Dear Becca,
I was actually really surprised by your review of The Raven Boys. This time around, I feel like our overall consensus on the book was
the same (not our favorite book by Miss Maggie Stiefvater) and yet our feelings
while reading the book seem to have differed entirely.
Not to be outdone, here is a photo of me with Maggie!
To begin with, I was not surprised by the incorporation
of the occult world but that’s because you gave me fair warning before reading.
That said, the magical elements didn’t bother me like they did you. As you
probably know by now, I'm extremely influenced by whatever I read (or even
talk about) before bed. As I get older, I’m starting to see more of a
connection – it’s the real-life tragedies and struggles that affect me more. I
can only gather that it’s because they hit on some of my deepest fears. I guess I’m not very scared of the type of magic that exists in
this world because the book’s dark themes had no memorable affect on my dreams
or how I felt while reading. I was not uncomfortable in the least.
Actually, The Raven Boys reminded me of the Indiana Jones
movies – one of my all-time favorite trilogies. (I choose not to acknowledge
the fourth or impending fifth as part of the series.) Gansey and Indiana Jones
share the same excitement about history and quests. The book also reminded me of one of my all-time favorite
TV Shows, Charmed. The psychics were funny and added levity to the magical subject
matter for me. (Despite the dark magic that one of them is up to.) They reminded
me of the Halliwell sisters. All in all, the magic wasn’t too dark for my taste.
Maybe this is the kind of magic I like… The kind that exists as a sort of
parallel world to ours. Where you have to really seek it out to find it and
everyone else remains oblivious. (If that’s true, I don’t know what that says
about me...)
Love me some Indiana Jones!
What I had the most trouble with in this story was the
characters and their relationships in this first book. Mainly – the romance.
Surprise, surprise, right? I think it’s fairly obvious by this point that I am
obsessed with romance. This, above anything else, keeps my attention in a book.
Not sex scenes or anything like that, but the blossoming relationship between two
people and that first stage of love where everything is all butterflies and
tingly feelings. One thing that drove me crazy about this book was the love
triangle. Blue is supposedly with Adam, but I never really felt like there was
a connection between them and meanwhile you know she’s somehow going to wind up
with Gansey. The relationship with Adam was tiresome for me and I just wanted
to see what would happen with Gansey. I know that we’ll get more in the next
two books and you’re supposed to be kept waiting and wanting more, but I was
just plain dissatisfied.
I’m running out of room now, but I was also upset with
the ending. The last line just didn’t feel right to me. That said, I did enjoy
the book so I
will definitely be reading the rest of the series!
Til we read again!
Megan
Megan
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