Review Detail

We’ve all heard the saying slow and steady wins the race. But in books, sometimes that seems counterintuitive. If the storyline is just too dang slow, you’re gonna put that sucker down. So it takes a lot of skill to make a story progress at a slow pace, yet still keep you glued to your seat to figure out what happens. That’s exactly what Maggie Stiefvater does in “The Raven Boys.”

“The Raven Boys” follows the story of Blue, a psychic’s daughter, who is told from birth that the boy she falls in love with will die. To avoid being the killer of an unsuspecting fella, Blue avoids flirting, handholding, kissing, or dating of any kind. Of course, in comes a group of guys, who despite their snooty upbringing at a private school full of spoiled rich kids, each have something charming to offer. This seems like a recipe for disaster.

From that brief plot summary, this story seems action-packed. It most definitely is, but the real heart-racing antics don’t get going until the second half of the book. The beauty of the first half is that even if there isn’t as much action, the mystery of it all is just so darn compelling you can’t wait to find out what spiritual antics are bound to happen. Stiefvater shows that the world doesn’t have to end, girls don’t have to fall in love with vampires, and protagonists don’t need to wield bows and arrows to really grab your attention. It’s putting just the right amount of small little morsels of plot clues, perfectly placed, that will really get your mouth watering to keep devouring a book.