*This review contains spoilers.*
This is my first novel by Maggie Stiefvater (though I did buy The Scorpio Races, I haven't read it yet), so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was really surprised with how much I liked this book, in the end.
It follows Blue, a psychic's daughter, and four boys from a prestigious private school, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah. They are all a quest of sorts, which leads them discovering something magical in their little town of Henrietta, Virginia.
First, when Gansey started into his explanation of using ley lines to find the tomb of Owen Glendower, I totally screamed. (Side note: He was the last Welshman to bear the title Prince of Wales, and fought against the English conquest of Wales in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. He disappeared into the mountains and was never found. A legend has grown around him, kind of like that of King Arthur being the once and future king, that he will wake and rule again when Wales needs him.) I love ley lines, and one of my college classes (History of the British Isles) actually came in handy for something! I was freaking ecstatic! I have an affinity for the paranormal, so a a family of psychics, ley lines and a quest to discovered the tomb of Owen Glendower was so welcome in a book I cannot even describe it.
The romance of the book was very understated, but, surprisingly, that didn't diminish my enjoyment of this book. I also really enjoyed the lush landscape of the book. As for Blue, I really liked her as a heroine. If you were to ask me to describe her as a character, I don't think I could, though. It's like Maggie Stiefvater's characterization and development are so subtle that I can't outright tell you anything, but, while reading, everything Blue did, everything Blue was, was right.
One thing I didn't fall head over heels with was the treatment of Gansey's wealth, and the way the other characters made him feel ashamed of it. Like, when he used elevated vocabulary, he was somehow ungraciously flaunting what he had and they didn't in their faces. I guess I see the desired characterization for him, but that just felt a little odd to me.
Speaking of, I really liked Gansey. I liked his unerring dedication to his quest, his complete and utter devotion to his friends, his eternal desire to make a name for himself, do something good for the world. I don't know why, but he felt very raw to me. I almost want to call him fierce. I don't mean to say he was fierce in a shaved-head, tattoos and bad attitude kind of way (that's Ronan, by the way, and I found it adorable that he nursed a baby bird), just that he was exacting, almost? Not exacting, unflinching? I mean to say that he thrummed, you know? He felt real to me, like really real. I don't mean he was a good book character, who we can see metaphors and symbolism in, I mean that Gansey is a person, a real live person. He didn't feel literary, and like he had a purpose in the novel, like he did X in order to supplement the falling action of situation Y, he just was. Hell, he seemed more real than a lot of "real" people. He was different, fierce. Not just that he had his finger on the pulse of what it means to be alive, but that he was the very beating heart of humanity. I'm not making any sense, but Gansey is a character that I won't soon forget.
Since this was my first book by Maggie Stiefvater, I feel compelled to say that I've been missing out. Like I said, the romance was more understated than you usually see in a YA novel, and there are many things left unanswered, but, as a whole, the novel was seamless...like a living organism, almost. Again, it's hard to define why I feel so strongly about this book, but I do, and I will definitely be checking out the sequel(s), as it is book one in the Raven Cycle, and purchasing the collected works of Maggie Stiefvater as soon as possible.
I really recommend this book, I don't know what it was, but this book is something you shouldn't miss.
Thanks for reading!
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