In The Raven Boys, Blue could have taken the easy road and listened to her mother and stayed away from the raven boys. After all, Maura is a Grade A psychic, and it's probably a good idea to listen to her. But Blue makes her own choices and ends up getting involved in their grand exploration of the Henrietta ley lines.
The storyline also touches on how the characters are trying to forge their own paths in lives. Adam wants to be his own man, but he doesn't want to be beholden to someone like Gansey, while Ronan is under his brother's thumb, but just wants to do his own thing and tell Declan to leave him alone. They're difficult circumstances, for sure, but these teens still have decisions to make about how to navigate their lives.
Questions About Choices
- How does Adam choose the "third path" when it comes to his life?
- Does Blue make a mistake in hanging out with the raven boys? Why or why not?
- Why does Aunt Neeve lie to Maura about the purpose of her visit to Henrietta?
Chew on This
Adam thinks that he only has two paths in his life: to stay at home with his abusive father, or to move in with Gansey and be in debt forever. But in the course of looking for the ley lines, he realizes that he can create a new path for himself—he can live away from his family but do so with his own principles intact.
All this time, Blue believed that her dad left them on purpose. Finding out that he disappeared without a trace (as if through magic) changes everything.