The Raven Boys; Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, adapted by Stephanie Williams (book 1)

“Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics. Only, she has never had the same clairvoyant abilities they had and has always felt too ordinary within the magic that surrounded her. Enter Gansey, a rich student from Aglionby, the town’s all-boys private school teeming with wealth, privilege, and trouble. Blue's always made it a point to stay away from its students, the Raven Boys.

But when Gansey asks her to join him and three other Raven Boys on his quest to find a long-forgotten Welsh king rumored to be sleeping beneath the mountains of their quiet Virginia town, Blue doesn’t hesitate. She jumps at the chance to finally be a part of something real and full of magic, a world she was born into yet one that always stood just out of reach. Soon enough, she’s swept into a strange and shifting world woven into theirs, one far more dangerous than anything they could have dreamt up.” - taken from Goodreads.

This was a great adaptation of the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed going back to the world of Henrietta and the Raven Boys.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the quartet, The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves, Stop! I don’t want to ruin one of my favorite series for you.

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher on the first two books in the series.

Blue Sargent's senior year of high school isn't starting like she planned or hoped for. Her mother has been missing for over a month. She left behind a note that said, “Glendower’s underground. So am I.”  Her dreams of attending college seem out of reach. And the curse that her kiss will cause the death of her true love is haunting her. She told Adam Parrish about her curse when he demanded to know why Blue wouldn’t kiss him. Blue also told him that he wasn’t her true love. The Aglionby boys year is in a state of upheaval when their new Latin teacher is none other than Colin Greenmantle. Greenmantle hired the Gray Man to killed Niall Lynch and find the Greywaren, who turned out to be a who (Ronan) and not a what. Gansey is trying to fight his ever-growing attraction to Blue for Adam’s sake. Their friendship has turned rocky since he agreed to let Persephone “connect” him to Cabeswater. Ronan’s newest secret is Adam himself. The Gray Man has decided to become the man that Maura believes him to be.

Will Maura be found? Is she really underground with Glendower? What are the consequences for Adam now that he is connected to Cabeswater? Can Gansey and Blue continue to fight their mutual attraction? Does she tell Gansey about her curse? Will Greenmantle discover the secret of the Greywaren? Does Gansey come any closer to finding Glendower?

Fans of the Raven Cycle will be left clamouring for the final book in the quartet due out in 2015.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first book in the series, The Raven Boys, Stop! I don't want to ruin the series for you.

"If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?"

Blue Sargent is the only non-clairvoyant in a family full of psychics. Over and over, she has been told that she would kill her true love if she were to kiss him. She had also been informed that this was the year that she was going to fall in love. Blue and her aunt Neeve both saw one of the Raven Boys walking the corpse line on St. Mark's Eve. To look at Richard Campbell Gansey III now, it doesn't seem possible that he will be dead sometime in the next year. Blue doesn't think she is in love with Gansey but she really doesn't know what love feels like. She has had a vision of kissing Gansey and it was nice. He is busy looking for the legendary Welsh King; Owen Glendower whom he believes is asleep somewhere within Cabeswater along the Henrietta ley line. Legend has it that whoever finds the sleeping King will be granted one wish. Even though Gansey doesn't know his supposed fate, for his sake Blue hopes that he is the one to find it. If fate didn't have a say in anything, Blue would like to pick Adam Parrish to be her love.

Ronan Lynch has a secret that he has told. He is able to pull objects from his dreams into the world. One example is Chainsaw, his pet raven. The middle son of Niall Lynch, he was the one who found his father's body. The tire iron that was used to viciously beat Niall was still lying next to the body when Ronan woke up from a good night's sleep only yards away. That was the last night he slept well. According to Niall's will, all three of his sons were now incredibly wealthy but it all hinged on one condition; they were never to set foot back at home which they called the Barns. They were unable to disturb the house, its contents or property. That condition also included their mother. The Lynch boys were exiles. Ronan has dreamt many times of returning home. One night in his dreams, he returns with a small box from his house. Sleepless, Ronan goes to see if Gansey is awake. He is working on his model town of Henrietta. Ronan shows him the box which turns out to be a puzzle box. It translates words in English to other dead languages. One is unknown to either boy. Ronan suggests that they drive out to the Barns but Gansey isn't going to agree to do anything illegal.

Declan Lynch; Ronan's older brother was viciously attacked in his dorm room by a man who calls himself the Gray Man. He demands that Declan tell him where the Greywaren is. He threatens to kill him and then go after his brothers. Declan finally tells him that he doesn't know where it is, just that it is. The Gray Man is working for Dr. Colin Greenmantle. He is looking for the Greywaren, a relic that allows the owner to take items out of dreams. He is using various instruments to search for its energy. Greenmantle calls and tells him that he must find the relic quickly. There are others looking for it as well. The Gray Man follows the rapid beeping of his instruments to a well casing behind a farmhouse. A rose brush is planted in front of the well and its trunk and branches have so much growth that it appeared to be growing itself to death. He decides to remove the well casing to if he can see anything. Suddenly, his instruments stop beeping. He takes a photo of the rose and leaves.

Adam Parrish has next to nothing but he is on his own. Living in a tiny and cramped room above the St. Agnes rectory, he is working three part-time jobs over the summer to ease the financial burden somewhat so he could concentrate on his classes at Aglionby Academy in the fall. He wanted to go onto college. Adam was desperately attracted to Blue Sargent even though she was troubling to him. He has been ignoring a letter from St. Aglionby's for the past two days. He knows what it is not. Coming home from his job at the local garage, Blue is waiting on his doorstep. He invites her in and before too long they are in each other's arms. Just as Adam decides that he could kiss Blue, she throws the brakes on the situation. Both are hurt but Blue doesn't tell him the reason she stopped him. He goes to take a cold shower and thinks about the sacrifice he made to Cabeswater in order to wake the ley line. Seeing that nothing about him has really changed, he leaves the bathroom conflicted about whether or not he still wants Blue to be there. She is standing at the door talking to the office lady for the rectory. She has good news for Adam. He rent is based on the building's tax assessment and his rent will be dropping by $2400. a year. He thanks her and she leaves. Suspicious, Adam opens the letter from Aglionby to find that his tuition will rise by $2400. and his scholarship will be unable to cover it. His mind begins to think that Gansey has found a way to secretly help him. He becomes furious and unfortunately takes it out verbally to Blue. She lets him know that she will to stand for him to talk to her like that and will be waiting outside the door in case he calms down before she has to leave for work.

Gansey, Blue, Ronan, and Adam decide to back to Cabeswater for the first time since Adam made his sacrifice. As they crest the hill to see Cabeswater for the first time! all that is in front of them is fields; hundreds of acres of field with no sign of trees having been felled. The Camaro is quiet as Gansey checks his journal for the GPS coordinates he wrote down. Blue checks their position on her phone. They are in the right place. The four of them listen to the Camaro slowly die and stop. Adam believes that it is the alternator. Trying to decide what to do, Blue and Gansey see that there is a general store nearby. Ronan is angry and Blue asks if he has a better idea than continuing to break things. Adam feels the sting of her words as though they were directed towards him. Adam thinks about how Noah faded out at the Dollar Store, the Camaro sputtered to a stop and now Cabeswater is gone. Awakening the ley line has blown transformers around town because its energy is so strong. A lack of energy now is a complete mystery.

Why has Cabeswater disappeared? Is Ronan in possession of the Greywaren? Is the relic why he can retrieve items for his dreams? Does Blue fall in love and with whom? Is Gansey any closer in his search for Glendower? Who is The Gray Man? What did Adam sacrifice to wake the ley line? Will Adam continue to make it on his own or will he finally let Gansey help him? Will Blue or her family of psychics figure how Gansey is supposed to die? Why are the Lynch boys not allowed back home?

There are two more books in The Raven Cycle.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater's website.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle book 1)

“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.”

Blue Sargent comes from a family of fortune tellers whose predictions tend to deal with nonspecific items or events but are always accurate. But when Blue would have her readings, they were always the same no matter who gave her the blunt and specific conclusion. “If Blue was to kiss her true love, he would die.” For awhile, this bothered Blue but at the age of sixteen, she decided she just wouldn’t fall in love. But everything changed when her aunt Neeve came to town. Upon opening the front door, Neeve states “You’re Maura’s daughter, this is the year you’ll fall in love.”

Although Blue isn’t psychic like the other women on her family, she does have the ability to hone the powers of her clairvoyant family. Which is the reason on every St. Mark’s Eve, April 24, at midnight, Blue sits with her mother at the old, abandoned church to await the spirits of those members of the community who will die during the next twelve months. This year Blue is keeping watch with Neeve. While waiting on the parade of those spirits to pass, Neeve asks Blue is she goes to the school she passed on her way into town, Aglionby Academy. Finding humor in the seemingly innocent question, Blue lets her know that it is an all-boys school for the wealthy whose uniform consists of “khaki pants and a V-neck sweater with a raven emblem." Raven boys are easily identifiable during the school week. “Aglionby Academy was the number one reason Blue had developed her two rules: One, stay away from boys, because they were trouble. And two, stay away from Aglionby boys, because they were bastards.”

While transcribing the names Neeve tells her, Blue can actually see a spirit in the graveyard, a young man in slacks and a sweater. Neeve sends Blue over to get a name since he won’t answer her. Knowing that if he steps over the church’s threshold she will never get his name, Blue is shocked to see that he is in the Aglionby uniform. The boy answers “Gansey” and Blue cannot quit staring since he looks so real. He falls to his knees and fades away while Blue and Neeve look on. Blue asks her why she could see him. “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve, Blue. Either you’re his true love,” Neeve said “or you killed him.”

The next morning, Gansey calls his roommate Ronan Lynch to pick him up since his car had stopped on the side of the road. He is stranded after being out all night while scoping out the grotesquely modern Church of the Holy Redeemer with his recorder in an attempt to contact the future dead on St, Mark’s Eve. In playing back the night’s recording, Gansey’s voice can be heard saying “Gansey” followed by a far away female voice asking “Is that all?” Gansey’s voice replies “that’s all there is.” He tells Ronan that nothing, absolutely nothing was happening when the voice were recorded. Knowing that voices from other places and times can be transmitted across the ley line, Gansey’s voice being recorded is a mystery.

Having spent the last four years looking for the straight, supernatural energy path known as a ley line, Gansey has a knack for finding the impossible and doesn’t believe in coincidences. He believes that Own Glendower was brought from Wales to be entombed in Virginia and is eternally sleeping, like the legends of King Arthur. Whoever finds and wakes him is believed to be granted a favor. Knowing that he is onto something, Gansey asks for suggestions on what to do next. His other roommate, Adam hands him the phone number for a psychic. Perplexed, Gansey wants to know what he is going to ask a psychic. Adam says to find out who Gansey was talking to on the recording.

Blue and Gansey’s worlds collide when Gansey and his friends go to Nino’s restaurant where Blue works. Noticing the group of Raven Boys but not knowing who they are, Blue offers to take their table but the other waitress refuses. Later that night, her mother calls to let her know that Gansey schedules a reading for the next afternoon. Blue will take off from work to be there. Blue is then perturbed when the pompous-looking Raven Boy (Gansey) taps her on the shoulder. He asks her if she would do him a favor and talk to his shy friend (Adam). He inadvertently offends Blue. After her shift is over, Blue finds Adam waiting for her in the parking lot to apologize for the actions of his friend. After talking a while, Blue notices that Adam is unlike his friends, there is not an air of wealth about him. She gives Adam her phone number and he promises to call the next day and leaves. Then her manager catches her to ask if she knows who left behind a strange journal. Having an inkling, she says she will locate the owner but is immediately enthralled with what she finds inside; Gansey’s ramblings about Glendower and the ley line.

The reading with Gansey, Adam and Ronan is eventful to say the least and Blue’s mother is furious that she and Gansey have already met. Disobeying her mother, Blue soon finds herself wrapped up with the Raven Boys. Will Blue help the Raven Boys find the ley line? Why does Blue’s mother not want her involved with Gansey and his friends? What favor does Gansey wish to ask Glendower? Is Gansey Blue’s true love and is he truly destined to die the next twelve months? Will Blue really kill him? What part does Blue’s attraction to Adam play in the future? Will Blue confess what she knows about Gansey’s future?

The Raven Boys begins an epic quartet that will sweep readers into the happenings of Henrietta, VA. The author is currently working on the second book in the series.

Visit Maggie Stiefvater's website.