
Richard Gansey III has died twice in his life. The first time was a freak accident with hornets. The second time he saved his best friends’ lives. Richard Gansey is a rich private school student who is allergic to wasps and has dreams of finding a dead Welsh king, Glendower. The search for Glendower is what brought Gansey to Henrietta, Virginia, where he meets his best friends. The five of them go on adventures to search for the dead king.
I know you’re probably thinking who dies twice? Don’t worry, Richard Gansey is purely fictional. Author of The Raven Cycle series, Maggie Stiefvater, wanted to be a fighter-pilot and a race car driver as a child. Through her books she is able to continue the sense of adventure she once desired as a kid. In The Raven Cycle series you get realistic teenage characters, but also the magical adventure that you can only go on in books.
When Gansey died the first time a voice told him, “You will live because of Glendower. Someone else on the ley line is dying when they should not, and so you will live when you should not.” It’s because of these words that Gansey started the search for Glendower through the ley lines. The ley lines are magical sources unseen by the human eye. They can be tracked with psychic powers or with special equipment. Glendower is believed to be buried underneath this magical path.
Not only did Gansey want to find the king that saved his life to thank him, but a legend Gansey found says if you wake a sleeping king then you will receive a favor from said king. The favor can be anything you can dream of.

Gansey spends most of his teenage years on the search for Glendower. He never stays in one high school for long because it doesn’t feel right for the search. Whenever a clue leads him somewhere new he picks up and leaves. There was a strong magical source, a ley line, in Henrietta, Virginia, which is what landed him in Aglionby Academy. At the academy he meets three of his best friends Adam, Ronan, and Noah. He meets Blue, the fifth member of the friends and only girl, at a pizzeria where she works. Blue is the daughter of a psychic that lends her powers to the friend group in order to aid them in their search for Glendower. Blue is not a psychic herself, but she does have a curse. If she is to kiss her true love he will die. Because you already know Gansey dies I think you can see where this is going. Gansey is Blue’s true love.
Gansey and his friends find a magical forest where time does not exist. The name of the forest is Cabeswater. The forest is an escape for the friends, but also a clue for finding Glendower. The friends explore caves throughout the forest in hopes of finding the dead king. However these caves did not lead them to Glendower no matter how far they walked, or how many holes they fell in.
A few of the friends are already aware that Gansey is going to die this year. Blue saw him on the magical lines where only spirits of those that will die in the next year appear. The friends decide that if they find Glendower they will use the favor to save Gansey. The friends never get the chance to ask Glendower to save Gansey though. Gansey discovers Glendower at the same house where the hornets killed him seven years ago. Glendower is dead. Gansey cannot be saved.

You would think not being able to save Gansey is the most disappointing thing that could happen in a day. It’s not though. A demon is in the timeless forest destroying it piece by piece. The trees and water are oozing black toxins. The forest is dying and Gansey doesn’t know how to save the forest.
Two of Gansey’s friends, Adam and Ronan, are tethered to the forest’s life force so when the forest is being destroyed they too are affected. Adam is possessed by the demon and tries to kill Ronan, and Ronan is physically being unmade like the rest of the forest.

The friends know that a sacrifice had to be made on the ley line to fix things. Gansey knows that this is the year he is supposed to die so he knows that he has to be the sacrifice made. Because Gansey is in love with Blue and he knows of her curse he kisses her. Gansey dies in his true love’s arms. He chose to give up his life to save his friends. Although he thought he was dying for good this time he doesn’t. Gansey’s friends sacrifice the remains of the magical forest in order to save Gansey’s life. Gansey didn’t know that he would be resurrected by his friends. He sacrificed himself thinking he would never get to see them again. This is the ultimate sacrifice. Dying for the people that you love. Would you be willing to give up literally everything so the people that you love could live their lives?

