Review - Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #3
Publisher: Scholastic UK (21st Oct 2014)

Blurb:
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.

Well, if you’ve read The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves, you’ll know that Blue Lily, Lily Blue is the third book in the Raven Cycle and it picks up where the previous book left off. And I was itching to find out what happens after The Dream Thieves because the damn book ended with a massive cliffhanger and I was beside myself with nerves. *minor spoilers* What happened to Blue’s mum? What happens to Ronan now that he’s a *beep*?

“There was something unfamiliar about him. Something ferocious about his eyes, some sort of bite in his faint smile. Something altogether hectic and unsettled. She stood on the ledge of his smile and looked over the edge.”

I have mixed feelings for this one though. I mean, it was okay-ish for me, but definitely the third book in the series could do much better than being the “filler” book in the series. I felt like there wasn’t much happening in the book and it dragged on, relentlessly. The first chunk of the book was interesting because I was once again invited into the familiar setting of the books and I really, genuinely, wanted to know why Maura disappeared. However, the search for Maura was slightly tiresome to read and I really had to sludge through the middle of the book, which fell a bit flat, for my liking. Thankfully, things did pick up in the end and there was the whole grand ending of the book that did set up the finale of the series in The Raven King.

“There is no good word for the opposite of lonesome.
One might be tempted to suggest togetherness or contentment , but the fact that these two other words bear definitions unrelated to each other perfectly displays why lonesome cannot be properly mirrored. It does not mean solitude, nor alone, nor lonely, although lonesome can contain all of those words in itself.
Lonesome means a state of being apart. Of being other. Alone-some.”

As for the characters in Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Maggie Stiefvater never fails to impress me with the way she gets into her characters’ heads and express all their doubts, feelings and insecurities for the readers to interpret. I did appreciate the slight romance between Blue and Gansey. Three cheers for Bluesey, guys! It happened. Sort of. But it wasn't enough. It took three books to get the shipping out of the docks. Maggie Stiefvater, I really hope there's more of Bluesey in The Raven King or else I would combust.

“How unfair she'd been to assume love and money would preclude pain and hardship.”

Another issue I had with this book was the absence of Noah and Ronan. I understand that the latter had the entire book focused on him (The Dream Thieves) but I really wanted Maggie Stiefvater to give him a bigger arc, romance-wise, after the revelation of his sexual preference in previous book. I needed more Ronan. I really hope the tiny sparks between him and Adam would burst into fireworks in the final instalment of the series. Great play with the hand lotion, by the way, Ronan. You playa.

“Blue was perfectly aware that it was possible to have a friendship that wasn’t all-encompassing, that wasn’t blinding, deafening, maddening, quickening. It was just that now that she’d had this kind, she didn’t want the other.”

There were some baddies introduced in this book, like Greenmantle, the Gray Man’s former employer who disguises himself as the boys’ new Latin teacher and his eccentric, smart-mouthed wife who reminded me of that evil blonde in 22 Jump Street – Channing Tatum though – which were a good addition to the storyline.

“They regarded each other. Adam fair and cautious, Ronan dark and incendiary. This was Ronan at his most truthful.”

Sadly, I didn’t enjoy Blue Lily, Lily Blue as much as I hoped. I really wanted to love this one but I wasn't blown away. It didn’t surprise me with the same spark like the previous two books had and I just wanted things to piece together so I can finally see the gang awaken Glendower. Though I might have had some issues with Blue Lily, Lily Blue, it did succeed in getting me excited for The Raven King.

I'd like to thank Pansing Singapore for sending me a copy for review in exchange for an honest review.