This book/series was first published at an unfortunate time for me. I had just finished a Young Adult and Fantasy reading challenge that seemed to have drained all signs of critical thinking in me. It’s crazy, I used to be such a huge fan of the genre, and so I jumped into this reading challenge thinking it would be such good fun. And it was, but I ended it feeling a little ill, like when I had gorged on too much junk food. I have never quite enjoyed the genre since.
But I saw this book in the library, and thought maybe it’s time to do a small dip into it and see if I still don’t enjoy it. And, as a graphic novel, it might be a simpler way to enjoy the book without getting fully invested in the world-building and feeling pressured to read the entire series.
So, how did this work for me? It’s not too bad. I liked the story, the setting, the characters, the budding romances, and the love triangles. But reading it as a graphic novel meant I could enjoy it without rolling my eyes at the teenage angst.
About the book
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.
~ Synopsis from goodreads
My Review
The graphic novel format took me a little longer to get into the story than the written book would have.
The art was INCREDIBLE, and the experience of getting the whole story in one brief sitting was so interesting. But in some places, it felt like a lot of the story was taken out when it was adapted into a graphic novel. It did feel incredibly abrupt for most of the read. I don’t think I got a good grasp of the plot from the graphic novel alone. It feels like it’s made for fans of the books, rather than for someone approaching the series for the first time. It’s a good companion for the novels, not meant as a standalone.
The plot also felt too fast; things were rushing past me at breakneck pace, and I had to pause and go back multiple times to understand what was happening. I will say I was very impressed by how much I felt was communicated in the art, between the lines, literally. And I think if I had read the books and been a fan, I would have appreciated the art and the vibes even more than I did.
Still, although I loved the story, the characters, and the art in the book, if I were to continue the series, I would probably stick to the regular books to get more grounding in the backstories, lore, and atmosphere.
Still a wonderful graphic novel experience that brought back some of my love for this genre. I definitely want to continue with this series now that I have fallen in love with these characters.
