Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater

(5/5 stars)

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.

*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Since I first picked up The Raven Boys, this has been one of my favorite series. So the fact that I was able to receive an arc of this book literally made my day. I was all smiles. And then I read the book and went on an emotional journey full of every feeling imaginable, so there's that. Our story picks up where we left off in The Dream Thieves (this is a spoiler free zone), aka all emotions are heightened and everybody's feeling just a bit drained. But would we want it any other way? I think not.

What I liked: I want to give a quick shoutout to this gorgeous cover. Favorite cover of 2014? Yes, yes, yes! Now, the book, wow. I love how well Maggie develops her characters. I feel like I know them, like they're my friends, my Raven Boys. And Blue is still one of my favorite characters in YA fiction right now. Maybe even of all fiction. I love how much depth these characters have and their loyalty to one another is beautiful to see. As always, I love that the adults work together with the teens to figure out what's going on. It's important to see involved families because it's not a common situation in YA. The plot of this book is just as wonderful as the last two, but this time, the focus is more on Blue. We do see the others' POVs which is great because it brings more to the story and makes it more character driven. I could rave and race about this wonderful book, but here are some of the little things that I liked: the squash song (I want to know the actual melody so that I can annoy everyone with it), the great Blue/Gansey scene of her driving the Pig (I love how you can see how much they love each other without them physically having to show it), and the relationship specifically between Adam/Ronan/Gansey. 

What I didn't like: There wasn't anything specific that I didn't like in this book. The only thing I was a bit confused on was what the title actually meant. Like, I know the song/rhyme thing, but I'm still trying to piece it all together. But like I said, it just confused me, not made me not like the book or anything dramatic like that.

I've found now that the only bad thing about reading this arc is the fact that I'm only going to have to wait even longer for the next book in the series--the book I'm fondly calling When Everything Bad Happens. So for all the tears that I cried during this one (and yes, many a tear was shed), I'm already mentally preparing for the final installment. Counting down the days!

-Annie