Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Publication Date:  October 21, 2014
Publisher:  Scholastic Press
Pages:  391  
Series:  The Raven Cycle #3
Genre:  Supernatural
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.

Review:  I expected whimsy, wonder, and heartbreak.  Blue Lily, Lily Blue did not fall short of those expectations.

Maggie Stiefvater creates this ethereal, captivating world I am terrified and fascinated of in equal measure.  This is a world where trees speak Latin and bones come to disbelieving life.  To describe the feeling it gives you would be an injustice, as it is ineffable. It is exactly what it is--and that is a dream, and sometimes, a nightmare.

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 of times, and it never stuck.

The writing is melodic and just plain stunning.  Every words paints a vivid picture in your head and your heart (assuming you have one).  Maggie Stiefvater simultaneously makes me want to grow up to be as talented as her and also want to give up because there is no hope of even touching the amount of talent she contains in her peculiar little mind.

As plots go, I'm in awe.  Things happen, things don't happen, and all of it matters--usually in ways you cannot quite understand yet. My one and only complaint is that it was a tad bit predictable at some points, especially in the case of Blue's father.  Be warned: there is a cliff hanger waiting to cripple you at the end.

Desire and dread lay right next to each other in his heart, each sharpening the other.

I am glad to report that Adam has grown on me.  His character has grown so much in the past two books--and I didn't even notice it happening.  Subtly, that's what you call it. As ever, Ronan reminds me of a feral dog that you want to pat and take home but are worried may rip out your throat as you sleep.  He is a capricious character in the best of ways.

Blue and Gansey are made of tragic parts and seem wired to cause calamity, so it is no wonder that they are my favorites.  If you have any desire to have your heart broken into a tiny despairing fragments, I suggest you fall as hopelessly in love with them as they are with each other.

Maybe you just can't wake someone else's dream.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue may possibly be the finest book in the series so far--but you'll only ever know if you read it for yourself.

4.5 Keys