The Raven Boys

by Maggie Stiefvater

Series: The Raven Cycle (#1)

Published by: Scholastic Press

September 18th, 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library Loan

Rating: 4 Stars

     It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

     Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

     His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

     But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

     For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

     Another exciting find from the library audiobook section. I find day by day that I am able to ignore (up to a point) the narrators that I don't like and enjoying the stories behind the voice. Will Patton was my first male narrator so it was quite a while before I got used to that fact but I still love this book.

     Blue is the daughter of a psychic and, although she has no power of her own, she is able to amplify the power of others. Gansey is an Aglionby student (a local private school for rich children whose logo is a raven) who is obsessed with magic and ley lines and has traveled all over the world in search of someone.

     A couple other Aglionby boys have helped Gansey on his search and when something strange happens to Gansey on St. Patricks day(?) one of them suggests he goes see a local psychic to see what it all means.

     From the moment that Blue and Gansey meet it is a rollercoaster of discoveries and shocks that left me wanting more every time I had to stop listening. I liked all the characters from Gansey to Ronan to Adam to Blue, Persephone, Mora, and Calla. All that happens in this book is intricate and connected and I feel transported to this fantasy world that the author has created.

     That ending has me intrigued as to how Ronan was able to get Chainsaw and I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

Series: Red Queen (#1)

Published by: HarperAudio

February 10th, 2015

Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia, Young Adult

Format: Audiobook

Source: Library Loan

Rating: 4 Stars

     Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn't know she had. Except . . . her blood is Red.

     To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.

     "Anyone Can Betray Anyone"

     This is a lesson that Mare Molly Barrow learned well. Throuought all this book I listened how Mare sacrificed all she was and all she believed in to help her family and friends. How she fell deeply and inexorably deeper into a world she knows nothing about and how she learned a painful truth that not everything is as it seems and you can't trust anyone.

     It had me at the edge of my seat with all the twists and unexpected turns that the story took. When I thought I'd figured things out there went Aveyard and threw a wrench in my logic and disrupted all the world again.

     I didn't give it a 5 stars rating because there were a couple things that didn't agree with me. First is that I had a hard time understanding the book at first, second is that some things were left in the air and last but probably not least is that sometimes I had trouble with the narration since I don't like first person POV.

     That being said I can't wait to delve into the next book to see what else the clever Victoria Aveyard comes up with for this group of misfits!