Blue Lily, Lily Blue

I am so glad I discovered the Raven Cycle this spring because Maggie Stiefvater has created some of the most gorgeous writing and narrative I've read within these lovely books. The world-building is simply unmatched. Set in a quaint small town in Virginia, you really get the sense you're there, among the trees and the mountains. And I particularly love the relationships between the characters. That's one thing MS is so strong at. All her characters are so quirky and well-fleshed out, whether it's someone like Ronan who we see down to his deepest hidden layers, or Jesse, who is only with us for a brief time.

And the relationships, GAH. I don't think I can write enough about how much I love reading the tender untouchable fire kindling show more between Blue and Gansey, who are forbidden to so much as kiss, or the deep friendship between Adam, Ronan and Gansey, the latter two having worked so tirelessly to convince the first he really can be loved. And Noah, poor dear Noah, who is really dead, but not, and in a way is like any other friend who is slowly slipping away from a horrible disease or something else, and the group will surely have to come to terms with one day letting him go. I particularly like the relationships shown between the women of 300 Fox Way in this one, how they shape Blue, particularly in the absence of her mother. Just incredibly well done. show less

Normally I wouldn’t read two books from the same series within a week, as I prefer to mix up my reading. I made an exception because: a) the final book in the series is apparently out in a few weeks, and more importantly b) insomnia. YA novels are a pleasant, undemanding diversion when you can’t sleep. Although critical theory is probably more likely to promote repose, if I have to be awake at 5am I might as well try to enjoy it. ‘Blue Lily, Lily Blue’ continues the ancient Welsh king search plot from the previous books, while changing the atmosphere again by shifting character focus once more. [b:The Raven Boys|17675462|The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)|Maggie show more Stiefvater|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477103737s/17675462.jpg|18970934] is Blue’s book, shared mostly with Gansey, and [b:The Dream Thieves|17347389|The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1477103777s/17347389.jpg|21598446] is dominated by Ronan’s shenanigans. ‘Blue Lily, Lily Blue’ probably gives most time to Adam, although Blue gets quite a bit too. The dialogue and central web of friendships continue to be the main delights of the series, although I’m invested in the magical occurrences too.

Perhaps my favourite bit was when Blue cleared and replanted a local guy’s front garden in return for access to a mysterious cursed cave in his back garden, then he called her a “good ant”. (Like Blue, I am a five foot tall woman who has been compared to an ant - in my case after moving a six seater corner sofa alone. Needless to say, I have considerable sympathy for Blue.) Also on the subject of caves, I liked this:

The Greenmantles were in a cave: wife, husband, dog, an American cave family. Piper had discovered that Otho, when left alone, ate through the bathroom doors of rental homes, so he now minced ahead of her. The cave was dark and armpit-scented. Greenmantle had done a perfunctory amount of research on caving before setting out this afternoon. He’d discovered that caves were supposed to be vessels of natural untouched beauty.

It turned out they were just holes in the ground. He felt caves had been extremely oversold.

It’s such commentary, as well as the excellent cast of characters, that sets the Raven Cycle apart. The cliffhanger endings might be the third reason why I read two of the series in one week. show less

it took 2 1/2 books but now i'm invested. purely because of the way character dynamics have curled and shifted and changed. i wasn't convinced and then all at once i was. the way antagonists are utilized in this series is fascinating.

I really like this series. There's something about the way Maggie Stiefvater writes these characters that makes me remember what it was to be a teenager, when everything was urgent and secret. I also fall into the mythology of the world she's created for this series, where magic exists in the byways and corners, and you might find it if you turn around just fast enough. But you might find grief, too, horrible and unending grief, and if you're lucky you'll have friends to help you through it.

I was surprised by how this book ended, but I shouldn't have been because all the threads were in place.

This series haunts me. I can't wait to read more.

(Provided by publisher)

the fact that im about to finish the series? hate it. disgusting. i need a million more books.

once again, here are my thoughts in no particular order:

- im slightly annoyed that the title doesn't match the rest? the raven boys the dream thieves BLUE LILY LILY BLUE the raven king. in fact, i wish they were all a lil more whimsical, like this one. i never understood why maggie, who has SUCH A WAY with words, gives her books such bland titles!! i love a spicy title!

- ronan lynch willing to fucking DIE for his pet raven. absolutely brilliant. stunning.

- i marked about seven hundred bits and quotes not because anything was said in them specifically, but because they were so prettily expressed. im OBSESSED i wish everything i read all the show more time was this lyrical and pretty sounding. "his words were so soft that the wind nearly destroyed them"?? GO OFF!!!!!

- i think about the bit where blue gives gansey the bottom fruit bit of her yoghurt to gansey and hes sad and upset and he gets comforted by the idea that blue's mouth was the last thing to touch the spoon at least five times a day

- the One Death (im not telling so its not a spoiler) fucked me the hell up and im enraged and i HOpE this will make sense in the long run because if it was a pointless one i will Riot

- fine, margaret. fine. i like the gray man. there, i said it. i like the hitman. why, you ask? well. you made me.

- orla pointing out how blue is a little in love with each of the boys, and her realizing that its not just her but all of them that are a little in love with each other? god. im like, obsessed with the dynamics between them. its straight up LOVE yall and i love that because... we often see platonic love as being portrayed as lesser than romantic love and thats ANNOYING AS HELL. and this goes to show that a bond doesnt have to be romantic in order to matter. like, blue doesnt love adam any less just because she doesnt wanna kiss him. she doesnt love ronan any less just because she constantly wants to punch him in the face

- THE FUCKING SCENES. THE TWO TIMES that they're in the caves and ronan has to grab blue to pull her back. the first one was fine and dandy and i loved it for them but the SECOND. where they just stay there for a while, ronan holding blue, blue being held, ronan's cheek pressed onto blue's shoulder? my fucking GOD. GOD.

- ronan being fucking. snow white. just at the barns with his little. his cattle. and the rabbits and the deer that he domesticated for the pleasure of it. how GENTLE he is with animals in general. his pet albino night terror. im just. OBSESSED.

- the begginingsof ronan and adam... i love hiw absolutely nothing happens between them and yet ronan is like. willingly slipping up? the ointment for adams hands. the way he just sits next to him when adam is upset ("i dont wanna talk." "the fuck would i talk about?") the way he doesnt stop being ronan just because he's being gentle.

- i was REAL MAD at blue for a second there, and richard fucking campbell gansey the third just soothed it all over by understanding her so. completely. i couldnt be mad at her anymore. GANSEY!!!!!!!!!! JUST GANSEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-hes such a BEAN hes so patient and accepting and careful and brave i would die for him

- i wish noah were more of a character and less of a prop. i get angry all the time on his behalf. HE DESERVES BETTER.

- i felt with greenmantle a similar thing to what i felt with kavinsky: kinda liked the guy. obviously, this was simply a likeable villain, while kavinsky was A FUCKING VICTIM. JUSTICE FOR KAVINSKY. but regardless, he was fun to watch, and so was piper: they red, to me, a bit like characters christopher moore would write? although thats probably a weird comparison? they felt a bit satirical, like a caricature of a character, but like, in a good way. i liked that they played a part but werent a giant thing. you know what i mean?

-i tolerate adam better now that he's not trying to Win Blue Over, hitting his chest and playing The Man and all. he's gotten better and we're making peace

- he remains my least favorite, but im fond of him

- calla is such a Gift.

- i love everyone all the time.

- its all so much.

- only now is the plot starting to actually make sense and honestly? its such a vibe

- i dont want it to end

- but i already started the raven king

- so wish me luck show less

When I first read The Raven Boys I said it was "about a group of teenage boys - their friendships, their tensions and struggles, their unusual quest - and how Blue becomes entangled in these". However, now I realise that it focuses a bit more on Adam, who is dealing with an abusive father and working several jobs to pay his school fees. The Dream Thieves, if it belongs to any of the raven boys, belongs to Ronan - Ronan, troubled and grieving for his father, who has the ability to "steal" objects from his dreams.
And so Blue Lily, Lily Blue belongs to Blue, whose mother has gone missing.

I love the writing: it's poetic, poignant, atmospheric, occasionally creepy or funny. I love the intensity of the friendships - and the very believable show more tensions that run through those friendships. Especially when friends are unable to solve each others' problems (as much as they wish they could).

I love the way, despite the magic and the dream-like quality it sometime has, the story is deeply conscious of class issues, and family issues, and the real life limitations that people have to deal with.

Blue was perfectly away that it was possible to have a friendship that wasn't all-encompassing, that wasn't blinding, maddening, quickening. It was just that now she'd had this kind, she didn't want the other. show less

I love Blue’s no-nonsense attitude meeting her father in difficult circumstances. It’s never how you imagine it would be, right? But his dreamy refusal to believe who she is irritates her while she is trying to extract her mother from the enchantment; and he is absolutely useless.