The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel

Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Williams, Sas Milledge — 2025

The first book in Maggie Stiefvater's #1 NYT bestselling series The Raven Cycle, now gorgeously illustrated as a graphic novel! 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. Now reimagined as a stunning full-color graphic novel adapted by Stephanie Williams and illustrated by Sas Milledge, The Raven Boys unravels a thrilling plot around a cast of characters impossible to forget.

Reviews

ash (smokedshelves)@smokedshelves

Feb 16, 2025

thank you to viking books for young readers and penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

genuinely, i need to start by saying how honored i am to have been able to receive a physical arc of one of my most anticipated reads of the year. this book, this series was one of my first introductions back into the reading world when i was in high school. i read the series in such a fugue state, i honestly forget (nearly 8??? years later) what events happened in which books. so knowing that i planned to read this ASAP, i reread the first book in the series.

and i can say that this graphic novel adaptation is so faithful to the original story. condensing a 400 page book into just under 240 pages for a graphic novel is such a challenge and this team truly executed it perfectly. not only were they able to pull all the meat of the story into the graphic novel, but they were able to include some of the "little" scenes, the spots where these characters's personalities truly shined. seeing the gangsey on page, seeing them visually interact, it made my heart so happy. i think they did an incredible job condensing this story into this graphic novel while still having the heart of what the raven cycle is.

i think all the fans of the story will truly love this story. and honestly, if the 4 book series was a hinderance for you, i think this a great way to introduce yourself to this story of henrietta. i cannot wait for the adaptations of the rest of this series now, and i have officially re-ignited my absolute love for this series!