The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Book 1 of a cycle of four books) is about magic and yearning. The main characters, all teenagers of 16 or 17 years, try to solve a magical mystery while they struggle with their individual, inner demons.

The book opens with the central problem: “Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love…” Tension is injected into the very first sentence. The opening chapters introduce us to Blue, her loose family of psychics, and the raven boys, a quartet of boys from an expensive boys’ prep school.

It takes some time for the main thrust of the plot to settle in. There is a lot of backstory to build while the magical mystery unfolds. However, Stiefvater keeps the pace moving and the tension high. She has a knack for creating suspense from the tension between characters. From the outset, each of the main characters has drives and desires, although the details take a while to emerge.

Stiefvater does particularly well in showing the push-pull of emotions in the relationships between the main male characters: they are devoted friends, but sometimes their need to protect one another clashes with the need for independence. As with many teenagers, sometimes these clashes can’t be resolved or smoother over, which, when it comes, is heartbreaking and very well done.

The character who is the main antagonist is not as well drawn and doesn’t seem as fleshed-out as the protagonists, unfortunately.

The plot has reversals, twists, turns, and plenty of suspense. It’s a hard book to put down, and the main characters come alive on the page. The ending, which is clearly pointing toward the sequel, is somewhat opaque. But it did make me really want to read the next book.