Audiobook Recommendation: The Raven Boys

It's Jan again. I'm going to guess Janine has been unable to post because her house is crawling with a stomach virus, so it is my turn. Like Janine I really enjoy audiobooks. Not all books are wonderful as audiobooks but the right book can be enhanced and really shine with the extra dimension of a good narrator.

The Raven Boys is one of those books.

From Goodreads: It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is 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 has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, 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 never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Stiefvater has such a lovely writing style. From the beginning I felt connected to Blue, and wary of the Aglionby boys. And Stiefvater always gets the best narrators for her books. Like The Scorpio Races, which was another brilliantly-narrated book, the narration of The Raven Boys adds to the beauty of the writing. Excited to read the next in this series.

It Must've Been Fun to Be Three

I have a three-year-old daughter. And I'm not totally sure she has any kind of legitimate grasp on reality. She inserts herself into every story. She's been a princess, a member of the Voltron Force, a Power Ranger, a mermaid, a ballerina and my sister/aunt/mother. She'll start with "remember when," and follow it with any random thing that pops in her head. "Remember when I was a ballerina and I danced Swan Lake and you were the bad guy who tried to stop me?"

Me: "Um, no?"

After a number of these conversations it occurred to me how fun it would be to be three. Reality is all relative and you're practically a time-traveler. It would be like living in your favorite book all the time, only it would be a total choose-your-own adventure.

Sadly, I can't go back. Instead, I listen to audiobooks and only half listen to her constant stories (hey, never claimed to be a perfect mom). And I've got a good one for you today.

Ultraviolet by RJ Anderson

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori -- the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

Let me first say I probably wouldn't have finished this book had I been reading and not listening. Which would have been a mistake. This book was twisty and turny with a nice plot twist at the end. I don't want to give away any spoilers but I'm excited the second book is out because now I need to know what happens next.