WIJFR: The Raven Boys (spoilers)

booneybear

WTF???  This story made no sense whatsoever.  I read a lot of your reviews on Goodreads and I don't understand how everyone seemed really confused by the book yet gave it 4 or 5 stars.  Did I miss something?

Here is my "review" from goodreads.  Maybe some of you can clear up some of my issues for me.

Am I the only person that is still all WTF??? after reading this book? My problems with the story are numerous:

1. What the hell is the deal with the ley lines and if everyone seems to know where they are, how are they such a huge mystery?  

2.  If Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah are so tight and BFF's why the hell didn't anyone not know Noah's last name?

3.  If Noah could speak and communicate and come off as a non-dead guy, why the hell didn't he just tell his BFFs that Welk killed him?  

4.  And why do Welk and Gansey want to wake this king so damn badly for anyway?  What is the deal?

5.  The relationship between Ronan and Declan seemed pointless.  Maybe it will come more into play in later books but right now it just seems kind of pointless.

6.  This is trivial but when Neeve had Welk tied up in the back of the car, I didn't need to be told 52 times that she was eating hummus and crackers.  Really?

Ugh.  I just didn't get the plot of this book at all.  

And I really can't figure out how so many people talked about being so confused by this book in their reviews yet still gave it 4 or 5 stars.  What is that all about.  Did I miss something?

RevJen

I thought it was just meh but I was the only one until now.

I can explain about the ley lines though, if you're interested.

EliStar

I think the appeal of these books is in the mystery and creepiness and the relationships between the characters. A lot of the mysteries aren't solved by the end of book 1 or even book 2, but there are 2 more coming. 

1. What the hell is the deal with the ley lines and if everyone seems to know where they are, how are they such a huge mystery?  I don't think the mystery is where they are - I think the mystery is what they do. 

2.  If Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah are so tight and BFF's why the hell didn't anyone not know Noah's last name? The details of this are sketchy in my mind (I forgot) so I won't try to answer this one. 

3.  If Noah could speak and communicate and come off as a non-dead guy, why the hell didn't he just tell his BFFs that Welk killed him?  Because it would ruin the plot. Duh. I also think that he was coming to terms with being dead. Maybe he was in denial. 

4.  And why do Welk and Gansey want to wake this king so damn badly for anyway?  What is the deal? You get a "favor" from the King.  

5.  The relationship between Ronan and Declan seemed pointless.  Maybe it will come more into play in later books but right now it just seems kind of pointless. OMG I totally disagree. Ronan and Gansey's relationship is just amazing. Especially after having read book 2. 

6.  This is trivial but when Neeve had Welk tied up in the back of the car, I didn't need to be told 52 times that she was eating hummus and crackers.  Really? LOLZ. 

booneybear

And I still don't get why Blue didn't know it was Gansey she saw on the corpse road.  Didn't she see him and if so how did she not recognize him right away? 

nocturnalintimacy

booneybear said:

And I still don't get why Blue didn't know it was Gansey she saw on the corpse road.  Didn't she see him and if so how did she not recognize him right away? 

??? She does know. He said his name...?

nocturnalintimacy

I'm sorry that you didn't like it. For me, I loved the relationships between the characters. They're all weird and flawed. I like the creep factor and that everything is connected, but no one else can see it. These books remind me of LOST in that way.

I don't think you can go in expecting very linear, logical thinking. If you did that, I can see why you were disappointed. To me, this read with the same mysterious and creepy delight that I get out of Neil Gaiman books.

EliStar

nocturnalintimacy said:

I'm sorry that you didn't like it. For me, I loved the relationships between the characters. They're all weird and flawed. I like the creep factor and that everything is connected, but no one else can see it. These books remind me of LOST in that way.

I don't think you can go in expecting very linear, logical thinking. If you did that, I can see why you were disappointed. To me, this read with the same mysterious and creepy delight that I get out of Neil Gaiman books.

OH yes. I can see this! 

booneybear

I didn't get any Neil Gaiman feels about this story whatsoever.  

  I did enjoy the characters for the most part (once I could finally figure out who was who).  But I think the creep factor and the mystery was completely lacking.  I don't think the author built the mystery well at all.  I don't think the reader understands the motivation for Gansey or Welk to want to wake the dead king in order for him to grant them a favor.  What exactly are they looking for from this dead king?  And why should I care if I don't even know what the hell they want?  

I just don't feel like there was enough bones or intrigue to the story to get me excited about it being a series.  I feel like this could have been a very good stand alone book, if the author could have just told the entire story.  I feel like she had to take all the good stuff out in order to drag it out into a series.  

EliStar

I am seriously shocked that you didn't like it. The writing is just wonderful and the second one was just as good. 

I think Gansey is rich and eccentric and all these characters want a piece of this magical thing because they want to feel alive. They are bored with being content and want something more and they just happen to live in this hub of magical activity. I get it. I totally get it.

I was really creeped out a lot more by the second book than the first.

 

What I LOVE about Maggie Stiefvater is that she doesn't beat you over the head with things - she lets you discover the characters and the story on your own. I find myself wondering things about the characters in a way that makes me fall in love with them even more.  

84Lauren

It's like I don't even know you.

booneybear

I feel like I don't know you guys!!!  I feel like I read a completely different book than you did. 

EliStar

booneybear said:

I feel like I don't know you guys!!!  I feel like I read a completely different book than you did. 

I'm not going to lie. I'm really bummed by this. This is not like you, Booney. Have you been feeling okay? 

booneybear

EliStar said:

booneybear said:

I feel like I don't know you guys!!!  I feel like I read a completely different book than you did. 

I'm not going to lie. I'm really bummed by this. This is not like you, Booney. Have you been feeling okay? 

Well, truth be told, I haven't been sleeping well.  Damn dog has me up every hour on the hour.  

84Lauren

EliStar said:

booneybear said:

I feel like I don't know you guys!!!  I feel like I read a completely different book than you did. 

I'm not going to lie. I'm really bummed by this. This is not like you, Booney. Have you been feeling okay? 

Me too.  I'm thinking I'm going to back slowly out of this post and pretend like it never happened.

Hoycie

I read this book too long ago to remember specifics BUT I do remember my confusion being sorted out by the end of the book. 

I'm in no rush to read the second one.

Young_Love

With books like this one (and UNSPOKEN and UNTOLD by Sarah Rees Brennan), I don't even really care all that much about the plot. I LOVE the characters and the relationships between them and the journeys they go on together. Like everyone in this book, I adore Gansey and I will follow him anywhere, even when I have no idea where he's leading me or why. I have developed a lot of trust with Maggie Stiefvater...I know that I may feel lost on the journey I take with her, but it will all tie up in a super satisfying way if I suspend my disbelief and go along with her.

I don't care about why Gansey wants to wake the king, TBH. I just know that he does, and I'm going to go along with him because I love him so much.

84Lauren

Young_Love said:

I don't care about why Gansey wants to wake the king, TBH. I just know that he does, and I'm going to go along with him because I love him so much.

YES.  Gansey can do whatever he damn well pleases.

SusieBW

It took me some time to get into this book, but in the end, I agree with Y_L, I loved the characters so much that I got over the plot.  I'm mostly not that into paranormal stuff, but picked this up because so many people were raving so hard about it.  It took me some time to be able to keep straight who was who, too.  The boys were all the same to me at the beginning, and so were all the psychic ladies (and to some extent they still are), but once their individuality started to come out more, I grew to really love all the main characters for their flaws.

Booney, I think a lot of your questions are totally legit, and I can see where your WTFing comes from, but I guess for me it was a matter of just accepting the paranormal stuff for what it was and going with it, even knowing that I don't really understand.  I really like Maggie Stiefvater's writing, so I'm willing to do that here.

sweetrhythms

I was actually pretty confused by this book and I think your questions are reasonable.  I feel like I had a lot of questions that I didn't get answers to as well but like some others have said I enjoyed the writing and the characters a ton.  I think once I was able to stop focusing too much on the plot that I really allowed myself to enjoy the writing and characters.  I just had to be okay with not getting answers and being confused and then I really enjoyed it.  I haven't gotten to The Dream Thieves yet but I'm hoping I'm a little less confused by it.  Honestly, as long as I'm not confused by the time I get to the end of the series I'll be fine with it.

cnthrdlywt2bwZ

I've found that I prefer The Scorpio Races over all other books that she's written. It could be because it's stand alone, although I haven't read Lament and I'm not expecting too much from it. I would have preferred Shiver as a stand alone too.

Her characters are wonderful, so I agree that it is about them on a journey that makes her books worth reading but I'm not super impressed with each individual book/plot.

LadyMacaron

I felt the same way about this one. So well written, but so unnecessarily long, confusing, and convoluted. I just really didn't care about the Ley lines or the King, AT ALL. She never really told us why we should. Just because it's magical? Nah. I need more than that to keep me interested. And I feel like if you want people to be invested in a series, you have to solve a few things to keep us going. Like, throw us a bone every once in a while. Reading this just annoyed me, once I realized nothing was going to be answered. It's almost like the book ended mid sentence in the middle of the book. 

I also just didn't really connect with any of the characters aside from Neev and her family, and that was a big part of why I won't finish the series. 

lizabethann06

I can't remember if I gave this 3 or 4 stars. If I gave it 4, it is because of the characters. There were so many parts of this story that were incredibly confusing to me. Sometimes I don't mind being confused in a story- it is all part of the development and intrigue- but in this case I felt distracted by it. I am in no hurry to read the second book.

Louise06

I was not a fan of this book! I have no idea why I gave it 3 stars. I am going to have to revise that. I disliked it for many of the same reasons that you listed.