Linna's Reviews > The Raven Boys

Well, that last line makes a lot more sense now that we know what the second book's called. This is another case where I'm way more interested in the non-Main Couple characters (Gansey and Blue just seem so much more boring compared to Adam and Ronan imo)* but I have to give Stiefvater credit for not pushing it into our faces so much, or at least trying to make it seem less predictable.

While it's hard to put down once you start reading, I think this book is too bloated and drags on too much, and it's obvious that most of the mysteries are introduced for later installments to explore. There's a lot more setting up and exploring character relationships then there is advancing a plot, which is something I don't mind too much, actually - the cast is really great, distinct, has good chemistry, and you want to more about them. But the stuff that actually happens, when you look back on it, is buried under a lot of meandering. It lacks some urgency and I put it down for several months (ack, more than a year actually!) when it started lagging. The climax and resolution felt really rushed compared to the rest of the 400-some pages of relaxed pacing. The direction the romance is heading in doesn't interest me at all but I do like the characters, so I might get around to reading more books in the series later on.

*just like in Shiver! Isabel and Cole >>>>> Grace and Sam. the same pattern in also: every John Green book I have ever read