The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater is a young adult fantasy novel about a girl from a family of clairvoyants, the boys she befriends, and how their lives are intertwined along their journey to wake a slumbering king. The book was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award for science fiction and fantasy in 2013, and the Raven Cycle series was nominated for the Mythopoeic Awards in 2017. A graphic novel adaptation of the series is in the works, set to begin releasing in 2025. New York Times bestselling American author Maggie Stiefvater has written over 10 fantasy books for teen and preteen audiences. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Mary Washington College. She published her debut novel in 2008 and has worked as a writer, artist, and musician ever since. She currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley with her family and a collection of animals, including dogs and goats.

This guide follows the 2012 Scholastic edition of The Raven Boys.

Plot Summary

The Raven Boys follows Blue Sargent, the only ungifted girl in a family of clairvoyants, and the “raven boys,” Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. The four boys attend the nearby Aglionby Academy, for which a raven is the mascot. All her life, Blue has been told that her true love will die after she kisses him, and as she enters her 16th year, her aunt arrives to announce that this will be the year Blue falls in love. Meanwhile, Gansey has spent years searching for the tomb of the long-dead King Owen Glendower, intending to awaken him and be granted a wish. When Blue sees Gansey’s spirit among those fated to die in the next year, forces begin to tug her toward the raven boys, even as she wants nothing to do with them.

Blue dislikes boys who attend Aglionby because it’s a school for rich boys who believe they’re entitled to anything they want. While this description applies to Gansey, Ronan, and Noah, Adam is different, as he worked hard to get into Aglionby despite coming from a low-income family. The boys enlist the help of Blue’s family to find a ley line (a spiritual line of power) and Glendower’s corpse, and despite Blue’s steadfast commitment to disliking Aglionby boys, she finds herself sympathizing with the group, especially Adam. Together, they research Glendower and the nearby ley line until Blue finds the line on a map.

The group travels to the place on the map, entering a strange wood where time stops and thinking something makes it manifest in reality. All the while, Blue finds herself being drawn ever closer to Adam’s quiet kindness and to Gansey’s vulnerable determination, and when the wood shows a vision of her almost kissing Gansey, she doesn’t know what to think. As the group continues to research and explore, Blue learns the troubles each faces: Adam’s father is abusive; Gansey feels obligated to find Glendower because he believes the king saved his life years ago; Ronan is estranged from his family in the wake of his father’s death. Noah remains more elusive, which the group soon learns is because he’s a spirit.

Returning to the ley line wood, Blue and Gansey find Noah’s bones, which prompts Noah to start traditionally haunting the group so they’ll find his killer. At home, Blue’s aunt exhibits odd and sinister behavior. Blue learns she came to the area because the Aglionby Latin teacher contacted her to find the ley line, which Blue’s aunt now seeks for herself. The Latin teacher sacrificed Noah to wake Glendower years ago, which failed, and with the information he steals from Gansey, he intends to try again.

After their teacher almost kills Gansey, Ronan and Adam rush to his aid, only for Adam’s father to attack him when Adam goes home. Ronan rescues him, and Adam is forced to leave his house to stay with Gansey. The boys and Blue argue about whether they should wake the ley line’s power and, unwilling to let their teacher claim the power and get away with Noah’s murder, Adam sneaks out to wake the line. Blue and the boys follow him, finding him in a standoff with the Latin teacher and Blue’s aunt. Blue’s aunt mysteriously disappears, and Adam sacrifices his free will to wake the power, killing the Latin teacher and delivering justice for Noah’s murder. The group buries Noah’s body on the ley line so Noah can remain with them, and they move forward into the knowledge that something bigger than them all has begun.