Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Review

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, # 3)

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Published: October 28th 2014 by Scholastic Press

416 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!)

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*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The third installment in the mesmerizing series from the irrepressible, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.

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 series is very different from The Wolves of Mercy Falls. If you go into this series expecting the same Maggie Stiefvater from The Wolves of Mercy Falls then I think you’re going to be disappointed. It’s not that The Raven Cycle isn’t as good. It’s just different. I said in my review of The Dream Thieves that her writing is still lyrical and poetic, but in a way that you have to think about more than the previous series. On top of that, any romance in this series takes a back seat to the adventure that these characters are on.

As a matter of fact, let me just take a minute to say that I actually like how slowly the relationship has been building and how things are still in a very early stage. Blue’s been told that she’ll kill her true love if she kisses him, and that’s kept things on a very PG level for her on all relationship fronts. Yet, we know that Gansey’s on the list from The Raven Boys which means he’ll be dead before the year is over. Blue started off the series having a short relationship with Adam, but in the second book, things started transitioning from Adam to Gansey. And I’m much more excited about that. But because Blue and Adam had a short “thing,” Blue and Gansey have been keeping whatever is building between them on the DL. All of this is really just background stuff. Like I said, the adventure takes more of a center stage—at least so far. I’m hoping the next book (and last?) will really amp up the relationship.

Speaking of the adventure, we know that Gansey and his crew have been searching for Glendower for a long time. And well, they’re really close. Adam’s all connected to Cabeswater now. He made a deal at the end of The Dream Thieves to be the eyes, ears, and hands for Cabeswater. He’s been working with Persephone to restore the ley lines that have been disconnected in some places. Maura, Blue’s mom, has gone missing. She’s searching the undergrown caves. Truthfully, I kind of forgot what she was searching for. Whoops! This is definitely one of those series that I have a hard time remember everything that happened from book to book. I mean there is an entire year in between each release. Mr. Gray (The Gray Man) lied to his employer about the object he was hunting which turns out to be a person and not an object at all (Ronan), but his employer doesn’t believe him. So that amps up the risk for the entire group. Oh and we finally find out what Blue is. We know that she’s not a psychic like every other woman in her family, but we know that she amplifies power as well. I really liked the explanation for what she is.

A lot happens, but yet I also felt like the story wasn’t moved along all that much at the same time from where things ended with The Dream Thieves. I can see why some Maggie Stiefvater fans don’t connect to this series as much as her other books. While I’ve enjoyed the series, I have found that each book in this series has taken me longer to read than I would like. And I think because the relationship progresses so slowly and takes a backseat to the rest of the events, some readers might not be connecting.

My favorite quotes:

-“Maybe I dreamt you,” [Ronan] said. “Thanks for the straight teeth, then,” Adam replied.

-Casually, out of view of Ronan, making sure Adam was still sleeping, Gansey dangeled his hand between the driver’s seat and the door. Palm up, fingers stretched back to Blue. This was not allowed. …

-The only casualty was his pulse.

-Ronan was always saying that he never lied, but he wore a liar’s face.

-The phone went quiet. It was never enough, but it was something.

-What a lie unknowable was. The only person who didn’t know Adam was himself.

-He who does a thing by the agency of another does it himself.

-But it felt real to her heart, even if her head knew better.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue gets 4 Stars from me. I can’t wait to see how everything finishes. I believe the next book is the last planned in the series. I feel like there’s still a lot that has to happen in that book. Have you read Blue Lily, Lily Blue? What did you think? Let me know!

The Dream Thieves - Review

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, # 2)

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Expected Publication: September 17th 2013 by Scholastic Press

448 pages

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Publisher via NetGalley (Thank you!!!)

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

Oh guys. *deep sigh* I didn't love The Raven Boys right? (Here's my review for that.) But the lowdown was that I felt like it was missing all of things about Maggie Stiefvater's writing style that I loved reading The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. The Wolves of Mercy Falls has really strong characters and is completely character driven in plot. And it's utterly poetic and lyrical. The Raven Boys was more plot driven and was missing the poetry completely. So while I wanted to read The Dream Thieves, I wasn't all that excited about it until I came across this review by Heidi @ Bunbury in the Stacks. Granted I only read the part where she said The Dream Thieves has everything The Raven Boys was missing and I saw that she rated it as 5 stars on Goodreads, but I didn't read the rest of the review because I didn't want my opinion affected by hers.

So I start up The Dream Thieves expecting what I normally expect out of Maggie Stiefvater--brilliance and a flowing, poetic way with words. Well for one, I had forgotten a good bit of the details from The Raven Boys by the time I picked up The Dream Thieves so I started off a bit confused. Then I was just all around confused by the beginning. With the introduction to the Gray Man as a narrator, but really no introduction to him at all. It literally took me until 50% of the way through the book to feel invested and fully interested in the story. And up until this point the writing felt a bit "klunky." It was still poetic, but not in a free flowing, lyrical way. More in an "I'm really having to think about what's being said" kind of way. As I progressed through the book, this got better for me, and I didn't have to think as hard to follow what was happening.

Ronan is such an integral part of The Dream Thieves whereas he wasn't focused upon as much in The Raven Boys. I really enjoyed him being more front and center. I actually struggle with Adam as a character. In a lot of ways, I feel sorry for him. He's had a rough life, and I know there are so many people out there who have been where he's been. But he also has a crap attitude, and I feel like he makes himself weak. It was good to see what character growth he goes through in The Dream Thieves. Gansey takes a much more backseat kind of role in The Dream Thieves as does his search for Glendower, but I absolutely loved him in this book. And then of course there's Blue. Blue also takes more of a secondary kind of role, but as with Gansey, I think I liked her much more in The Dream Thieves than in The Raven Boys. And I completely love the changes that are happening between Blue, Adam, and Gansey.

Our secondary characters make more of an appearance. Blue's mother Maura is developing "something" with the Gray Man. And Persephone's really crucial to Adam's character growth. Obviously as I already mentioned, the Gray Man himself--there's so much going on there. Can I just stop and mention that I thought Blue's family accepted the fact that he's a hit man a whole lot easier than anyone should ever accept such a fact. I mean how many conversations begin with "I'm a hit man," and end with "let's make out,"? Ok, poor example. But you get the point.

The Dream Thieves is told by varying points of view. You're never really quite sure who's going to take on the role next. From Blue, Adam, Ronan, Gansey, and even the Gray Man himself. In some aspects I think writing this way must be difficult because the author must fully understand the minds of each character, but from a reading standpoint, sometimes these multiple POVs make it a little more difficult to connect to our main characters because we don't stay with them for the entire length of the book.

All in all, I did enjoy The Dream Thieves once I made it past 50% and I got really excited about a scene around the 84% mark. I definitely enjoyed this installment much better than The Raven Boys, and I will most definitely pick up book 3 whenever the time comes. I'd give The Dream Thieves a solid 3.5 to 3.8 stars. I think Maggie Stiefvater's work is brilliant when I really break it down, but this one was not "easy" to muddle through. The extremely slow beginning has me unable to give this a full 4 stars. Have you read The Dream Thieves? What did you think? Let me know!

By the way, did you guys hear, Maggie S. is writing a standalone companion to The Wolves of Mercy Falls about Cole and Isabel? You have no idea how happy this makes me. Book one is called Sinner! YAY!

Top 10 Books I'm Dying to Read

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Words that Make Me Pick Up a Book, but here's the thing, I don't think there are ten specific words that make me pick one up. Maybe there used to be ten words that did that, but not anymore. There are probably ten words that will immediately make me put one down though. HA! I should have done that topic. Anyway...here's my Top 10ish Books I'm Dying to Read... .

1) The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines, # 4) - Richelle Mead (expected release date November 19, 2013)

2) City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, # 6) - Cassandra Clare (expected release date March 1, 2014)

3) Cress (Lunar Chronciles, # 3) - Marissa Meyer (expected release date sometime 2014 )

4) Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky, # 2) - Veronica Rossi

5) This Girl (Slammed, # 3) - Colleen Hoover

6) Lady Mightnight (The Dark Artifices, # 1) - Cassandra Clare (expected release date March 2015)

7) Losing Hope (Hopeless, # 2) - Colleen Hoover (expected release date July 9, 2013)

8) Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, # 2) - Robin LaFevers

9) The Dream Thieves (The Raven Boys, # 2) - Maggies Stiefvater (expected release date September 17, 2013)

10) Crash Into You (Pushing the Limits, # 3) - Katie McGarry (expected release date November 26, 2013)

11) Half-Blood (Covenant, # 1) - Jennifer L Armentrout

12) Origin (Lux, # 4) - Jennifer L Armentrout (expected release date August 27, 2013)

I could keep going people....but I'll make myself stop. What are you dying to read? Or what words make you pick up a book? Let me know!