The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater - 3.5 stars

This is book one to The Raven Cycle. I have had this book for a little while and decide to read it with a buddy this month. I was pretty excited to finally get to it. It took a few days, but I did finally get through it and will continue on with the series.
Synopsis
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

When I started reading this, I found that the style of writing and the flow of the book to be a bit choppy and that made it harder to follow and understand. I felt like it was the transition between characters that made it feel this way. Almost like I had to ask is this real or not. It did finally level out some and it got a bit easier to follow. It was not until past halfway that I really started enjoying the story and figuring out what it was all about.

I did not relate all that well with the characters at the beginning of this book. I did like Blue though pretty much from the start because I found her to be a pretty strong character. I was confused though when it said she was so drawn to Gansey, I did not really find that to be all that true. I thought she was more drawn to Adam than anyone. Eventually though I did begin to find many things that I enjoyed with the characters and I am hopeful that they will continue to develop and grow throughout the series.

I am not sure who I can recommend this to because it seems that so many already have read this, but if you like fantasy stories you will probably enjoy this one. I did find plenty to this book to urge me to move forward through the series and hopefully get to the rest of it soon. I am rating this one a 3.5 stars.