The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is the first installment in The Raven Cycle series. The book follows Blue Sargent, a young girl brought up by a household of psychics, and her life as he slowly begins to entwine with an eclectic group of teenage boys from Aglionbly, the most prestigious, all-boys school in their small town of Henrietta. Despite her initial trepidations about the group of privileged boys, her intrigue about their quest to find a lost Welsh king ultimately wins. While the novel plays with themes of magic and folklore, Stiefvater does an impeccable job of fleshing out each character and giving each of them traits that make them very human despite the seemingly supernatural forces that surround them.

While the first part of the novel is told through the perspective of Blue, the story transcends towards a more omniscient point of view. While perhaps a bold and not necessarily usual choice of story telling is made, it allows Stiefvater to create a certain level of intimacy with all the characters, letting the readers know that it is as much Gansey's, Adam's, Ronan's and Noah's (the enigmatic, raven-clad-uniform-wearing boys from Aglionby) story, as it is Blue's story. Each character presents it's true self to the novel, a self that can be admired for being so explicit and truthful, even if they're not necessarily all that likeable. Yet, even with some of the characters adorning not so nice flaws, a yearning to find out more about them is created. The kinship between characters is executed beautifully and the brotherhood between them, Blue included, is more fascinating to read about than any of the romantic subplots that take place.

The only problem I found with the novel was that it was over too fast, although not in the "I stayed up all night reading it" way, although I'm guilty of that too. While enamoured with the characters and their woes, the overlying plot goes by very slowly, with the lead-up being rather ambiguous until you suddenly realize you're at the climax of the story. The characters and rich detail make up for the unconventional and a little bit boring pace of the novel, and the climax still makes your adrenaline pump whether it seemed to come out of nowhere for you or not.

The Raven Boys is a great read for those who are fans of a combination between young adult romance and paranormal themes. The intricate complexities of every single character and the companionship they all share between each other outweighs the slight flaws and slow pacing of the plot. I really think this book can be enjoyed by anyone, but especially anyone in school or anyone who has a keen interest in adventure! If you enjoyed this book, I would thoroughly recommend the next book in the series, The Dream Thieves, which is even better than the first!