Fictional Crushes: The Raven Boys

Cornelia Tzana ‘17/Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

**SPOILER ALERT**

Let’s face it. It is impossible to have a crush on just one of the Raven Boys. The four male protagonists from Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle come as a package deal. Stiefvater has created a very colorful cast of characters with nuances that prevent them from falling into YA clichés and make them feel real. Here is a list of just the few characteristics that make Noah, Adam, Ronan and Gansey crush-worthy—both on their own and as a group.

Noah Czerny

Before the situation in Henrietta started going awry, Noah seemed to always bring an aura of calmness whenever he showed up. He is the one that manages to bring the best out of all the others. Noah’s friendship with Blue, the female protagonist, is the most pure and simple relationship in the entire series and their one intimate moment is the most exciting and saddest scene in the entire series. Blue’s first kiss ends up being Noah’s last. The moment she caught a glimpse of a tear on his face is the moment readers fell in love with the ghost of Noah Czerny.

Adam Parrish

Even though his pride can be aggravating at times, Adam makes up for it with his unending determination to achieve his dreams. No one can balance long work hours and top grades while chasing after a magical King and facing against deadly opponents quite like Adam can. As if his hard family life wasn’t enough, he falls for Blue, gets his heart broken, and is in a constant fight with himself as he tries to find his role in the group. And then he becomes the Magician, the hands and eyes of a magical dream realm. He grows from an insecure and scared boy to a determined and independent young man. He becomes distant and more present at the same time. Readers are right alongside him as he changes, and it is impossible to not experience an emotional tug of relief and love when he finally realizes and acts upon his romantic feelings for another special character.

Ronan Lynch

Ronan Lynch is an unstoppable force, a dreamer of miracles that loves to be in the danger zone. His mind can be a beautiful and scary place that gives birth to unimaginable wonders and horrors. And his one-line responses are unforgiving. But the other part, the one that makes Adam—and readers—fall for him, is his fierce passion for everything he loves. As the story progresses, readers see glimpses of a softer side. It is in his deep longing for his home, the Barns. It’s in the way he talks to his mother, the way he looks after Orphan Girl and his younger brother. It is the way he remembers every detail about Adam Parrish. Even his snarky but impressed comments whenever Blue works one of her own miracles are his own way of showing affection, and add to the layers of the rebellious energy that is Ronan Lynch.

Richard Gansey

It is not easy to encapsulate Richard Gansey III and all the characteristics that make him the most crush-worthy of all the Raven Boys. Gansey has a double allure. He is the charming, wealthy, socially trained young man that knows what to say to captivate everyone in the room. He has a calm, influential power unlike any other. But his other side, the one reserved only for a few select people in his life, is the true charm of the Raven King. The real Gansey is a boy who dreams and lives for the magic and wonder of the world and is not always in control of his emotions. He is the explorer that will stop at nothing to find his dead king. It is that same Gansey that is desperately searching for things that make him feel real and present: Noah’s sacrifice, Ronan’s fierceness, Adam’s relentlessness, Blue’s laughter. He is the heart of the group, the magnet that managed to pull together this curious collection of people that needed to find each other. Gansey’s magic is more real than that of anyone else, and it is impossible to not love him for it.

The Raven Boys are so tightly connected, not just because of their common mix up with the magic powers in Henrietta but also because their differences complete and strengthen each other. Collectively, they make up this strange group, whose magic makes them some of the most crush-worthy fictional characters.