Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys at BEA this spring.  The cover is absolutely gorgeous.  It isn't white but pearl.  It shines and shimmers.  I was really excited to read this one.  Here's the Goodreads blurb:

“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.

I loved every moment of this book.  Really.  I did not read the back before I read the book so everything was a surprise.  The characters are great and the story is magical.  Blue is a girl who I could identify with.  She is used to being a loner and an outcast.  She knows who she is and she's okay with it.  When she meets Adam, she sees him as a kindred spirit.  Adam is a Raven Boy who doesn't fit in.  He's like her.  Gansey is interesting because there is the Raven Boy Gansey and the REAL Gansey.  He's also so used to being the Raven Boy that he often says hurtful things and doesn't even realize how/why they are hurtful.  Ronan is interesting because he is so emotional and interesting but he's also pretty mysterious.  Noah might be my favorite though.  Noah is so sweet and sad.  There is so much going on in this book.  It reminds me of some of the great mysteries that I read as a teen in that there are so many little things that you need to figure out and everyone has secrets or their own issues.  The magic in this book feels both magical and real.  Maggie Stiefvater has this amazingly beautiful way of writing that makes everything vivid and believable at the same time.  It feels like you could go out and find your own magical place.  I don't want to give too much away because I want you all to be able to enjoy this book as much as I did.

Raven Boys will be out on September 18th so be sure to order yours now!  You can find out more about Maggie Stiefvater and her work on her website.  You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.  Click here to find The Raven Boys on Goodreads.  This book earns 5 Fairies for one of the best books of 2012.