The New York Times Book Review
…a well-paced neo-Gothic thriller about a teenage fivesome's search for the supernatural…and themselves…Stiefvater, who has an assured and entertaining way with language, doesn't talk down to her readers, and she ably blends the mystical and the earthly, the primitive and the contemporary in a way that brings to mind the work of John Bellairs, J. K. Rowling, Lois Duncan and Stephenie Meyer.
Anna Holmes
Publishers Weekly
By grounding this new series in what might be called everyday weirdness—a rich teenager’s obsession with legend and glory, a shabby household of female psychics with a pay-per-minute hotline—Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races) avoids the burden of building a seamless alternate world, instead saturating our reality with magic. Haunting, distinctly individual characters are at the forefront: Blue, an outsider in her own home because she isn’t clairvoyant; Gansey and his posse of misfits, who lack any sense of home and seek meaning elsewhere; and Barrington Whelk, a Latin teacher with a secret. Gansey and his fellow “raven boys” attend exclusive Aglionby Academy—itself out of place in working-class Henrietta, Va.—and Blue’s goal is to avoid them at any cost. She can’t, of course, but Stiefvater doesn’t rush this inevitability. Hopes, fears, quirks, and forebodings gather gradually, coalescing as living portraits. It’s a tour de force of characterization, and while there is no lack of event or mystery, it is the way Stiefvater’s people live in the reader’s imagination that makes this such a memorable read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Scorpio Races:* "Masterful. Like nothing else out there now." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "An utterly compelling read." - Publishers Weekly, starred review* "Filling it with loving descriptions of wet, wind-tossed Thisby as well as exciting equine action, Stiefvater has created a thrilling backdrop for the love story that blooms...A book appealing to lovers of fantasy, horse stories, romance, and actionadventure alike, this seems to have a shot at being a YA blockbuster." - School Library Journal, starred reviewPraise for the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver trilogy:* "A lyrical tale of alienated werewolves and first love....Stiefvater skillfully increases the tension throughout; her take on werewolves is interesting and original while her characters are refreshingly willing to use their brains to deal with the challenges they face." - Publishers Weekly, starred review"Readers will be able to enjoy Stiefvater's fast-paced storytelling and dedication to the old-fashioned art of creating a believable and enduring romance. Shiver is beautifully written, even poetic at times, and a perfect indulgence for readers of all ages." - Bookpage.com"This riveting narrative, impossible to put down, is not only an excellent addition to the current fangs and fur craze, but is also a beautifully written romance that, along with Shiver, will have teens clamoring for the third and final entry." - VOYA
Children's Literature - Toni Jourdan
Henrietta, Virginia, ley lines and psychic visions... Prepare to enter Blue Sargent's world where no one is as they seem and even the town has a supernatural energy that draws you into an adventure both ominous and forthcoming. St. Mark's Eve is when Blue helps her clairvoyant mother as they watch the spirits of Henrietta townsfolk parade down the church's lane signifying who will pass away that year. This year she is surprised that she can see one of the many drifting ghosts and this vision of a local Aglionby Academy boy changes the course of her future. Blue's been told her whole life that she will fall in love, kiss her beloved and then he will die. Uncertain as who her first love will be, Blue's protected life is uprooted and she finds herself on a ghostly scavenger hunt with four Raven Boys (a nickname for Aglionby's students). Gansey has captured her attention, for it is his spirit that she has seen. He is so different from anyone that she has ever known and even though it is Adam that has fallen for her, she finds that she has fallen for Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah in different ways. Will Patton brings the quirky characters to life well beyond just a storytelling. He embodies each character with a lilting Virginian accent lulling the listener. The first book in the "Raven Cycle" series is captivating. Even more so because of Patton's interpretation. The story, the characters, the energy is potent and I was drawn in from the beginning. Every character holds a secret from Blue and her household of psychics, to the Raven Boys, to the ghost of the Welsh King, Glendower, to the Latin Teacher, Barrington Whelk. Many secrets unfold during the tale and others are left for the remaining books in the series. Reviewer: Toni Jourdan
Kirkus Reviews
An ancient Welsh king may be buried in the Virginia countryside; three privileged boys hope to disinter him. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Blue Sargent, daughter of a small-town psychic, has lived her whole life under a prophecy: If she kisses her true love, he will die. Not that she plans on kissing anyone. Blue isn't psychic, but she enhances the extrasensory power of anyone she's near; while helping her aunt visualize the souls of people soon to die, she sees a vision of a dying Raven boy named Gansey. The Raven Boys--students at Aglionby, a nearby prep school, so-called because of the ravens on their school crest--soon encounter Blue in person. From then on, the point of view shifts among Blue; Gansey, a trust-fund kid obsessed with finding King Glendower buried on a ley-line in Virginia; and Adam, a scholarship student obsessed with his own self-sufficiency. Add Ronan, whose violent insouciance comes from seeing his father die, and Noah, whose first words in the book are, "I've been dead for seven years," and you've got a story very few writers could dream up and only Stiefvater could make so palpably real. Simultaneously complex and simple, compulsively readable, marvelously wrought. The only flaw is that this is Book 1; it may be months yet before Book 2 comes out. The magic is entirely pragmatic; the impossible, extraordinarily true. (Fantasy. 13 & up)