Audio Book Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This is a YA story with strong, sometimes dark, magic elements.

The Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Will Patton

Young Adult Ages 12+ • 11 hrs. • Unabridged • © 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Teens, YA
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

"Do you believe in magic?" Answer that after you've listened to the first title in Stiefvater's new Raven Boys series. Narrator Will Patton takes you into a world of psychic powers, legends of the Welsh King Glendower, and the ley lines (mystical energy fields) that transect a sleepy Virginia town. Patton inhabits young Blue Sargent, who is raised in a family of psychics but whose own power amplifies what others see or sense. Blue is justly wary of the boys from the elite private academy, known as the Raven Boys. Listeners, like Blue, are fascinated and snared by the quest for Glendower led by Raven Boy Gansey. Patton is masterful with the suspense and the mysticism and seductively plays the emotional line of real and imagined events. Don't miss this compelling listen, and pray that Will Patton has already signed on for the other titles of the series. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2012]

Review:
Blue is a teen who has been raised by a psychic mother and two other eccentric female relatives. Blue isn’t psychic but her presence amplifies the skills of the others. Blue’s mother has drilled into her how she can’t trust boys… not only because they are male but also because of a unique reading for Blue herself and what will happen to the first boy she loves.

The Raven Boys are mostly wealthy young students of the local elite academy. The strongest of these boys, Gansey, gathers others around who need his help even as they resist his handouts and leadership. Gansey is stubbornly set on finding the ley lines that will lead to Welsh King Glendower and a legendary favor.

But Gansey isn’t the only one seeking the powers of the lines and the favor of the legend. And at least one of these seekers is willing to try any ritual and go to any lengths to be the first to find the lines.

I really liked the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Ms. Stiefvater so I have been meaning to try this. I liked Blue and her strange family. I also liked the varied Raven Boys and was surprised by the revelation of one of the characters. The rival seeker is an evil man and poses great danger. The story is a bit disjointed, as it jumps among the characters and scenes. Still, it is very entertaining. I may not get the rest of the series as I enjoy werewolves more than relying on magical elements. I would recommend this to readers who enjoy stories about ley lines and magic – some good, some bad.

Audio Notes: I thoroughly enjoyed the narration by Will Patton. His voice is whispery to fit the magical tone and he delivers the characters with good personality, emotion and energy. I am glad I listened to this.

Source: 2013 SYNC.This qualifies for 2018TBR, Audio Book and Alphabet ("R" title) Challenges.

Audio Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

A satisfactory conclusion to this haunting werewolf trilogy.

Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3) UNABRIDGED
by Maggie Stiefvater
Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Pierce Cravens, Dan Bittner, Emma Galvin, Maggie Stiefvater

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 12 hours and 16 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Scholastic Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: July 12, 2011
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005C7QSX4

Genre: Paranormal Romance
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Review:
This is the conclusion of this YA trilogy.  It started a bit slowly for me but after an hour or so I was engaged in the story and rooting for Sam and Grace as well as Cole and Isabelle.

Sam and Grace met in Shiver. Grace is a young, smart teenager and Sam is a young man who yearns after her but turns wolf each winter. The pack leader, Beck, believed that Sam would remain a wolf the next winter.

At the end of Linger, Sam had been “cured” of being a werewolf by being infected with high fevers apparently suppressing the werewolf cells. Unfortunately, age or stress or a combination of factors, had triggered the werewolf cells to emerge in Grace where they had been suppressed since she was bitten as a child. Sam was now human and Grace a wolf each winter.

In this third book there is more angst between several characters. Cole is a talented but tormented musician who was “recruited” by Beck to “manage” the pack since Beck believed both he and Cole would be unavailable to do so.  Cole has had a pretty rocky and arrogant life and he rubs proper, angry Isabel the wrong way.  She is drawn to him but realizes he would be bad news. For some reason Cole is unable to keep his werewolf stable. He begins to experiment with ways to trigger the changes.

Sam is waiting for spring to bring the wolves, and especially Grace, back to him. Grace's parents and many townfolk think that Sam is responsible for the disappearance of Beck and Grace. The authorities are starting to put pressure on him. Adding to his troubles Sam begins to have emotional struggles thinking that it was a betrayal when he was deliberately bitten as a child.

Isabel’s brother Jack was turned to a wolf and died in the second book.  Their father begins to arrange a public hunt for the wolves.  When several more teens are attacked, the hunters get permission to use a helicopter to herd the wolves together for the hunt.

Sam, Cole and Grace race against time to find a way to move the wolf pack to a safer area. They find a friend in a surprising person but their efforts may not work when the hunt is suddenly moved up by several weeks.

Once again I enjoyed the haunting poetry, music and songs that were shared by Cole and Sam although there seemed fewer than the prior books.  There was plenty of excitement as the hunt pressed in. The writing is pleasantly lyrical and simultaneously simple in presentation but complex in emotion. I was a little disappointed that the ending didn’t fully resolve all the questions but there was enough for the reader to draw in a positive conclusion.

I especially love the audio performance for this trilogy.  The different voices bring the characters alive and enhanced the story for me. If you like werewolf stories and sincere teen romance, I highly recommend listening to this trilogy.

This is from my own Audible TBR library.

This is located in Mercy Falls, a fake town, in Minnesota for my Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will also include it on my Audio Challenge list.

Audible Book Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Highly Recommended! This second book in the series is even better than the first! 

Linger
• UNABRIDGED
• by Maggie Stiefvater
• Narrated by Jenna Lamia


• LENGTH
  10 hrs and 43 mins
• AUDIBLE RELEASE DATE
  07-01-10
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, YA; 
My Rating: 4.75.
Publisher's Summary
in Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves...and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love - the light and the dark, the warm and the cold - in a way you will never forget.

Review:  This story continues and expands from Shiver. Here we have four character perspectives: Grace, Sam, Isabelle and new character Cole.

Sam has been staying with Grace, and although they have not been sexually active, they have grown accustomed to sleeping together and sharing most of their free time when Grace is not in school and Sam is not at work. 

Spring is approaching and Cole is the first of the wolves to shift back. This is particularly frustrating to Cole since he is an angry, bitter young man and is trying to lose himself in the wolf. Isabelle finds him in her house and although she doesn’t like his attitude, she is inexorably drawn to his magnetic darkness. Isabelle lost her brother Jack who refused to remain a shifting wolf and died from the attempted “cure.”

That is only a minor irony in comparison to the big problem. Sam did survive the cure and he no longer shifts. But as the story moves on Grace becomes ill and it is fairly clear her body is fighting the wolf that struggles within her. Sam is burdened with the responsibilities of caring for the pack and preparing for their shift for the summer. He is initially disgusted and somewhat frightened by Cole’s arrogance and destructive nature. 

Now Grace’s parents have forbidden him from their home and are trying to ground Grace. Grace will break away to be with Sam.  As Grace gets weaker and sicker, can Sam hold on to the “summer” girl he loves?

I loved the four voices in the Audio. There are tidbits of Sam’s songs through the book and then a bit more in the studio practice (a birthday gift from Grace.) I really like the gentle love story, the ethereal music and the suspense of what is to happen. I’m ready for the next book!!

 I acquired this audiobook through my subscription at Audible.

Audio Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

This is a very engaging and haunting story of young love.

Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
  David LeDoux (Narrator), Jenna Lamia (Narrator)

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545165067
• ISBN-13: 978-0545165068

Genre:  Paranormal Romance, YA
My Rating:  4.5 of 5.0

Product Description: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Review:
These are YA characters but the story is very engaging with real emotions and an ethereal tone.
Grace is dependable and strong, a good student and reliable teen. Her parents are mostly absent as her dad is at work and her mother is an artist absorbed in her studio. Grace was bitten by wolves as a child. No one knew they were shifter-wolves because she did not shift. What made her different?

Even though Grace survived that trauma she looks to the woods and almost yearns for the wolves. Especially the one with the yellow eyes.

Sam has been a winter wolf for a long time. His parental situation is so sad but it brought him to Beck, the wolf leader,  who has raised him to lead the pack when Beck is gone.  Sam writes lilting, emotional songs that fit the loneliness and confusion of a boy caught between two worlds.

Sam has been enamored of Grace for several years. He saw her in the bookstore where he works in the summer but she didn’t recognize his interest ... until now.  They spend a glorious summer together but as winter approaches, when Sam will shift again, they struggle for a way to stay together. There are dangers facing the pack as certain members of the community hunt the wolves in the woods. Some other teens have disappeared and Beck has brought some strangers back to renew the strength of the pack.

The biggest problem is that this may be Sam’s last year of shifting. The wolves only get about 15 years of human shifting and then they remain in the wolf form. Sam doesn’t want to be separated from Grace but what can they do? Can Sam and Grace find a way to be together?

I really like the Audio version of this book. As the chapters rock from Grace to Sam there is a female and male voice. Both narrators do a wonderful job portraying the gentle kindness of Sam and the strong minded but tender Grace.  They also capture the other characters: Grace's parents, Beck and Grace's friends, the wealthy and somewhat arrogant siblings, Jack and Isabelle, and Grace's curious friend, Olivia, who loves to photograph the wolves.  I also enjoyed that Sam reads poetry and his song prose is haunting. I highly recommend the Audio version!

This was a SYNC YA Listening download from AudioBook Community. I am so thankful I got this as I might not have read it otherwise.