YA Book Tour- Virginia

Next stop on the YA book tour is Virginia with Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys.

Blue has been surrounded by psychics her whole life with her mother and aunts.  She, however, did not inherit that talent, instead she just makes their energy stronger.  A unfortunate side effect of being around psychics is knowing that if she kisses her true love that he will die. She is sensible girl who has basically decided to avoid boys and thus avoiding this horrible fate.  That all changes when at the yearly ritual of the corpse road on St. Mark's, she sees and talks to a spirit.  Something that has never happened before, and because it is St. Mark's she knows that this boy that the spirit belongs to is fated to die in the next year.

Enter Gansey, a boy who attends the all boys super exclusive private school, Aglionby, and his friends.  Gansey has it all, and yet, he feels compelled to wake this ancient Welch King.  He has been researching the king and ley lines for years.  His friend, Ronan, is a wounded soul who takes his anger out over the lose of his father on the world.  Adam is the scholarship kid, who does not want to owe anything to anyone, and sometimes that pride gets in his way.  And Noah, who is there and not and has quite the secret.

Then there is Blue's strange Aunt Neeve who reasons for being in Henrietta are not what they seem, and the boy's Latin teacher Mr. Whelk, who was once a Aglionby boy who lost it all and wants it back.

Blue and her Raven boys begin their strange journey of learning more about the ley lines and the power they hold.

Once again, Ms. Stiefvater writes a wonderful and engaging story.  Her characters are dynamic in both their strengths and flaws.  Her stories always flow so beautifully and at times her wording has a musical quality to it.

Blue, like a many of the adults in her life tell, is a sensible girl.  She is practical and smart, but as caring and becomes quite loyal to her Raven boys, despite their rocky start.  While she knows her fate, she doesn't let that stand in the way of their friendship, and she even learns to open up a little about it.

Each of the Raven boys their faults and strengths. Gansey is the glue that holds them together, sometimes not just as friends but in their own personal struggles.  At times he comes off a little condescending, but it is not like he means to, he just doesn't seem to realize that his word choices aren't always the best.

Adam lets his pride get in the way too much.  He refuses to accept help even when he needs it the most.  He doesn't understand that his friends want to help because they care not because they think he is a charity case.

Ronan has definitely had something break inside since his fathers murder. He is walking a thin line between normal teenage recklessness and a death wish. Although often caustic with others, he does have glimpses of a softer side.  I think he might be my favorite of the Raven boys, partly because there is more to him than what you see and I can't wait to find out more. (FYI, looks like the next book in the series, The Dream Thieves due out in September, will have a big focus on Ronan.)

Noah is mysterious and strange, but once you find out his big secret it all makes sense. It will be interesting to see how his character will play into the rest of the series.

I am very excited by the start of this series and cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Currently Reading:
Ashfall
by Mike Mullin