Hi everyone, today I’m going to be reviewing the first three novels in Maggie Stiefvater’s series, The Raven Cycle.

This novels are a whirlwind of things going on that it’s hard to talk about everything without making the review pages long. I tried my best to get it all. These novels are really good and really captivating so I hope you decide to read them, if you haven’t already!

The Raven Boys by: Maggie Stiefvater: The first novel in the Raven Cycle series. Blue is the daughter of a psychic and she has been told all her life that she is going to kill her true love by kissing him. It isn’t until one day that a spirit speaks to her, and she refuses to kiss him even if he intrigues her. The novel is full of the supernatural, which makes it very compelling to read. The characters both living, and dead are portrayed well that one character you don’t realize is even dead. The novel is very mysterious that the reader often has questions about what is going on, but it all becomes clear as each chapter goes by. It’s something completely different than anything out there and worth reading.

The Dream Thieves by: Maggie Stiefvater: The second novel in the Raven Cycle series, and this is where everything in the first novel starts to make sense. The supernatural takes a whole new twist and takes hold of dreams. Ronan, like his father he finds out, is a dream thief. That means he can steal objects from dreams and bring them to reality. This plays out a lot in his and his family’s survival. There are a few plotlines all going on simultaneously, but in the end all come together to tell the whole story. This novel along with the first were very confusing to follow along to just because there were so many plotlines going on, it was hard to keep track of what character is doing what, and what is happening where. But once you get past that and really get into the story, and get to the end, it’s a really thought out story, though the author wrote the end as if to say that it won’t be the last we hear about these characters which is exciting. Overall it’s something to read if your looking for something different, and to keep you paying attention.

Blue Lily, Blue Lily by: Maggie Stiefvater: The third novel in the Raven Cycle series. The main character Blue has lost her mother, and she sets out to find her. The whole novel is based around ley lines, which are like a key to another world. Blue’s mother is stuck in the ley line. Her friends who are a group called the Raven Boys are also involved in ley lines, but for their own reasons. They all come together to help each other to figure out more about the lines. It’s a very intricate novel with many different plotlines to follow that can turn a reader off from reading it because it can get quite confusing. But if you’re into complex novels this is a great read, and it keeps the reader engaged through different plotlines for all characters. You can tell the way the novel ended that there will be another novel, which is very exciting if you’re a fan of Maggie Stiefvater! Overall, a great follow up novel to the first two.

The Raven King by: Maggie Stiefvater: The fourth and final novel in the Raven Cycle. Gansey is on the hunt to find the lost Raven King, as his search continues he brings more and more people into it. By the end everyone who has stayed has committed their lives to this. This novel, just as good as the past three comes to a crashing end. The ending was well done, although the reader has known about Gansey’s fate from the get-go, and the fact that the author chose to run with it for whole series and everything worked out okay in the end, left the reader satisfied. Stiefvater spent a lot of time with her characters, and it showed in this novel in the exposition of each chapter. Her characters are definitely one of a kind; what really brings them to life is her writing that is so whimsical, mystical and witty. Her plots are so intricate, and woven together so well that it makes for a complex story, and that’s what makes it so compelling to read. This series is definitely worth the read for its depth, its characters, and of course the stellar writing.