For those of us who have been waiting for something that makes us feel the thrill of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys since we first read it, this is an important release. The whimsical forest setting, the exhilaration of discovery, and the tender feeling of love in all forms are so exact that we’re not sure they could be captured in anything but a graphic novel. Picking it up felt like getting a hug from an old friend. As the original Raven Boys was released in 2012, we couldn’t be more excited to see our favorite characters brought to life over a decade later.
Whether you’re a returning fan or someone discovering the magic of The Raven Boys for the first time, only the right ambiance can make your reading experience even better. With some dim lighting, the right candle, Sas Milledge’s genius art, Maggie Stiefvater’s timeless writing, and of course, the right music, you’ll feel yourself transported into the world. And if you keep reading, we can give you a few songs that will help you fully immerse yourself.
‘Meet Me In The Woods’ – Lord Huron
If The Raven Boys had a theme song, it would be this. The whimsy, the longing, the resilience of our main group of characters are all packed into ‘Meet Me In The Woods.’ Throughout the series, we follow Gansey, Blue, Adam, Ronan, and Noah through exhilarating highs and debilitating lows. But what keeps them together is the strength of their bonds with each other, and the search for something more than the little town that holds them. The discovery of Cabeswater, the enchanted forest, completes their circle. It becomes as much a safe haven to them as they are to each other. ‘Meet Me In The Woods’ reads as a love letter between our characters and their beloved forest.
‘Free’ – Florence + The Machine
This song has a similar feeling to ‘Meet Me In The Woods.’ That’s to say, it similarly tells the story of a group of characters that are constantly knocked down and refuse to stay down. As any fan of The Raven Boys will tell you, what makes it so magical to readers is the found family. Not to sound cheesy, but the love they have for each other is limitless. And it’s as strong as the vocals, the beating drums, and the triumphant lyrics of this song.
‘True Blue’ – boygenius
The Raven Boys is such a beautiful example of found family because not only do the characters understand each other so well, but the author does too. Every decision they make, every plot point in this book, is driven by our characters. We understand every trait, every fear, and every goal. All of this makes it so easy to understand the relationships. We know what drives our characters, so we know what they love about each other, or where each pair might clash. As the series progresses, we watch them learn how to love each other, how to navigate their differences. And ‘True Blue’ talks about exactly that: learning to know someone, being known in return, feeling completely safe with someone. If we had to assign this song to a specific relationship in this book, it would be Adam and Ronan. But more on that later.
‘House Of Cards’ – Young Rising Sons
Do we need to explain any further than the old Camaro mention?
Just in case, we’re happy to say more. ‘House Of Cards’ might as well be a page ripped out of Richard Gansey III’s diary. He loves his friends to a fault. He would do anything for them, but again, to a fault. The way this song describes the desperation to be whatever someone wants them to be is exactly how Gansey acts, especially in this first book. He hates conflict (although he’s a master at talking, or paying, his way out of it). And he would always rather become who he thinks he needs to be to avoid it. Unfortunately, sometimes he just can’t figure out what he needs to be. And, like in this song, he’ll be desperate to figure it out.
‘Virginia’ – Briston Maroney
The small town of Henrietta, Virginia, means something different to each of our characters. Gansey feels like he has finally, after years of searching, found the place where he belongs. But at the same time, Adam feels like he’s suffocating. In this first installment, especially, everything he does is a step away from Virginia. Throughout the book, we see just how far he’s willing to go to escape the town that has shown Adam nothing but suffering. And as the series continues, we see him wrestle more and more with what the town means to him.
‘The Archer’ – Taylor Swift
While ‘Virginia’ shows Adam’s motivation, ‘The Archer’ channels Gansey’s. The picture of composure on the outside, Gansey is just about falling apart on the inside. In this first book, he thinks the only way to love his friends is to fix them. He takes on every problem as his own, even when his savior complex drives his friends away. When this leads to a horrific argument with Adam, he condemns his fear of his friends leaving him. He worries that he’s too much, or that he’s not enough. In other words, he wonders how anyone could possibly stay around him, while desperately hoping they will.
‘Love Like Ghosts’ – Lord Huron
For the fans of Noah, this one is for you. We don’t get to see much of Noah, but we do know that he holds our group together. True, we’ll learn a bit more about him later, but for now, we know that he loves our group and chooses to stick around them. ‘Love Like Ghosts’ also continues the story of ‘Meet Me In The Woods,’ using the same melody.
‘Rhiannon’ – Fleetwood Mac
This song exudes “cool girl” energy. And although seeming cool is the last thing on Blue Sargent’s mind, we know her peers would listen to this and think of her. Blue, who initially suffers a bit from “not like other girls” syndrome, would probably hate the connection. Alas, her thrift store clothes and her mysterious psychic family scream Fleetwood Mac.
‘Northern Attitude’ – Noah Kahan
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season fits impeccably with The Raven Boys. We would love to assign each song on the album to a character from The Raven Cycle. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until later in the series. What we can say now is that both perfectly capture the impact that a hometown has on somebody. Henrietta, Virginia, might as well be another character in this book. Just the same, Vermont’s presence in Stick Season is undeniable. ‘Northern Attitude,’ in particular, speaks to how the way he grew up affected him as an adult. Similarly, we see the different relationships our characters have with Henrietta based on their own upbringing. And we begin to see how that has affected the people they’re growing into.
‘Known By None’ – Medium Build
Again, this book excels in its theme of belonging. When we meet our characters in this first book, they are all dealing with their own struggles. As the story progresses, we see them help each other through many of them. In the beginning, though, most, if not all of them, feel like they’re going through life alone. They feel like no one could ever understand, like they’re not truly known by anyone. It often feels like that as a teenager, and that’s before we add on a magic forest and some of the unique problems they face. We can’t wait to see them grow up and into each other in action.
‘Georgia’ – Phoebe Bridgers
For our Ronan fans, you may be noticing that there’s a devastating lack of Ronan songs on this playlist. The truth is, we have plenty waiting and ready to go for the second book. Ronan mostly remains a mystery until The Dream Thieves. In the meantime, ‘Georgia’ is perfect for Ronan and Gansey’s relationship. Frankly, one of the few facts we know about Ronan in this book is that he “never lies or picks up his phone.” So already a win. Then, we factor in Gansey’s need to fix Ronan. After Ronan loses his father, Gansey is desperate to bring back the Ronan he once knew. As a result, Gansey takes on more of a mom role than a friend. At this point, fixing him is the way Gansey knows how to love, even if it’s not what Ronan wants.
‘Reach Out And Kiss Me’ – Love Spells
As we know, Blue can’t kiss anyone. Not for fear of them dying. So she has to stick to imagining her picture-perfect first kiss with the picture-perfect guy. And when the right guy comes along, he’ll have to imagine it too. And if he’s the right guy, he’ll have the same mindset as what’s displayed in Love Spell’s song. “I’m only meant to die about once. I’m only meant to die in your arms.”
Honorable Mentions:
- ‘Seventeen’ – Sharon Van Etten
- ‘lacy’- Olivia Rodrigo
- ‘Unknown / Nth’ – Hozier
- ‘Royals’ – Lorde
Ronan songs are not the only thing this playlist is lacking. If you’re already a fan of The Raven Boys, we’re sure you’ve noticed some of the relationships left out. As this is the first book in a four-part series, we’re just getting started. That just means you’ll have to tune back in for The Dream Thieves graphic novel, which was officially/unofficially announced on Maggie’s Instagram. A hint of what’s yet to come: we have plenty of songs we had to cut from this list because they wouldn’t have made sense in the context of just the first book.
But while you wait for both the next installment and our accompanying songs, grab your copy of The Raven Boys now! Let us know what you think of the adaptation, and what songs you think are essential to the reading experience. We can’t wait to chat about it at @thehoneypop on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
