The Raven Boys Book Summary

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys comes as a breath of fresh country air flavored with a healthy pinch of mythological mystery. Follow Blue Sargent into a life of casual witchery and fairytale-like prophecies in the sleepy fictional town of Henrietta, Virginia, where a surprise run-in with the “raven boys” of local private school, Aglionby (which is exactly as obnoxious as its name sounds), sets in motion a magical mystery centuries in the making. A whirlwind of events following their decisively non-glamorous meeting leaves Blue and her four new companions scrambling to solve it before another inexplicable tragedy can take place. The Raven Boys is a refreshingly citrus-flavored summer adventure that mixes magic with the mundane in a coming-of-age story that leaves you grabbing for the next book. Heavy topics are expertly woven into the enchanting landscape of rural Virginia, and this is one mystery that will definitely have you looking up long-lost kings and leylines to explore all on your own.

Some scattered thoughts …

The Raven Boys calls into play some hefty questions about different backgrounds, families, and the fact that you do not have to be where you come from. Even at the darkest points of the novel, its portrayal of growing and changing and still being unabashedly you throughout (no matter who pressures you to be otherwise) is a welcome part of the read. Whether you’re within the target audience or not, Maggie Stiefvater’s novel can offer a thoughtful dialogue about where in life you are now and where you might be tomorrow.

The Raven Boys brings up some hard questions about being friends with people who live very different lives from you, and how that might make communication and understanding each other a little difficult sometimes.

• How would you imagine carrying a conversation with a friend who can’t relate to what you’re going through right now? How might you approach a conversation where you’re the friend who doesn’t yet understand?

• Is Gansey right for bringing his friends into his dangerous dream?

• Are they right for their unquestioning loyalty to him?

• Adam’s choice at the end of the novel is described as both heroic and selfish—would you make the same choice, if you were in his shoes?

Scattered Summary by Dominika