Oh, family—you can't live with 'em, and you can't live without 'em. Is there any teenager in the world who doesn't have some kind of familial conflict? If the characters from The Raven Boys are representative of the global teenage population, then the answer is an emphatic no. Blue and her mom may be pretty tight, but they still get into a tiff when Maura forbids her from hanging out with the raven boys. Adam is forever trying to escape his father, who beats him and never shows any pride in his hardworking son. And Ronan and Declan's family issues belong in a Greek tragedy. Talk about complicated home lives.
Questions About Family
- What's the deal with the Lynch brothers? Why do they hate each other so much?
- Do you think that things will change if Blue ever meets her father? Why or why not?
- Why doesn't Adam press charges against his father sooner?
- How does Blue's relationship with her mother change over the course of the book?
Chew on This
Even though Adam's dad is constantly beating him up and treating him terribly, he doesn't want to press charges. He knows that if he does, he'll never see his mother again, and that's a huge relationship to give up on.
Blue and Maura go through some tough times when Maura forbids her from seeing the raven boys. But in going through conflict and disagreement, the mother-daughter duo become even closer and learn to trust each other.