The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

"'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."

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started reading this, but the road the book took wasn't anything I could have guessed. I think that's good, though. Admittedly, the first half-ish of the book was a little slow (it takes quite a time for her to even start interacting freely with the Raven Boys) but you can never say there was too little character depth and development. Maggie Stiefvater gave some generally more straightforward bios as the book began, but the character gold started coming when all the characters started interacting with each other; little quirks and details of each fueled motivations and insights into each of the boys and Blue. That started at the halfway-point of the book, give or take, and it got increasingly compelling and--if you can call it that--entertaining. Not that it's a comedy by any shot, but the characters are insanely fun to read. I can also tell it's definitely meant to be part of a series, and a cohesive one at that; the original hook and plotline intrigue you get from the inside cover almost takes a backseat to other correlating events, but I get the feeling they're definitely not forgotten. If I could, I'd already have the next book and be reading it to find out more. I don't know, I think this has the potential to be a really good series--can't wait for the next book! Now: go get this one at Kettleson!