Everyone that has been reading the words of this girl in the tiny hat knows how much I have enjoyed Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Boys Cycle books. When I finally read the ARC of "The Raven Boys" I loved it so much that I kind of mentally kicked myself for not reading it sooner. You know how you do when you read a really good book after it has sat on your shelf for awhile? You mentally yell at yourself 'WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS?! OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!' Yes I do it in all caps and everything. Then with the second book in the series "The Dream Thieves" I was even more blown away, enough so that I went and bought the hardcover autographed edition of it. In total-honest-truth-telling fact I liked it more then the first. Which is usually a good thing because it just means that the author is really finding a voice for these characters and that things are just going to keep getting better. Knowing this when I heard about the third installment "Blue Lily, Lily Blue" coming out I gave a little fan girl squeal and did a little happy dance. Then proceeded to eagerly await the day I could go and pick it up. And then the day finally came! I was so happy and started it right away. The first few lines scared me a bit simply because they were a little over the top. A little bit like she was trying really hard for poetry when she should of just stuck to the brilliance of the story that was already there. Don't get me wrong I think that Ms. Stiefvater is a brilliant writer and I love her Raven Boys books with a passion but I love them so because they are beautiful and intriguing and utterly amazing in their simplicity. Anyway being the faithful reader that I am I forged ahead and was relieved when things started feeling more Raven and less 'hello I am fancy pants.' As the story really got going I started feeling lost and confused and at times a little bit hurt. It just didn't have the same feel as the first two. Something felt off and still after a couple months of thinking on it I can't quite pinpoint what it was that threw me. What I can tell you is this, the writing was mostly as good there were times when she went off on overly lyrical flights of fancy that ground my teeth a bit. The characters that I grew to love were all there in abundance and the story progressed a bit. But what I found was that many the writing was off at times because she was maybe trying too hard to take it to a new level which in my humble opinion was unnecessary.
The characters that I have grown to love were all there, Ganesy and Blue, Adam and Ronan, Chainsaw the raven and course Blue's aunts and their very special brand of crazy. But Ms. Stiefvater also felt it was time to add in some brand new characters to add some spice. Which is usually always a good thing, new characters with new plot lines usually mean big things are happening and to keep an eye out. Unless of course you are going for the 'War & Peace' vibe in which case you are simply adding characters because you have nothing better to do. I fear that Ms. Stiefvater had a little 'War & Peace' syndrome going on. There were just too many new characters with brand new plot lines to follow that were added on top of all the old loveable characters and all their plot lines that it kind of got twisted and confused a bit. I felt a little lost and confused at times which made it hard to speed through this one the way I did with the first two.
Maggie Stiefvater is a great storyteller. I've never read anything by her other than The Raven Boys cycle books but I think that she is just brilliant n her storytelling ways. That being said in "Blue Lily, Lily Blue" the story got a little lost or maybe it simply took a nap in Cabeswater and woke to find itself in another time and place. Whatever the reason I struggled to follow it and found myself wading through pools too deep for me. Again it was the simplicity of the story that was the brilliance of both "The Raven Boys" and "Dream Thieves." But in "Blue Lily, Lily Blue" things felt too complicated, too all over the place for me. It was still a decent story and towards the end things begin to shift back into perspective a bit so it is worth the read if you are a fan of the series. I recommend it solely based on the fact that it is the third in the series and it helps (somewhat) to guide us to the next plot point. I am of course excited about book 4 whenever that may be coming out but this time I plan on going into it with a little bit of reserve.
I tip my hat (my almost forgotten rating system) 3 times to Maggie Stiefvater's "Blue Lily, Lily Blue" not the best book I've read this year but not the worst by far. Well folks it has been quite a reading year. Less with the reviewing part and I apologize for that but a reading year indeed. I can't wait for 2015 and the many, many books that are awaiting us. So for the last time this year my dear, dear readers happy reading!
