The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Things that annoyed me about this book and other reasons why it just wasn't working out)

 Hey y'all! Happy NEW YEAR!!! AHHH I cannot believe it is 2018! That year went by fast! (and honestly it has not sunk in that it is over) (*slight panic*) December was a blur and I'm honestly just glad its over. I was sick, trying to finish up exams, buying last minute christmas gifts, and juggling college apps all in one. I can gladly say I made it out alive. (I am a survivor) Thank god 2018 is finally here and I get a chance to catch my breath.
 Heres to a fresh start!
 I was able to get a good amount of reading done last month and was finally able to finish The Raven Boys which I have been seeing a lot of hype about throughout the blogging world. I personally was dying to see what all the fuss was about so when I got my hands on it was I so excited!
 I have to say this book was different from anything I have read before and as you can see below my thoughts are very bluntly expressed for all the world to see! (good luck trying to make sense of all my ranting ;))

The Raven Boys 
 By: Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 3/5 stars

Summary: “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

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.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

(Wow is it just me or is that the longest summary ever? Like it takes up so much space it could almost be a blog post within itself! Thats it guys I'm done. Full review is posted above... ;)) 

Anyways back to my actual review (I just had to a have a moment there)...
 Okay so I don't know if this is a non popular opinion or anything but this series was not what I was expecting at all? And I'm permanently torn between whether or not to love it or hate it?

Things that annoyed me about this book:

• The crazy plot! Like I'm all for out there plot twists but this one was just off the wall (I mean like every two seconds they were mentioning Glendor and if I had a dollar every time the word Glendor was muttered let alone thought about I'd be off on a private island with an umbrella drink in my hand) 
• Just how messy the book felt. I felt like I was running the whole time trying to catch up with what was really happening (meanwhile a lot just didn't make sense? I was confused)
• The overall OBSESSION with every little thing that is going on and how its constantly going to lead to something devastating or bad or death. I mean on top of not really knowing what was going on I was extremely stressed out the whole time because of this constant feeling of doom looming over my head! (ugh!) 
• The utter lack of any emotion or affection between Gansey and Blue throughout the WHOLE BOOK! I mean you two are supposed to be destined lovers and you barely even say two words to each other (I'm not counting the conversations about Glendor here) I mean I get that you just met and all but considering all the hype about a deadly kiss... I guess I was just expecting more?
• The worrying about one another! If Blues kiss doesn't kill Gansey he's going to die of an stomach ulcer from all the stress he's giving himself. He's always stressing about the perfect thing to say and how to keep everybody safe and out of trouble to a point that is obsessive (and frankly stressing me out!) I mean maybe I just can't relate because I personally don't stress out about the little things? But still, it annoyed me. 
• Also what even happened in the end? What does that even mean? I not even sure what exactly went down but I know its not good (Adam I love you but why must you do stupid things!)

Things I liked about this book:

• The complete and utter LOVE between all the characters!!! The sense of brotherhood was amazing and heartwarming and I loved every minute of it! (even if it was Glendor that brought them all together)
• The idea of Blue having the power to kill her true love with a kiss. This idea is just SO fascinating to me and I was kind of let down with how little of a role it played in the grand scheme of things. 
• LOVED Ronan he is seriously my favorite of the gang just because he is so blunt and I kind of have a soft spot for tortured characters because I just do (if I could explain it trust me I would)
• Loved the uniqueness that all the characters seemed to possess, Maggie Stiefvater is very good at creating characters that are interesting and super easy to get attached to. (probably contributed to the constant stress this book provided!) 
• LOVED Gansey and his old world soul! Adam and his troubled family life and how he has to work so many jobs because he wasn't born rich like most Algobony boys. Ronan and his mysterious secrets and the trouble with his brother, and finally you have Blue to daughter of a family of psychics and how blue doesn't have the gift herself but can amplify other powers! Super cool!
•   That being said I really loved the  element of supernatural psychics abilities. Tarot card reading and being able to sense bad energy and all that mojo is my thing. I love it when they do reading for the boys! (That part with Ronan... yes please!) (so intense I loved it) 

Overall feelings from this book:

Yeah! So exited to read this new book!! Its going to rock!

Supernatural physic's loving this so far...

Meeting the gang.. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!

Confusion... like what is even happening right now? Who is Glendor? Why do we need to find him so badly? There has to be an easier way to do this. 

Annoyed. Why is nothing happening between Blue and the boys? Where is all the romance? I need romance!

Stressed! OMG all the stuff that is going down is stressing me out and confusing the heck out of me! I love all these characters and don't know what I'd do if something happened to them and I think I'm losing hair trying to figure out how they can all be saved!!

Complete and utter confusion and sadness. Like what just happened here? Can I get a quick recap? Thats how its going to end?!?! Like what?!? I NEED answers Maggie Stiefvater. I need answers!!

 Overall this book wasn't bad it just wasn't what I was expecting AT ALL. Still trying to decide if thats a bad thing or not? I definitely have never read anything like it before and I don't think I could even compare it to others books I've read just because it is that different. Loved the characters with a burning passion and I loved the supernatural elements I'm just confused by the whole plot. I don't know if I even like the plot? Or the generalized idea of what is going on? I'm not in love with the idea of them finding Glendor (if you couldn't already tell by now) but I will keep reading because I LOVE the characters and I need to know whats going  to happen to them. (I will not give up on Blue and Gansey until the end) 

Have you read The Raven Boys? Tell me what you think. Ever read a book that was not what you expected? Got a bookish New Year resolution? Tell me in the comments below!

-BubblyBooks