I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Series: The Raven Cycle #3
Published by Scholastic on October 21, 2014
Genres: Paranormal YA, Young Adult
Pages: 391
Format: ARC
Also in this series: The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves
Also by this author: The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves
Amazon • Goodreads
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.
Friends, I’m basically on a high from loving Maggie Stiefvater’s books. It’s probably bordering on not healthy and weird, let’s be honest. But when she keeps churning out books like BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE, I’m not going to be able to help myself. I’m completely invested in this series as it is—Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Cabeswater, Glendower, Mr. Gray, ley lines—but each book keeps unraveling things in pulse-pounding ways that only add to the mystery of the Raven Boys’ search for the buried Welsh king. I can’t believe we only have one book left, but BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE made me hum with anticipation for it.
In BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE, things continue to take glorious, strange paths for Blue and her Raven Boys during their search for Glendower. It’s hard to recap too much without giving away lots of details, but everything that’s been happening so far in this series is amplified in BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE. The bad guy is kind of unhinged. People from the past reappear. Friends are lost. Progress in the search for Glendower leads to a pretty amazing, weird, and unique climax. Relationships are deepened. Dreams and reality blur. Cabeswater remains confusing and beautiful and creepy and full of secrets.
I don’t know how to describe the things that happen with the search for Glendower in BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE. I’m constantly amazed at the things in Maggie Stiefvater’s brain. They’re nothing like anything I’ve ever read, and I think that’s why I’m always so captivated by them. Sometimes I have to reread a passage or two to try and make sense of WTF is going on, but I love that in her books. I love those moments when I’m gleeful over not understanding what’s happening because I trust Maggie completely. BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE had a few of these moments for me, but the action keeps ramping up while sacrificing nothing character-wise, and that’s just magical.
Of course, OF COURSE, this series wouldn’t be anything at all really without Blue and the Raven Boys. I always enjoy Maggie Stiefvater’s girls; in fact, Blue reminds me a lot of Puck from THE SCORPIO RACES. No nonsense, not very emotional, ballsy. I loved that we got to see her interact a little more with the women in her family, too. Also, OBVS I loved the slow but steamy developments she’s making in her relationship with Gansey.
It was nice to see some of the other guys forging new and unexpected bonds. Adam and Ronan were never bffs, but they come together in joined purpose in BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE. I love reading about Ronan because the more I see him, the more I notice that he does really thoughtful, small things for people and just manages to hide them pretty well so that no one else can see that he has just a teensy bit of a melty center. Adam is conflicting for me. I love him and then he drives me NUTS. But the consequences of his actions in THE RAVEN BOYS keep revealing themselves and I’m totally intrigued by them.
Without being too spoilery, I also REALLY enjoyed the weird awesomeness surrounding Maura and her mysterious little trip. Blue teaming up with Mr. Gray to find her was actually really nice; he’s made some pretty great strides as a character. But there were parts in this storyline–especially near the end–that were perfectly creepy and dark. There were parts of BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE that got me choked up as well, and that’s always the sign of a book that I’m loving. Having that emotional connection is important to me when I read, and I can basically always count on Maggie Stiefvater to bring it out of me.
This review is BARELY scratching the surface of all the fantastic things that happen in BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE. I know I said before that it’s hard to describe them, but it’s worth repeating. I wish I could tell you guys all about those things so that we can gush over them together, but you’ll just have to read the book first. For the record, I recommend it and this whole series with all the millions of fibers in my body.
So I totally skipped you review because I haven’t read this yet, but I did see the 5 stars you gave it and I am so excited to read this. Very soon!!
I’m totally in love with the weird and wonderful stories Maggie Stiefvater tells! I read Blue Lily, Lily Blue a little while back, and just enjoyed being immersed back into the word of the Raven Cycle. There’s a heady combination of high stakes, friendship, mystery, and lore involved in this story, and I love how she combines it all to become this one fantabulous read!