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.
As you know, if you’ve read my reviews of the previous books in the series, I’ve love The Raven Cycle up to this point. The first book really pulled me in to the story, and while the second book’s plot didn’t seem necessarily related to the main plot, it did give me a chance to further explore the character. The end of the last book left me on a pretty steep cliffhanger, so I couldn’t wait to read the next one.
At this point, we already know the main characters, Blue and the Raven boys, fairly well. However, this book does a great job of further exploring their relationships. Blue and Gansey realize the tension they’ve held onto for the last two books and it really transforms how they interact with each other and their other friends. This book also allows the reader to get to know Blue’s mother and her life before Blue in a way that wasn’t possible before.
This book also lets us explore Cabeswater, the mystical forest, as a new setting. It was introduced in the first book, and played a role in the second, but in this third book, it’s really central to the plot line. The way characters interact with the setting become more and more complex throughout the book. I always love to see settings act like a character, which this book really achieves.
The plot of the book is also more complex than in previous books in the series. In addition to search for Blue’s mom, Gansey is continuing his search for the legendary king, something strange is going on with Noah, a threatening presence enters the fray and Ronan and Adam explore new conflicts. There’s a LOT going on. Sometimes to a distracting degree. I often wanted to hurry forward to a plot I was more interested or at least hurry forward to see how and if everything would come together.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue is the third book in the Raven Cycle. The main character continue to develop and grow in this book and readers are able to explore the secondary characters in a new way. The setting of Cabeswater and the characters’ relationships with it blossoms. The plot got a bit too complicated for me to fully enjoy the way I did with previous books in the series, but I have confidence that the author will bring everything together in the end.