Monday, October 27, 2014

Blue Lily, Lily Blue ~ Maggie Stiefvater (earc) review [@Scholastic @mstiefvater]

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3)
Scholastic Press
October 21, 2014
391 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon


There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

The Raven Cycle has been a very enjoyable series, so far. I loved the character insights readers received in The Dream Thieves (#2) and was excited by the possibilities its ending provided.

This book's focus seemed to be more on Adam. While we do lose some of what Ronan might have been thinking, feeling after Kavinsky's death, Adam is a really good choice as the central character. The third book picks up where the last ended: they're still searching for Glendower, the Gray Man/Mr Gray is still in town and Blue's mother, Maura is missing.

Adam's character has the most (or the most, in a tie with Blue) taking place during Blue Lily, Lily Blue. His life in Henrietta, his non-Aglionby life, is more on display here and affecting more.

Ronan is no longer the main character (like in The Dream Thieves) but we continue to get to know him better. He is still discovering what the revelations of that book mean for him, his life and what he can  - and should - do. Through both his own actions and statements as well as what others say, think, do about him he has become even more my favorite character. We see some more of what's beneath the Bad Ronan Lynch facade.

I love that we go back to 300 Fox Way again. The interactions between Blue and the women in her family area always great and fun to read. There is more that has happened there and that is happening there, its no longer just the house of psychics. It's still Blue's home, still quirky and even better to read about with the added complexities.

We see more of Blue's character in this third book. She isn't the sidekick to a group of boys, but rather has both her own story and her own skills. She's the Henrietta girl, but so much more than that. Her interactions with some of the new or newer characters were some of my favorite of the book. She also brings out some of the best parts of the boys and their personalities.

The Latin teacher at Ablionby Academy is starting to feel a bit like Harry Potter's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Still, I really enjoyed the character and their addition to the story. It worked so well into what's already happened and the known characters.

My favorite addition to the story, however, had to be Jesse Dittley. And Jesse Dittley's CAPSLOCKiness. (Jesse Dittley's diet, as well.)

I have purposely skipped over the plot so far because it's hard to review it and stay spoiler-free. It is a great continuation of the previous books while still throwing in some unexpected twists and turns - for both readers and the characters. There is always something happening, even if it is a tiny something. It feels, at times, like something bigger needs to happen but the way that all of the little things work together towards those bigger things is fantastic.

There were a few things in the story, one in particular, that seemed very present in their lead up, in their anticipation but then disappeared. I hope to see mention(s) in the next book. A book which I am very anxious to read after Blue Lily, Lily Blue's ending. Oh what an ending.






received for review thank to the publisher, via NetGalley

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