Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the third book in the Raven Boys series, is a fantastical story filled with action, mystery, and a buttload of suspense. As expected, Blue Lily, Lily Blue is a unique and surprising as its predecessors. This series can be described as a lot of things, cliche is not one of them.
"Humans were so circular; they lived the same slow cycles of joy and misery over and over, never learning. Every lesson in the universe had to be taught billions go times, and it never stuck."
If you have yet to read the Raven Boys, I highly recommend that you do. I've been plowing through all the books-- at the moment I happen to be half way done the fourth one. It was very hard, but I was eventually able to tear my eyes from its pages to get this review out. (I wanted to write it before I finished the fourth book.) It also helped that I had to make a hundred or so cupcakes and didn't want to get the book messy, therefore I took a break. And now I'm extending that break to write my thoughts about the third book. Ah. It's so sad that the series is almost over. I kind of just want it to go on forever, but at the same time I don't. I want to see how it ends.
"How arrogant we are to deliver babies who can't walk or talk or feed themselves. How sure we are that nothing will destroy them before they before they can take care of themselves. How fragile they were, how easily abandoned and neglected and beaten and hated. Prey animals were born afraid. He had not known to be born afraid, but he'd learned."
While the Dream Thieves was mainly concerning Ronan, I noticed that Blue Lily, Lily Blue had a lot of Adam in it. Maybe Adam didn't have anymore page POV time than anyone else, but it felt like he did. Blue Lily, Lily Blue did show Adam as a changed/changing character. This series is great because it takes place in a year, and yet it shows all of its characters going through monumental character arcs, pretty believable ones as well. Then again, a lot of things are believable when your story is set in a fantasy-ish world where basically anything can happen.
"Pain was a wondrous thing that way; it always worked."
Like all the other books, I was entranced by this novel's uniqueness and wording. It almost feels as if I'm in a dream when I'm reading these books-- thinking about it now, one of the (many) reasons these books are so different is because the basic set up of them are kind of different. There are many lives entwined in these books, which is not uncommon, but the way the story is told and the way it comes to the climax of the story is utterly unique. I can't really describe how, but if you read the books, I hope you know what I mean. (It's funny, actually. My mind works kind of like it's telling a story, and when I read the same writing style for a continuous period of time, my brain sometimes starts to think in the writing style of the book I'm reading. For the last couple of days I've been thinking in Maggie Steifvater's verbose writing style. It will eventually fade away, but when I realize it's happening, I find the thought process very amusing.)
One thing that I've noticed that disappoints me and that has happened throughout the last three books is that there is are parts where the character's do something and then the chapter ends. And does not show how the characters do it and how their peers react. I'll talk more about this later in the spoilery section.
Gansey. Lovable as always. It's like I'm one of the characters in the book-- unable to resist the magnetic pull of Gansey. Not that I'd want to, anyway. Who wouldn't want a Gansey? He's so... there are too many words and too little words to describe him. Sweet isn't exactly right, that's more Noah's word. Gansey is sweet, I love how sometimes he says things that offends people without meaning to, or even realizing it for a while, then he'll ponder it, ashamed and confused later. It's so cute.
Then there's Blue, it was established in the last book that both Blue and Gansey had feelings for each other and acknowledged it. But they couldn't/wouldn't act on it because of Adam. Ah. Gansey, being a selfless, loyal friend. I LOVE HIM. Sorry. If you couldn't tell, I feel very strongly towards Richard Campbell Gansey III. Obviously, after establishing feelings, there has to some acting on them. While it isn't outwardly really overly romantic as some of the books I read, there are some very cute moments and things going on between Blue and Gansey in this books. I loved them. It made me squeal and my stomach clench at the cuteness of the situation(s).
I still have the same opinion on all the characters as I did in the last two reviews. I like them all. If I had to chose a least favorite of the gang, it would have to be Adam. Sorry, Adam. I do really like him, just sometimes he has thoughts and actions that I can't help but get aggravated by.
This book, like the previous books, has some things that happen so quickly it takes me a minute to register what happened. And then I have to ponder the thought. Why? Some things I really do not understand why they are happening. Hopefully by the time I'm done the fourth book, that'll all be cleared up. In another review, the reviewer described this book series as a puzzle. I agree with that analogy. While some pieces of the puzzle are able to be put together during the duration of one book, and others are able to be pieced together after getting more information from the next book, each book throws in many more puzzle pieces-- making it harder to put together than it was before. I'm very intrigued to see how this giant puzzle fits together after I finish the fourth book.
I don't really have much else to say. I really enjoyed Blue Lily, Lily Blue. There were parts that pulled at my heartstrings and parts that made me feel sad or overjoyed. It's a very serious book, but there were some times where I couldn't help but laugh because of something funny said in a dark situation or just because something amusing was said or done.
"Two is a terrible number. Two is for rivalry and fighting and murder."
"Or marriage."
"Same thing."
New characters were introduced in this book. Some of them were rather annoying and I seriously just got irritable after reading about them, and others were more endearing, though, a little poignant. And then there are those new characters that I immediately disliked and the ones that I really liked and fond amusing that betrayed my liking and went and did something annoying.
"It takes longer than a weekend to undo centuries of damage."
"Centuries of damage are being incurred in just a weekend."
All in all, I quite enjoyed Blue Lily, Lily Blue and am giving it 9/10 stars. It was a great book.
Here's the synopsis:
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.
SPOILERS BELOW FOR BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE
AH. Ronan and Blue's relationship maybe didn't develop more in this book, but we did get to see a bit more of it. I thought it was sweet when Ronan caught Blue in the cave-- and you could see that he actually did care for her when he gave her his dream light in the cave towards the end of the book. I honestly was really touched by that action-- it made me love Ronan even more... I didn't even realize that was possible.
Okay. Was I the only one who was freaking out when Gansey and Blue went into the cave for the first time? Because I was seriously freaking out. I mean seriously, I thought Gansey was about to die. It was raining out and he was wearing his sweater. Um, well, he didn't die, which is good. Though, since he didn't die at the end of this book (I was either expecting him to die or them to find Glendower), I'm a little nervous. What if he does actually truly die? While reading this I always thought there'd be a loophole, but with only one book left... Well, that's not a lot of time for a loophole and also it would be something a cruel author would do-- kill off the most lovable character, even after slightly taunting the readers with the slight idea of him being saved throughout the books. Ah. Authors, I wonder if evil comes in the profession description.
When Gansey fell into the hole and then was paralyzed by fear, I couldn't help but be more endeared to him. Showing his weaknesses makes him feel more human, more relatable, and therefore, more lovable. One thing I wish we could see more of in this series is just Ronan and Gansey's friendship. Sure, we see them a lot-- sometimes bickering like brothers-- but as I've established in many a review, friendships are important to me, and there's something about Ronan and Gansey's friendship that feels even more special than the rest of them. I just love seeing all the scenes that they share. Back to the fear thing, it annoyed me that Adam seemed to partially revel in the idea that yes, Gansey had been paralyzed by fear. He kept thinking back to it and IT ANNOYED ME SO MUCH. He's his best friend, for goodness shake.
Now let's just talk about Blue and Gansey. (Sorry for the weird choppy review. I'm going to look back and hate myself for writing such a bad review, but here's the thing, my nails are wet and I got very little sleep last night and did a lot of work today. It's just hard to actually think straight (and type) at the moment. And I have to post this review now because I'm leaving on a camping trip tomorrow.) I loved their relationship in this book. I especially loved seeing it from Gansey's end of it. He literally started to wait up at night just to see if she might call. And he was really looking forward to the calls-- like counting the hours until the call. Seriously. That's just freaking adorable. It gave me all the feels. And then the mountain drive? It was amazing, even having me feeling slightly wild and free as I read the part. Though, when they fought at the end of it, it made me sad. I literally wrote in my notes "Don't fight, baes." It actually did make me sad they were arguing.
Is RonanxAdam turning into a thing? It definitely kind of (those seem to contradict each other) seems like Ronan had a thing for Adam-- I MEAN HE MADE HIM HAND LOTION, and also just seemed to chose to hang around Adam the most in this book. (Oh, it also annoyed me that Adam was pleased when he noticed that Ronan seemed interested in him. And the pleasure came from it being him, not Gansey.) Also I was just getting that vibe that they were growing closer-- and not in a purely platonic way. Though, I may have been reading everything wrong and this was actually just the actions of two close friends growing to become better friends... but I don't think so. I don't really know how I feel about that pairing. I can see how it fits-- while they both come fro different worlds, they're more similar than they originally thought. For one thing, they both felt extremely lonesome. But I also don't think they fit together very well that way. I don't know. I just can't really picture them together happily in my head. Though, when is Ronan really ever truly happy these days?
Ugh. If you couldn't tell earlier, the character that aggravated me from the beginning of meeting her was Gwellian. She's so aggravating!!! Hmph. I didn't like Greenmantle from the beginning, though I did like Piper. She amused me. And then she betrayed my trust by being annoying at the end-- I saw where she was coming from, I just didn't like it. Especially not after she killed Jesse. Sure, I knew he was going to die, but it still hurt when he did. It's going to be a hundred times worse when Gansey bites the dust. Though, it is really strange reading a character, and getting to know him, just knowing that he will, in fact, die soon. I mentioned that earlier, but I can't stress how weird that feeling is.
An example of where I wished I saw a scene I didn't was the court scene. Maybe it felt to Maggie as if it were obvious what the outcome would be, but I really would've liked to see that scene-- I was actually excited to read it. And then started the next chapter and realized that I would not get to see it. Another example is where I wanted to a. see what exactly was happening with Gansey and Adam when Ronan and Blue went on and they couldn't get there. I wanted to see what they were thinking (panic? worry?) and what they were doing to try and fix it. b. their reactions to Ronan coming back and coming back alone c. Blue's return/ their reunion/ how did they get reunited. But no. I did not get to see any of that. Instead I got Blue's (interesting) journey, and then them already reunited. WHY? I really just think these books are missing some vital scenes that would add so much more to them.
I'm just going to quickly say it annoys me how quickly they push Noah and his opinions aside-- like even though he's dead, he has a valuable opinion, too!
Okay. Now let's talk about Persephone. WHAT THE FUDGE HAPPENED THERE?! I was so confused at what had happened. Thinking back on it, had she been scrying herself into a conversation with Adam? Because the seat was cold, so she was never really there. But why was she up between the mirrors, yeah to find Maura, but why did it have to be between the mirrors? I don't understand. Maybe brief POV from Persephone beforehand would've been really helpful. Honestly, I was too confused by the situation to actually be that sad. I was sad, but I was more confused.
I was very confused what was up with the squash song. Is it a real song? Can I listen to it? Why does everyone but Ronan and Noah despise it so much?
"Henry ran with the Vancouver crowd, and Gansey ran with the dead Welsh Kings."
MATTHEW IS A DREAM? WHAT? I was not expecting that. Again, I would've liked to see Declan telling Ronan there.
My last few thoughts before I have to go pack are these-- I loved how epic the elk riding part was, and NEEVE IS BACK. I couldn't help but think some very rude things towards her and the way she returned-- and what she returned for.
I'm nervous about this third sleeper being awake.
Oh, last thing. I do not understand the relevance of Malory and his dog's presence in this book. They really did nothing to push the plot along, they were simply there. '
Thanks for actually sticking by and reading this choppy and poorly written review by a very tired teenaged girl. (I love you for it!)
-Anj
"Humans were so circular; they lived the same slow cycles of joy and misery over and over, never learning. Every lesson in the universe had to be taught billions go times, and it never stuck."
If you have yet to read the Raven Boys, I highly recommend that you do. I've been plowing through all the books-- at the moment I happen to be half way done the fourth one. It was very hard, but I was eventually able to tear my eyes from its pages to get this review out. (I wanted to write it before I finished the fourth book.) It also helped that I had to make a hundred or so cupcakes and didn't want to get the book messy, therefore I took a break. And now I'm extending that break to write my thoughts about the third book. Ah. It's so sad that the series is almost over. I kind of just want it to go on forever, but at the same time I don't. I want to see how it ends.
"How arrogant we are to deliver babies who can't walk or talk or feed themselves. How sure we are that nothing will destroy them before they before they can take care of themselves. How fragile they were, how easily abandoned and neglected and beaten and hated. Prey animals were born afraid. He had not known to be born afraid, but he'd learned."
While the Dream Thieves was mainly concerning Ronan, I noticed that Blue Lily, Lily Blue had a lot of Adam in it. Maybe Adam didn't have anymore page POV time than anyone else, but it felt like he did. Blue Lily, Lily Blue did show Adam as a changed/changing character. This series is great because it takes place in a year, and yet it shows all of its characters going through monumental character arcs, pretty believable ones as well. Then again, a lot of things are believable when your story is set in a fantasy-ish world where basically anything can happen.
"Pain was a wondrous thing that way; it always worked."
Like all the other books, I was entranced by this novel's uniqueness and wording. It almost feels as if I'm in a dream when I'm reading these books-- thinking about it now, one of the (many) reasons these books are so different is because the basic set up of them are kind of different. There are many lives entwined in these books, which is not uncommon, but the way the story is told and the way it comes to the climax of the story is utterly unique. I can't really describe how, but if you read the books, I hope you know what I mean. (It's funny, actually. My mind works kind of like it's telling a story, and when I read the same writing style for a continuous period of time, my brain sometimes starts to think in the writing style of the book I'm reading. For the last couple of days I've been thinking in Maggie Steifvater's verbose writing style. It will eventually fade away, but when I realize it's happening, I find the thought process very amusing.)
One thing that I've noticed that disappoints me and that has happened throughout the last three books is that there is are parts where the character's do something and then the chapter ends. And does not show how the characters do it and how their peers react. I'll talk more about this later in the spoilery section.
Gansey. Lovable as always. It's like I'm one of the characters in the book-- unable to resist the magnetic pull of Gansey. Not that I'd want to, anyway. Who wouldn't want a Gansey? He's so... there are too many words and too little words to describe him. Sweet isn't exactly right, that's more Noah's word. Gansey is sweet, I love how sometimes he says things that offends people without meaning to, or even realizing it for a while, then he'll ponder it, ashamed and confused later. It's so cute.
Then there's Blue, it was established in the last book that both Blue and Gansey had feelings for each other and acknowledged it. But they couldn't/wouldn't act on it because of Adam. Ah. Gansey, being a selfless, loyal friend. I LOVE HIM. Sorry. If you couldn't tell, I feel very strongly towards Richard Campbell Gansey III. Obviously, after establishing feelings, there has to some acting on them. While it isn't outwardly really overly romantic as some of the books I read, there are some very cute moments and things going on between Blue and Gansey in this books. I loved them. It made me squeal and my stomach clench at the cuteness of the situation(s).
I still have the same opinion on all the characters as I did in the last two reviews. I like them all. If I had to chose a least favorite of the gang, it would have to be Adam. Sorry, Adam. I do really like him, just sometimes he has thoughts and actions that I can't help but get aggravated by.
This book, like the previous books, has some things that happen so quickly it takes me a minute to register what happened. And then I have to ponder the thought. Why? Some things I really do not understand why they are happening. Hopefully by the time I'm done the fourth book, that'll all be cleared up. In another review, the reviewer described this book series as a puzzle. I agree with that analogy. While some pieces of the puzzle are able to be put together during the duration of one book, and others are able to be pieced together after getting more information from the next book, each book throws in many more puzzle pieces-- making it harder to put together than it was before. I'm very intrigued to see how this giant puzzle fits together after I finish the fourth book.
I don't really have much else to say. I really enjoyed Blue Lily, Lily Blue. There were parts that pulled at my heartstrings and parts that made me feel sad or overjoyed. It's a very serious book, but there were some times where I couldn't help but laugh because of something funny said in a dark situation or just because something amusing was said or done.
"Two is a terrible number. Two is for rivalry and fighting and murder."
"Or marriage."
"Same thing."
New characters were introduced in this book. Some of them were rather annoying and I seriously just got irritable after reading about them, and others were more endearing, though, a little poignant. And then there are those new characters that I immediately disliked and the ones that I really liked and fond amusing that betrayed my liking and went and did something annoying.
"It takes longer than a weekend to undo centuries of damage."
"Centuries of damage are being incurred in just a weekend."
All in all, I quite enjoyed Blue Lily, Lily Blue and am giving it 9/10 stars. It was a great book.
Here's the synopsis:
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.
SPOILERS BELOW FOR BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE
AH. Ronan and Blue's relationship maybe didn't develop more in this book, but we did get to see a bit more of it. I thought it was sweet when Ronan caught Blue in the cave-- and you could see that he actually did care for her when he gave her his dream light in the cave towards the end of the book. I honestly was really touched by that action-- it made me love Ronan even more... I didn't even realize that was possible.
Okay. Was I the only one who was freaking out when Gansey and Blue went into the cave for the first time? Because I was seriously freaking out. I mean seriously, I thought Gansey was about to die. It was raining out and he was wearing his sweater. Um, well, he didn't die, which is good. Though, since he didn't die at the end of this book (I was either expecting him to die or them to find Glendower), I'm a little nervous. What if he does actually truly die? While reading this I always thought there'd be a loophole, but with only one book left... Well, that's not a lot of time for a loophole and also it would be something a cruel author would do-- kill off the most lovable character, even after slightly taunting the readers with the slight idea of him being saved throughout the books. Ah. Authors, I wonder if evil comes in the profession description.
When Gansey fell into the hole and then was paralyzed by fear, I couldn't help but be more endeared to him. Showing his weaknesses makes him feel more human, more relatable, and therefore, more lovable. One thing I wish we could see more of in this series is just Ronan and Gansey's friendship. Sure, we see them a lot-- sometimes bickering like brothers-- but as I've established in many a review, friendships are important to me, and there's something about Ronan and Gansey's friendship that feels even more special than the rest of them. I just love seeing all the scenes that they share. Back to the fear thing, it annoyed me that Adam seemed to partially revel in the idea that yes, Gansey had been paralyzed by fear. He kept thinking back to it and IT ANNOYED ME SO MUCH. He's his best friend, for goodness shake.
Now let's just talk about Blue and Gansey. (Sorry for the weird choppy review. I'm going to look back and hate myself for writing such a bad review, but here's the thing, my nails are wet and I got very little sleep last night and did a lot of work today. It's just hard to actually think straight (and type) at the moment. And I have to post this review now because I'm leaving on a camping trip tomorrow.) I loved their relationship in this book. I especially loved seeing it from Gansey's end of it. He literally started to wait up at night just to see if she might call. And he was really looking forward to the calls-- like counting the hours until the call. Seriously. That's just freaking adorable. It gave me all the feels. And then the mountain drive? It was amazing, even having me feeling slightly wild and free as I read the part. Though, when they fought at the end of it, it made me sad. I literally wrote in my notes "Don't fight, baes." It actually did make me sad they were arguing.
Is RonanxAdam turning into a thing? It definitely kind of (those seem to contradict each other) seems like Ronan had a thing for Adam-- I MEAN HE MADE HIM HAND LOTION, and also just seemed to chose to hang around Adam the most in this book. (Oh, it also annoyed me that Adam was pleased when he noticed that Ronan seemed interested in him. And the pleasure came from it being him, not Gansey.) Also I was just getting that vibe that they were growing closer-- and not in a purely platonic way. Though, I may have been reading everything wrong and this was actually just the actions of two close friends growing to become better friends... but I don't think so. I don't really know how I feel about that pairing. I can see how it fits-- while they both come fro different worlds, they're more similar than they originally thought. For one thing, they both felt extremely lonesome. But I also don't think they fit together very well that way. I don't know. I just can't really picture them together happily in my head. Though, when is Ronan really ever truly happy these days?
Ugh. If you couldn't tell earlier, the character that aggravated me from the beginning of meeting her was Gwellian. She's so aggravating!!! Hmph. I didn't like Greenmantle from the beginning, though I did like Piper. She amused me. And then she betrayed my trust by being annoying at the end-- I saw where she was coming from, I just didn't like it. Especially not after she killed Jesse. Sure, I knew he was going to die, but it still hurt when he did. It's going to be a hundred times worse when Gansey bites the dust. Though, it is really strange reading a character, and getting to know him, just knowing that he will, in fact, die soon. I mentioned that earlier, but I can't stress how weird that feeling is.
An example of where I wished I saw a scene I didn't was the court scene. Maybe it felt to Maggie as if it were obvious what the outcome would be, but I really would've liked to see that scene-- I was actually excited to read it. And then started the next chapter and realized that I would not get to see it. Another example is where I wanted to a. see what exactly was happening with Gansey and Adam when Ronan and Blue went on and they couldn't get there. I wanted to see what they were thinking (panic? worry?) and what they were doing to try and fix it. b. their reactions to Ronan coming back and coming back alone c. Blue's return/ their reunion/ how did they get reunited. But no. I did not get to see any of that. Instead I got Blue's (interesting) journey, and then them already reunited. WHY? I really just think these books are missing some vital scenes that would add so much more to them.
I'm just going to quickly say it annoys me how quickly they push Noah and his opinions aside-- like even though he's dead, he has a valuable opinion, too!
Okay. Now let's talk about Persephone. WHAT THE FUDGE HAPPENED THERE?! I was so confused at what had happened. Thinking back on it, had she been scrying herself into a conversation with Adam? Because the seat was cold, so she was never really there. But why was she up between the mirrors, yeah to find Maura, but why did it have to be between the mirrors? I don't understand. Maybe brief POV from Persephone beforehand would've been really helpful. Honestly, I was too confused by the situation to actually be that sad. I was sad, but I was more confused.
I was very confused what was up with the squash song. Is it a real song? Can I listen to it? Why does everyone but Ronan and Noah despise it so much?
"Henry ran with the Vancouver crowd, and Gansey ran with the dead Welsh Kings."
MATTHEW IS A DREAM? WHAT? I was not expecting that. Again, I would've liked to see Declan telling Ronan there.
My last few thoughts before I have to go pack are these-- I loved how epic the elk riding part was, and NEEVE IS BACK. I couldn't help but think some very rude things towards her and the way she returned-- and what she returned for.
I'm nervous about this third sleeper being awake.
Oh, last thing. I do not understand the relevance of Malory and his dog's presence in this book. They really did nothing to push the plot along, they were simply there. '
Thanks for actually sticking by and reading this choppy and poorly written review by a very tired teenaged girl. (I love you for it!)
-Anj
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