The Raven Boys - Likewise Book Reviews

"I could not finish this book, I was bored and overall just confused by it. I have no idea if the series gets better or not but 0/5 for me personally."

"THE FRIENDSHIP"

"I know lots of people love this series which is why I decided to read it. Unfortunately, this wasn’t my cup of tea. I thought the clairvoyant parts were interesting but wished there was more confirmation regarding Blue aka Jane’s abilities since she seems to have more than what she and her family state she has. Other than that it wasn’t keeping me interested. I was going to DNF, but since it was a book club pick, I tried to stick it out. It got better just after 50-75% in. I don’t think I will finish the series."

"This one is more academia adjacent; they attend a private prep school but have intense private academic interests"

"i will hear criticism about a lot of books but you speak a word against these characters and i will start hysterically crying or i might commit some crimes idk<br/><br/>THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE BLUE SERGEANT AND HER RAVEN BOYS‼️‼️‼️‼️"

"I was a little iffy in the first few chapters but then it hooked me and I needed to know what was gonna happen!! The last 2 chapters left me really confused but excited to start book 2 soon!!"

"<strong>Decent</strong><br/><br/>This book was pretty good. It kept me a interested, but some parts had me confused. I hope the next book is good as well"

"Whoo boy this is a weird one to rate. For starters, this is not my first attempt at reading it. Twice I couldn't get into it, once before I even knew that it's popular (both times after reading the Scorpio Races, one of my all time faves, though). (In this book's defense I used to finish maybe 1/6th of the books I started. Haha remember when I had standards for what I did with my time?) I thought it must not be popular because I thought the cover was ugly. (I still stand by that btw, fricking blue boyband). Anyway, this time I was gonna give it a shot, and this time I had Expectations, and my expectations only grew as I got into the book. The atmosphere is really great and there's sooo many characters I like (sooo many) and I'm like yes this is gonna be fun. But the fun took so long to come and in it's place there was a bunch of predictable, sometimes even tedious/irritating sludge and I'm like this book is gonna be three stars, isn't it? How disappointing. But then, despite myself, the last 20% was exciting and the sides of my mouth are doing a bit of a smiley thing, and my most terrible fears about how certain things were gonna come out did not come to fruition. So basically this is a good book. But it can lose some hype. <br/><br/>The hype is what did me in. <br/><br/>With all the components that are literally already in this, I should've adored it. But I only like it, and that's your fault. <br/><br/>Lol.<br/><br/>I don't know who I'm addressing with that.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Oh also the audiobook was great and a wonderful decision."

"I can already tell this series is going to be close to the top of the list of my favorites!<br/><br/>2023 reread: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOD THIS WAS EVEN BETTER THEN THE FIRST TIME I READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"At first, I thought I knew where this story was going and exactly what would happen. However, which each chapter, Stiefvater threw is twist after twist, creating a dark fantasy unlike any other. I am very interested to see where The Raven Cycle goes.<br/>"

"I’ve just started reading the raven boys so please no heavy spoilers, but I just had a question. Is this book gay? I was told this was gay but I’m questioning it. That’s all. It’s good so far but I think people were leading me on."

"Quite weird but I’m invested and love the humor"

"Found families are one of my favorite things in books and I feel like this family will be a great one! Loved the book!"

"kept having to remind myself there are more books and i will be left with questions"

"This was so fun and a really interesting premise, I went into it expecting something kind of different but I actually love the ley lines and Welsh mythology aspects and I can’t wait to see where this goes in the next books :D <br/> <br/>CWs: violence, child abuse, injury/ injury detail, minor vomit mention"

"All of this author’s books are so good, but so far these ones are the best in my opinion. I feel like we get to know the characters so well, each one feels so different from the others and so personable."

"adam parrish you are so real<br/><br/>rtc"

"First was really good "

"And absolutely amazing book. One of my favorites "

"This was amazing. It’s probably going to be one of my favorite series of all time.<br/><br/>Edit mar 2021: still amazing"

"I love my boys. Gansy is adorable and socially awkward and also is basically a teen dad at this point with all the crap he both starts and fixes. Adam is adorable, but also I think he’s one nonsense away from snapping. Ronan is terrifying, but like in the way that a stray cat is—it might have rabies, but it’s also kinda cute. Noah is…there? Yeah he’s definitely there."

"Oh my goodness, this book was everything! It was so good, I just want to move onto the next one as soon as I can."

"Yeah, the six of crows. What's yours ?"

"Whoop whoop! Gansey boy!"

"I Loved this. Stiefvater paints a vivid gothic picture of this southern/appalachia world."

"My favorite part was when they all started to finally get into the lore of it all. The lore of The King."

"I think it set it up well for the second book. It was a little confusing but made more sense when you get inside Adam's head in the second book."

"DNF@25% Bored to death,don't understand the plot and don't connect with the characters."

"I liked it, especially as the series went on. It starts pretty unassuming and slowly pulls you into a world that's a bit stranger than you expected. Stiefvater is one of my all time favorites anyway, but the Welsh legends and family of psychics were fun topics not many books use. "

"The audiobooks are narrated by Will Patton and is very well told. I loved the whole series."

"I could not put this down!"

"I first downloaded this book from the Audiobook YA SYNC website a couple of summers ago. I didn't listen right away, and I wish I had! Last spring, it was a selection for the reading group I participate in at work. <br/><br/>I really, really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in immediately by the premise and the characters, but most of all by the writing. I've never read anything else by Stiefvater (other than the other books in this series), but I definitely want to. <br/><br/>I have read some reviews that didn't like the romance part of this book. Personally, that was on the back burner. I liked the Mysterious Ley Lines and the Boys' Quest and the House Full Of Psychic Women Except Blue and Creepy Latin Teacher. I didn't feel like it was too melodramatic. <br/><br/>One thing I think could be a challenge for some readers would be the vocabulary used. Gansey especially uses a lot of Big, Fancy Words. I could see readers with limited vocabulary getting frustrated at not knowing exactly what was meant. There's also a lot of Latin, which can be a challenge to read and pronounce. Thankfully, though, Stiefvater's good at translating the Latin (usually through Ronan or Adam, Latin Wonder Boys). Although, listening to the audiobook made it so that I didn't have to try to pronounce those crazy words on my own. <br/><br/>Speaking of the audiobook...Oh man, I loved Will Patton's narration. His accent was perfect for the story. And Persephone's voice is one of my favorite audiobook character voices of all time. Ronan's fit him perfectly, too. And the way he says "Blue." Perfect. Thank you, Will Patton.<br/><br/>Another possible challenge could be the changing POV. I really liked it, though, and thought it was done well. I've read books where I definitely did <i>not</i> like that, but it worked here. <br/><br/>I don't know what else to say about this book! I just really liked it! I do have some thoughts, but they're pretty spoilery. So, I'm gonna make a cut...<br/><br/><spoiler><br/>I know it's probably a little cliché, but I liked the idea of Blue having a personal rule of staying away from the Aglionby boys "because they're bastards," and then becoming thick as thieves with them. I don't feel like it feels forced or unnatural or anything. I like how hard she tries to be special, and different, but she's really just a pretty typical teenager. Yes, she's mature and "sensible," but it's refreshing to have a female protagonist who is not a wishy-washy, lovesick, "I'm not complete without my man" little whiner. There are far too few of these in YA books (at least the ones I've read). <br/><br/>Yes, I guess it's probably a trope that Blue can't kiss her true love, but again, it fit in with the story, and I think it was woven together well. I look forward to the following books in the series to see how this plays out. I also look forward to how Blue's vision at the beginning of the book pans out. Anyway, back to the kissing...I feel like it creates a nice sense of tension without being too heavy on the melodrama. I didn't feel like she really dwelt on that too much. But again, that's just me. <br/><br/>I sometimes wanted to shake Adam and tell him he was being ridiculous, but I still think his character was done well. I don't think he or his family was <i>too</i> stereotypical White Trash. But honestly, I live not too far from Rockingham county (where Henrietta would be located), and I have seen and known far too many people that bring this stereotype to life, especially in the rural areas down there. But like I said, I think Adam is more than just Poor White Trash Boy. I think Stiefvater built his character enough so that we could see that, and it definitely builds as the book(s) go on. I liked a lot of things about Adam. I liked the tension created between him and Gansey about his living situation, I liked the mounting tension between him and Blue and Gansey (who doesn't love a love triangle, even if it's not wholly formed?), and I loved the ending and what that meant for his character. Also: Ronan to Adam's rescue?! Yes, please!!! :) <br/><br/>Speaking of Ronan...Oh, Ronan. The Snake. The tattooed, brooding, mysterious, obviously hurting boy. I liked his character immediately. He can be brash and seem uncaring, but it's obvious (at least it was to me) very quickly that he does care. Fiercely. I was really excited when I realized that the second book would feature him heavily. <br/><br/>Ah, Gansey boy. I know other readers have found it difficult to feel sorry for or empathize with a Rich White Teenager. But I didn't really see him that way. Yes, he <i>is</i> a Rich White Teenager, but he's also so much more than that. I liked how they mentioned several times that he seemed at once both old and young. He's very mature, but really, still a boy. We didn't know exactly <i>why</i> he has been searching so obsessively for Glendower, and for me, that was okay. I didn't need to know why to be interested. I was curious, too. And, at the end of this book, we still don't know exactly what he would do if/when he actually finds him. And again, that was okay with me. I like the mystery and intrigue and getting to know this boy. Top Siders, khakis, wire-rimmed glasses and all. <br/><br/>I was also quite amused by all the psychic women in Blue's family. Well, then there's Neeve. She's just creepy. Even so, I do hope she pops back up again at some point! <br/><br/>There's only two things I recall having "issue" with:<br/><br/>1. The discovery of Czerny's bones. Gansey and Blue were at the old church, and that's where they found them. But they found the old Mustang outside of Cabeswater. I know they're both on the ley line, but I didn't think they were <i>that</i> close? So that was a little weird and confusing.<br/><br/>2. This is a bit of an issue that ties in with book 2, so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled! <br/><br/>In [b:The Dream Thieves|17347389|The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418213037s/17347389.jpg|21598446], Stiefvater makes it very clear that once the dreamer dies, the dream items stop. They don't die, or disappear, but they stop working. I wonder if she changed her mind about how that all worked after she wrote this? <br/><br/><blockquote>“Niall Lynch was handsome and charismatic and rich and mysterious, and one day, he was dragged from his charcoal-gray BMW and beaten to death with a tire iron. It was a Wednesday. On Thursday, his son Ronan found his body in the driveway. On Friday, their mother stopped speaking and never spoke again.”</blockquote><br/><br/>I have other thoughts on the subject, but they belong in the review for the second book. <br/></spoiler><br/><br/>I guess I did have another "gripe" about the book, and that was that there were so many unanswered questions at the end! But really, that's not bad since it's the first in a series. Definitely made me want tp pick up the second book right away (which is exactly what I did)."

"This book wasn't all bad, but it was mostly bad (like the writing). You should know that this book is part 1 of 2, so you pretty much have to read the 2nd book (there was a significant amount of loose ends and unanswered questions at the end). The description of the book, which is what drew me to it, is very misleading: When I started reading the book I wasn't expecting this random Glendower search, which the whole book was about. And if you are expecting romance, don't, because there is virtually none. <br/><br/>I wasn't particularly fond of the characters either; they were rather odd and unnaturally intuitive. I generally disliked how they reacted to situations/comments etc. One part of the book in particular that bothered me was when Ronan asked Blue how she knew Gansey's name - it would take a ridiculous amount of intuition to figure that she hadn't just heard his name mentioned by her mother when they came to get a psyhcic reading or at the restaurant when they first met. When she said that Gansey's spirit told her his name and everyone was satisfied and didn't wonder at all why his spirit was outside of his body, that was baffling. And why is it that every time Blue was with Gansey there was always a new side of him that she's "never seen before." Please. He wasn't that interesting of a person. Although he certainly didn't need to be treated the way he was - Adam bashed him all the time for caring and Blue did as well for being "condescending," like this: <br/><br/><b> "Still, I'm glad I caught you. How are you doing? Well, I trust?" He doesn't mean to be condescending, Blue told herself. She told herself several times. </b><br/><br/>Now, what part of that was condescending, really? *eye roll* Pride was too much of a theme in this book, it was over the top. <br/><br/>Something that annoyed me is that there are so many different parts of the book that make little sense until much later (for example, the very last statement in the book, which made no sense). There were just too many unanswered questions! All in all, this book really dragged, by going from interesting to very dull constantly. I could keep going on about this book and make my review longer but I'm just ready to be done with it. I'm only going to read the 2nd book because I paid for it in advance, but I wouldn't recommend picking this one up."

"Okay maybe more of a 3.5 stars. It's a little bit of a jumbled start but the pieces really start to come together about half way through. I really did enjoy the second half of the book as things started to come together and make sense, well, as much as they could!! But seriously, I'll be waiting to read the next book in the series!"