Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Starred review from September 15, 2014
Tension escalates in Henrietta, Va. (as does the body count), in the third of four titles in Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle, following The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves. Gansey’s elderly British mentor, Malory, is just one of the new arrivals in town (he’s certainly among the more benevolent) as Gansey, Blue, Adam, Ronan, and Noah continue to seek out the tomb of the ancient Welsh king Glendower. Adam and Blue are growing into their respective supernatural abilities, and while important discoveries are unearthed (literally) as the group’s search takes them into treacherous caves, the teenagers’ complicated relationships with their parents and family—whether living, dead, or mysteriously vanished—play a large role in pushing this story forward. As in the previous books, Stiefvater’s razor-sharp characterizations, drily witty dialogue, and knack for unexpected metaphors and turns of phrase make for sumptuous, thrilling reading. Curses, grisly secret plots, and romantic uncertainties leave Blue and company’s future feeling more fragile than ever. A brutal cliffhanger ensures that readers will snap up the final installment the second it’s available. Ages 14–up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Starred review from September 15, 2014
As the Raven Boys grow closer to their goal of finding the Welsh king Glendower, not surprisingly, problems arise in this third book of a planned four-volume series. Blue Sargent's mother has been missing for three months, leaving behind only a cryptic note. She's gone underground in search of her former lover, Blue's dad. Her ex-hit man boyfriend is the only person besides Blue who seems concerned. Meanwhile, the Raven Boys-Gansey, Adam and Ronan, with ghostly Noah now struggling to appear corporeal-and Blue find a mysterious cave guarded by an Appalachian mountain man; inside is indeed an ancient Welsh coffin. Despite Adam's new understanding that there are three buried sleepers, two to wake, one to leave sleeping, they open the lid, and out pops Gwenllian, the perhaps-not-asleep but long-buried daughter of Glendower. Friend or foe? Oh, and the person who hired the hit man is the boys' new Latin teacher. Stiefvater weaves these separate threads together with a sure hand until magic seems expected yet never commonplace, always shimmering under the surface. Most credible and moving are the slow maturations of her characters-Adam comes to measure his worth in something other than money; Blue secretly phones Gansey in the night. If she kisses her true love, he will die.Expect this truly one-of-a-kind series to come to a thundering close. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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Starred review from November 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Having inhaled the first two installments in this thrilling series about four Virginia schoolboys on a quest to find a legendary Welsh king, teens will be anxious to see where Stiefvater next leads Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah. The volume picks up directly after The Dream Thieves (Scholastic, 2013) and the quest takes some bizarre and dangerous twists. Blue Sargent and the psychically talented women of 300 Fox Way take center stage this time. Blue's mother Maura has disappeared, and it's not immediately clear if she wants to be found. Despite the fact that "time and space were bathtubs that Maura splashed in," Blue and Mr. Gray, Maura's ex-hitman boyfriend, begin to think she's underground and in trouble. Informed by several mystical and live sources that there are three ancient sleepers in the nearby mountain caves, one of which is not to be awakened, the young people are hurled toward a subterranean encounter of the weirdest kind. Throughout, the prose is crisp and dazzling and the dialogue positively crackles. The supernatural elements-magic, a mirrored lake, an evil curse, the appearance of Owen Glendower's 600-year-old daughter-are completely organic and suspension of disbelief is effortless due to the nuanced and affecting characterization. Blue and the Raven Boys come into their own over the course of the novel and realize their individual strengths and the power of their collective bonds, making them unstoppable. It's a good thing, because it seems as though all hell is about to break loose in the final volume.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Grades 8-12 *Starred Review* They're back: privileged Gansey, lonesome Adam, dangerous Ronan, and spectral Noahthe Raven Boys of Stiefvater's eponymous Raven Boys cycle. Volume 3 finds them still searching for sleeping Welsh king Owen Glendower, though they learn now that there is not one sleeper but three: one to waken, one not to waken, and one in the middle. Joining them again in their search is beautiful Blue, the only one in her family who is not a psychic. Blue's mother, Maura, has vanished underground, and the five teens go spelunking in search now of both her and the king. But they're not the only ones searching for something: the truly evil Colin Greenmantle and his awful wife, Piper, are looking for the Greywaren, an object that allows the dreamer to remove objects from his dream. Unknown to thembut not the readeris that Ronan is the Greywaren and that both he and Adam have inextricably close ties to the magical forest Cabeswater, to which they turn for help. Like the first two volumes, Stiefvater's third is a marvel of imagination and invention. Beautifully written, too, it is rich in simile and metaphor: an autumnal town is a paint box of colors, the dread was like blood. As for the characters, they arenot to put too fine a point on itto die for. And the tone, at once mysterious and foreboding, is a perfect match for the material. Blue Lily, Lily Blue is, simply, a triumph. High-Demand Backstory: The previous volumes in the series had extended stays on the New York Times best-seller list, and the huge and growing fan base will likely push this latest title in the same direction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)