The Raven Boys

I loved Stiefvater's Shiver trilogy and hoped this series would at least be as well written,  but unfortunately it fell short. The beginning was a mash of characters and backstory, trying to lay down the ground rules of the setting and world, but it never really explained anything well enough. I think Stiefvater had a clear picture in her mind and jumbled the translation to words. For instance, the scene where Blue meets the Raven Boys was poorly done. She tried to identify them by their characteristics instead of names, but I didn't know enough about the boys to tell who was who. This entire book felt as though it was a stream of conscience first draft that never made it to a second. Between the random things added to the plot, and useless life details from Gansey I wanted to just shut the book and walk away.