The Story:
Blue Sargent is the only non-psychic in a family of clairvoyants. But on St. Mark’s Eve, Blue sees her very first spirit, the shade of a boy who will die in the next twelve months. There’s only one reason she would be able to see him: either he’s her true love, or she’s the one who will kill him.
Why I love it:
While the plot itself is captivating, the thing that kept me turning pages more than anything was the author’s command over language. Maggie uses words like a skillful artist, painting the setting so you feel you’re right there in Henrietta, Virginia; painting the characters so you feel like you know them as intimately as you know yourself.
This was one of those books that made me grab the nearest person and insist, “you have to listen to this. Isn’t it brilliant?” I highlighted more in this book than I have in a long time, just reveling in the words, in the incredibly artful way Maggie brought the characters’ voices to life.
The craft: Point of View and Voice
I think Raven Boys is a particularly good one to study when it comes to creating unique character voices in third person, while keeping a consistent narrator voice. This book relays scenes from about six different perspectives—some used often, some used only once. Each time she switches, Maggie retains her author voice, but the characters still sound completely unique.
A great way to illustrate this is to look at the ways Maggie describes the same character, from two other characters’ points of view.
This is Blue Sargent in chapter 6, describing Richard Campbell Gansey III (Gansey), the first time she meets him, before she knows who he is (the spirit whose death she predicted in the first chapter).
“Before her stood the multitasking cell phone Aglionby boy, looking tidy and presidential. His watch looked as if it cost more than her mother’s car, and every area of exposed skin was a flattering shade of tan. . . . There was something annoyingly impressive about him, an impression that he was very tall, although he was no taller than most boys.”
Throughout this scene, Blue refers to Gansey as “President Cell Phone.”
We get a strong sense of Blue’s personality from what she notices and calls out about Gansey. She’s very aware of class differences, pointing out the cost of his watch and his tan (indicating he has time for vacations in exotic locales). She finds his impressiveness “annoying,” and gives him a condescending nickname. We also hear her voice—she’s sarcastic and witty, and very self-aware.
Contrast this with the description of Gansey from Adam, one of Gansey’s best friends. This is in chapter 4.
“As always, there was an all-American war hero look to him, coded in his tousled brown hair, his summer-narrowed hazel eyes, the straight nose that ancient Anglo-Saxons had graciously passed on to him. Everything about him suggested valor and power and a firm handshake.”
In this one, Adam’s more sincere voice comes through. He describes Gansey as looking like a war hero, and calls out physical traits that make Gansey appear noble and admirable.
Reading the rest of the scene also gives a sense of Adam’s own sense of inferiority. Gansey is everything Adam wishes he could be.
From these two descriptions, we get a fuller sense of Gansey the character, but also of the people observing him. Blue is full of sarcastic barbs, while Adam’s point of view is marked by earnestness.
Both of these descriptions feel like the same author voice—Maggie Stiefvater didn’t radically shift her writing style when she shifted character point of view, but through the words she chooses for each character, through the different things she shows them noticing and pointing out, Maggie creates a distinctive voice for each character.
I highly recommend this book, both for personal enjoyment and as an artful example of character point of view in third person.