestic violence story was so poorly explored it bordered on the offensive.
Normally, all these things would have made me toss the book away. What was really disappointing about this, is that there was a solid story there. It was just poorly executed. The conflict between best friends Gansy and Adam – one an obscenely wealthy boy, the other dirt poor and a victim of horrific domestic abuse, should have been the centre of this whole book. Ronan's grief and self destruction should have left me heartbroken for this fragile, brittle boy. Noah should have been more than just a weakly shaped plot device. Blue should have been coming to terms with her own power, her own fears, her own blossoming, confusing feelings towards the boys, instead of bordering on Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
The whole way through the Raven Boys, I couldn't help but feel there was a brilliant book in there, that needed a lot more work. This book could have been a game changer. I can see why people love it – the story has so much potential. Perhaps the series gets stronger, the writing better as things go on, though at this point this book doesn't make me want to continue. It's with a heavy heart I have to give this one just two and a half stars.
Sorry Raven fans. I tried, I really did.
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