Hello
happy readers to the first review of 2017.
This will come as no shock I’m still catching up on reviews of books I
did read last year. The first is BlueLily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater the third book in The Raven Cycle. First I went to start my review of The Raven
King and series as a whole when I realized I went straight from book three to
the final book and never got to review it.
How this happened is beyond me but still. I finished the whole series last year and I
can’t wait to share my thoughts on the last book and series as a whole but
first we have to catch up. My previous
reviews for The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves. This will contain spoilers for the first two
books in case you’re new to this. Also I
listed to this on audiobook.
Rating: 5
Stars
Blue
has more than she has in most of her life in the form of friends and a place
with them where she feels she belongs.
She among her Raven Boys the last place she ever would have
expected. Still even though her mother
disappeared on a personal quest, leaving her new assassin boyfriend Mr. Grey
with them Blue has much and is scared to lose it. We have still have Gansey’s fate she saw back
in book one and her own curse hanging over her head. Ronan has this huge ability to dream things
into life, and we are still searching for Glendower our Welsh King hoping he
will grant a wish.
Blue
Lily, Lily Blue had so much happen in it yet it still seemed to have a bit of a
slower pace and focus more on characters which I enjoyed. There was so much character work in these and
I really enjoyed it because the characters of this story are what really drive
it home. Blue and her Raven Boys. There is a quote in the book which I have seen
many mention as a favorite from the book and for good reason, it just fits.
“But what
she didn’t realize about Blue and her boys was that they were all in love with
one another. She was no less obsessed
with them than they were with her, or one another, analyzing every conversation
and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag,
spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they
would be with one another.”
The
story is so otherworldly and complex and yet some simple and true that it’s
hard to really explain it to anyone. At
least that seems to be how things go with me.
Blue, Gansey, Ronan, and Adam all must go back to school adding a sense
of contrast to their summer spending all day and night looking for the sleeping
king. Now they have to focus on mundane
tasks like school as well.
Blue
is still Blue. She is the character I
fell in love with in book one. She has
this quality about her that makes you want to hug her and be her friend. Even more so now as Mara is missing and she
has to deal with many other emotional issues from boys, deaths, evil bad guys,
supernatural evils and so much more. A
girl could really use her mom. Still the
rest of the ladies in 300 Fox Way really help balance the story. Each one is unique and has a personality more
than just to help the story along.
Gansey
is much the same as the guy we got to know.
He has a good heart and soul.
He’s determined to find his sleeping king. He doesn’t always understand how others take
his words but he is never cruel. You grow to love him even more which only
breaks your heart. The romance
developing between him and Blue, their moments of togetherness. They are so sweet and adorable you want
nothing more than to have them kiss but you also are terrified of that same
thing. It wrings you heart all up for
sure. Plus with that we also get to see
more of Gansey and his panic attacks, more of who he is which is always
desired.
Noah
is fading and it breaks your heart to see him sometimes. Still his presence is always welcome and
wanted.
Ronan
is….well he’s Ronan. I don’t know how
else to describe him. He is who he is
and after learning about him in the last book and seeing things from his
perspective, seeing him again from others eyes really shows more. He has so much more to him than being angry
and jerk like. He is there for his
friends no matter what and he will take on any punishment or pain to protect
those whom he deems friend. So much
depth to him, I mean he has been through so much.
Adam
was a character who in the last book kind of had me wavering on him as he was
so quick to anger and his pride was too strong that it hurt him in many cases.
But in Blue Lily, Lily Blue he really came back around for me. He seemed to open up more as a character and
grew so much. He also started to see
past some of his issues which I loved him for.
The majority of the scenes he shares with Ronan and the combination of
them really works on balancing one another off.
We
also had some other great characters in this we got to see Greenmantle and
Piper who were flat out insane. I wanted
to hate them because they were just so down right bad but they were so damn
funny about it I kind of wanted to see more of what they would do next. The back and forth between them was just on
point. Plus Mallory came for a visit
with Dog which not only gave a view into the Gansey of the past but gave a more
contrast of ideas. Jessie Dittley and
his curse and constant yell speak to Gwenllian whom is crazy and also due to
the audiobook why I keep repeating “Blue Lily, Lily Blue” in a sing-song
voice. To all the women at 200 Fox
Way. Cabeswater is a character in and of
itself between working through Adam and learning more and more of what it is
and what it can do it just draws you in as a real living thing.
The
story continues to draw you into the world.
You want to keep on the search for the sleeping king but motivations and
desires change at every turn. Why you
searched in the start and why you still search.
So many subplots all working together for a much larger picture. The audiobook was amazing for me in that it
allowed me to simply close my eyes, when I wasn’t driving that is, and just
envision it. Let Stiefvater’s words flow
over and into me in that magical way like I was there with Blue and the Raven
Boys. So many things happened throughout
and the deaths and twists came as a shock and brought a tear to my eye even
while I felt conflicted by some. I was
eager to dive right into book four when I finished and that is just what I
did. I highly recommend.
Until
next time…
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