“Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

UPDATE: After reading The Raven King, I take back everything I have said about these books. I disapprove of how she ended it. I kind of hate the series, and no, I no longer recommend them because I was horrifically disappointed in the last book. 

So I figured... I ought to review Raven Boys.

Because Raven Boys is not a series I would typically read, and, while it makes me very happy, (who am I kidding, it stresses me out and makes me aggressively worry about *cough* certain characters.) it definitely has some stuff I feel like I should warn people about.

What Is Raven Boys?

(Because I'm rubbish at summaries, especially book summaries, I'm going to steal part of the one from the author's website.)

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

For as long as she can remember, Blue Sargent has been told by her psychic family that she will kill her true love. She never thought this would be a problem. But when she-- a non psychic, sees the ghost of a young man who will be dead within a year, her unfortunate predicament becomes suddenly very real.

To make matters worse, she quickly realizes that the ghost she saw belongs to Richard Gansey, a young man attending The Aglionby Academy. (an elite, rich person school, with a raven for its crest, where spoiled, wealthy boys go to be educated before they set out to ruin the world.)

Blue does not like Raven Boys.

But Gansey and his friends are different from the rest. They're searching for the sleeping Welsh king, Glendower, because, legend has it, whoever finds Owen Glendower and wakes him, will be granted a favor. Blue is pulled into their friendship, and things start to get complicated: she doesn't want Gansey to be her true love, and she does not want to kill him. 

Just when it looks like stuff might be going well for Blue and her Raven Boys, it comes to light that there are others seeking Glendower, for reasons sinister, and disturbing.

The race is on, characters develop, and WOW, I AM REALLY WORRIED ABOUT GANSEY.

 source

THINGS I LOVED

So, Maggie Stiefvater is a really awesome author. She writes so freaking well! And after reading Scorpio Races, I was on a Maggie kick, and wanted to devour something else of hers, which is why I borrowed Raven Boys from Kat.

Raven Boys is really nothing like Scorpio Races, even though it's just as good.

I LOVE THE CHARACTERS

Even the ones who drive me crazy.

She doesn't have a single flat character in her books. They're all interesting and have these hidden characteristics, and layers that make you go, "Whooaaahhh,"

I JUST REALLY LIKE REAL CHARACTERS, OKAY?!

Blue is actually a likeable female book lead. (I have a problem, where I tend to find females in books so incredibly annoying.) Blue is awesome though. She's short (yay, I love short people! I'm short! Short people will rule the world one day.), she's spunky, and eccentric. She has her faults but she's not obnoxious. She's a little spitfire, is what she is, I like like her.

Gansey is so nice. He is such a good friend, and he tries hard to be normal. He doesn't treat people differently because they have less money than he does, he's just a good sort, all round.
People Are Not Nice To Gansey And It Bothers Me.
He's obsessed with finding Glendower, but it's not really selfish, it's more like he needs to find it because it's important to him. He's smart, and honest, and does his best to look out for everyone he cares about. HE JUST WANTS TO HELP, OKAY??

Ronan is a brat, I won't lie. But I love him and I can't help it because he's had a hard life, and he's damaged, and I like damaged characters. He's a fighter, and a hothead, and he has a problem with making bad decisions. If it wasn't for Gansey, he probably would have dropped out of Aglionby and run off to be a street fighter by now.
But for all that, he's incredibly loyal, when he's loyal. He's fiercely protective of his friends, especially Gansey. (They are like brothers and I am infatuated with their friendship.) He has a soft spot for animals, and I think with the right people around him, he could grow up to be a really good guy.

Adam frustrates me because I loved him in book one, and he went downhill in book two. I want to like him more, but he's got this persecution complex. (Which makes sense, considering his family life.) He's a scholarship student at Aglionby, but he resents wealth of any kind. He won't accept any financial help from his friends because he doesn't want them to own him. He's NOT NICE to Gansey, and he has plans for Glendower that worry me a little. I wish he would be kinder again, because he makes me sad how dark he's getting.

Noah is hard to talk about because he's not a loud character. He's quiet and sort of fades into the background when you're not looking. He is a sweetie and a gentle kind of person, and he adds a sense of calm to the group. He's also really sad.
I want to hug him, because he's sad.

Besides the main characters, you also have Blue's mother who is so odd, but I really like her anyway.

The Gray Man, that I was unsure about and won't say anything else concerning him, so I shan't give any spoilers. (I won't even say if I like him or not, because that's kind of a spoiler in itself.)

Blue's weird, psychic aunts who do things like Aerial Silk in their living room, and threaten hit men.

Gansey's sister who I vary between liking and finding her annoying.

Ronan's brothers who I can't decide if I like or not.

Adam's messed up parents.

Noah's past.

It's all very intriguing, and I am quite absurdly fond of everyone in a general book hug of love.

THE PLOT

It thrills and freaks me out a little, and that's okay. It's clever, and has all these intertwining threads, which make this particular reader go "whaaaaaaat?!" in true minion fashion. (A have a theory about Gansey, and how it's going to end, and it worries me. I worry. I am worried.)

THE WAY THE PSYCHICS ARE HANDLED

I don't really like psychics. I mean, I guess it's possible for people to have a higher sense of the supernatural, but seriously, let's not get carried away. I like the way Maggie Stiefvater explains the psychics, and doesn't make them witchy or satanic. (unless they're evil, but that's okay, because witchy and satanic are evil.)

ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS ARE FABULOUS 

Whether it's between Blue and the boys, between just the boys, between Blue and her mother, or between Gansey and Blue, the relationships feel real and not forced. They grow well, they're not like, "and all of the sudden I love you."

Let me reiterate my fandom war cry: I love friendships, and brother stories. (I like the occasional romance, if it's handled well.) I love family stories, and conversion stories, and mysteries, and Raven Boys has ALL OF THEM. It's a friggen miracle.

I ship Gansey and Blue. So hard. But I don't want to ship them, because if Blue kisses her true love she'll kill him! *sobs* I don't want my ship to be sunk with a kiss, okay? It will be sad and I am really, really worried about Gansey's fate, OKAY?

MAGGIE STIEFVATER'S WRITING STYLE MAKES ME REALLY HAPPY 

It's not typical young adult style. It doesn't patronize or talk down to the reader, it's beautiful without being flowery. Her descriptions are some of the best I've ever read, and yeah. I am a fan.

She sucks you in and you read voraciously and aggressively turn pages.


So okay, there we go. Stuff I liked.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE. 

So, they're teenage boys. Teenage boys curse. A lot. And I'm not talking mild words damn and hell.... (though they're included) I'm talking F Bombs and every variation of the S word, and all manner of bad words in between.

I have this talent where I just breeze over them and forget about them. Until I recommend it to someone and I'm like, oh yeah. Um. Awkward.

I know people swear, and swearing doesn't really bother me personally. I don't, but if you swear, I'm not going to shun you. But I wish there was less of it in this book, because there are a lot of F Bombs.

There was a really weird, kind of dark and uncomfortable scene involving pills and boys getting high. It was handled well, but yeah. It was creepy. I read it sort of squinty eyed and felt somewhat disturbed.

There was an awkward scene with kissing. It never got dirty, and I never felt like it went too far, but neither had kissed before and they were figuring it out, and it was awkward.

AWKWARD.

SO BASICALLY

Yes, I do adore this series. Yes, I do absolutely recommend it. But I'd say wait until you're at least sixteen.

If it were a movie I'd rate it PG-13 for swearing alone.

And if you don't like kind of dark fairytales, don't try it. (Well it's not dark. It's.... it's dim.... yeah, okay, it's a little dark.)

My sister preordered Blue Lily, Lily Blue, which is book three in the series, and if I'm really nice, she might let me read it when she's done.

I WOULD LOVE THIS.

Did I mention I have a theory about Gansey and I hope I'm wrong?

I hate waiting to read books.

It is stressful.

Go find the books. Read them. And let me know what you think.

Cheers!

 (PS, real quick. Do you guys like my reviews or are they annoying, and you wish I would stop?)

"Tell me what it's like. The race."

Let's talk Scorpio Races.

Oh my gosh, Scorpio Races!!

*le squeak*

It was fabulous.

So I'm going to review it. And the review will be peppered with my fanart because I read it and immediately obsessed and drew quite a bit. 

Summary:

Every November, the island of Thisby holds a dangerous event: The Scorpio Races. The riders must keep their vicious water horses from returning to the sea, and race to the finish line. Some riders live. Some riders die. 

Puck Connolly signs up -- the first woman to ever race.

Sean Kendrick is the returning champion, racing for more than just winning.

And it's November.

So the sea is calling to the horses.


*Dies*

Scorpio Races was one of those books I wasn't sure I wanted to read. I mean, my sister loved it, so I was pretty sure I would like it too. But it just sounded weird. Like a Hunger Games type thing. People racing demon water horses once a year. Lots of death. The race is an event. It was not really something I felt like I wanted to spend an evening reading, ya feel me?

But then Bella got it into her head to read it and sat about the house in various states of ecstasy, looking at me and wispering, "I ship it."

FYI, Bella ships everything.*

*lies. Bella only ships** almost everything. And only when there is an obvious possibility of a relationship.

**"SHIP." v e r b? Meaning to obsessively pair couples. For example, I ship Shawn and Jules from Psych. They are a couple, and they are adorable. Therefore I ship them. Hard.

ANYWAY. Bella wispering, "I ship it."  got me into the "Oh dear. It's a romance. I don't want to." stage.

So I dug my feet in and refused, because I can be a real stubborn little turd when I want to be.

Long story short, Between Bella and Kat, and Amy, I finally sat down and..... read it in one sitting. (maybe two. But the first four chapters didn't really count, since I read the great majority of the book in one sitting.)
And my final impression of the book was one of, "Why did I put it off for so long? I am a fool."

Because OH MY GOSH, you guys.

I want to buy it. Or get it for Christmas. Or buy it. It was so good. It was so, so good.
It's been a while since I've squealed and hugged a book to my chest in delight.

Okay, so let's talk characters:

PUCK CONNOLLY. 

"My mother always said that I was born out of a bottle of vinegar instead of born from a womb, and that she and my father bathed me in sugar for three days to wash it off. I try to behave, but I always go back to the vinegar."

Puck surprised me by making me like her. In books especially, (and specifically YA novels) I tend to find the leading ladies a royal pain. People try to write strong female characters and fail miserably by either making them A.) SO OBNOXIOUS I can't even deal, (like trying to go for sassy and sarcastic and managing only to portray utter brattiness.) or, B.) So depressingly self-sacrificing (generally in a selfish way. *coughKatnisscough*) that I find them appallingly lacking in any character whatsoever.... And then there's C.) The generic, self-serving snit that makes me run in fear of all teenage girls ever created.

Puck wasn't. Puck Connolly was spunky in a good way. She was brave without realizing it, she was kind of sweet in a mean sort of way. She's a lot more vulnerable than she lets on. She has a lot going on in her life, and the races are her way of controlling her environment. She's clever and cute, and reminds me a lot of.... Ireland. Her whole personality just reminds me so much of Ireland.

SEAN KENDRICK 

"Why do you stay?"
"The sky, and the sand, and the sea, and Corr."

Sean.... Seanyface is fabulous. He's one of those characters that will always be a little bit mysterious. You know that he's an orphan, and that his father died in the Scorpio Races. You know that he loves aspects of the races, and that he and his horse have a special connection. But that... that's pretty much it. He's reserved and quiet, even when he's the one narrating. He loves horses. Even the water horses. He's a lonely sort of character who is taken by surprise by Puck. He's actually very gentle and thoughtful.

Sean has a cool relationship with Corr, the water horse. It's epic, the way the author describes how much he loves Corr. He loves everything about that horse, he loves riding that horse, he loves racing that horse, he loves training that horse. He and Corr are a team.

"My thighs sting from the friction of the saddle. My arms ache from holding up two thousand pounds of hourse. I have forgotten what it is like to be warm and what a full night's sleep feels like, and what my name sounds like spoken instead of shouted across yards of sand.
I am so, so alive."
 

He is seriously one of the coolest guys I've read about in a while.

LET'S TALK STORY.

"It's the first day of November, and so, today, someone will die."

That. Is. The. First. Line.
It's odd how well it worked out.
They don't really portray the Scorpio Races as a good thing, which I liked, because people shouldn't portray evil water horses and death as a good thing.... that would be very wrong.

"Tell me what it's like. The race."

"What it's like is a battle. A mess of horses and men and blood. The fastest and strongest of what is left from two week of preparation on the sand. It's the surf in your face, the deadly magic of November on your skin, the Scorpio drums in the place of your heartbeat. It's speed, if you're lucky. It's life and it's death, or it's both, and there's nothing like it." 

Not a whole lot happens in the book, which is odd, considering it's genre, but it works so well, you don't even realize how little happens until you finish and try to do a review on it. It's written in such a way that it sucks you in and makes you care, whether you want to or not.

There is a little romance, but it isn't the focus of the book. It's more like a secondary thing. Neither character realizes that they like the other until someone else mentions it to them.

"She stands beside Corr, looking up at him.
I want her to love him."

They're drawn to each other, but the book isn't like, "And then Sean turned around, his dark hair glistening with ocean spray. I think I want to kiss him." It's more like, "Heeeey, he's interesting. I'm fascinated by his attachment to the horse that potentially eat his face." (Which is a vulgar way of putting things, and I'm sorry, Katrina. You probably hate me for that. :)

The writing style is.... I'm not even sure how to describe it. It isn't typical YA. It's... beautiful to read. And I don't usually go in for beautiful writing, but this is a special kind of beautiful. Maggie Stiefvater has a way of describing things so perfectly, it almost takes your breath away. Like, "WOW THAT WAS PERFECT, I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT SHE MEANS."

LETS TALK WATER HORSES

Okay wow. This was such a different take on water horses, I was infatuated. They come from the sea, and they're part of the sea, but they're still horses. They can be almost normal, or they can turn into monsters that are mad with the call of the sea. It's so neat. They're big and powerful, and magical... and yeah. I was quite taken with her take on them.

"The water horses are hungry and wicked, vicious and beautiful, hating us and loving us."

LET'S TALK SETTING

I have never wanted to visit the ocean so badly in my life. The way she describes the island makes me want to travel to Ireland and sit on cliffs, in the wind, and watch water horses come out of the waves. The island is wild place, strong and unpredictable, like the sea it's in. You feel like you're there, and that is so awesome.

"Happiness isn't something this island yeilds easily; the ground is too rocky and the sun too sparse for it to flourish." 
 

SO BASICALLY

You should all just read it. There are some mild swear words, but nothing a teenager can't deal with. It's exhilarating and exciting. The writing style is awesome, the characters are awesome, the story is really awesome, and in case you couldn't tell, I highly recommend it.

It's the first day of November.
And so,
today,
someone will die.