Blue lily, lily blue (Raven Cycle #3)

By Maggie Stiefvater

So... I hate to say it but *sigh* the third book in the raven cycle is more than a little disappointing. I wanted to like it! The first two books made me want to like it, but even extreme optimism and a fondness for Maggie Stiefvaters writing isn't enough to make me look favorably on Blue lily, lily, Blue.

This third installment in the raven cycle sees the raven boys come closer than ever before to completing the quest that has consumed them form the very first time we meet them- find Glendower, the long dead Welsh king of old.

Unlike the second book, which puts Ronan in the fore front of the story, this book explores the lives, both individually, and collectively, of each one of the raven boys, with a special focus on Blue. It delves into the psyche of each character, exploring their motivations, their fears and insecurities. The friendship between each of the characters is also further explored, more so than the two books. There is also a larger focus on Blues haphazard family. However, the wider focus on so many different characters may have contributed to the books lack of any real point. The story is all over the place, and none of the characters really develop all that much, besides maybe Blue- if i'm being generous. 

As always, Maggie Stiefvater’s ability to paint images in ones mind is as great as ever. Her writing is unique and highly descriptive without boring you to death with too much detail-  not to mention hilarious in a way that doesn’t diminish the seriousness of the darker parts of the books. But even her great writing isn't enough to make up for the chaotic and quite frankly boring narrative of the story

One of the most disappointing factors in the book is the antagonist. Usually, Stiefvater's bad guys are interesting in one way or another. They usually cause a great deal of inconvenience for their characters and are in some way relevant to the development of the plot. But Blue lily, lily Blue completely fell short in this arena. The main story would've remained pretty much the same, in fact it may have been improved, if the villain hadn't ever entered the picture.

One thing Stiefvater is to be commended on is her ability to sneak up on the reader with shocking revelations. If one looks back carefully, you might find the clues Stiefvater cleverly left that point to the event, but they are always so well hidden, casually thrown into the story in the midst of some chaotic part of the story, or even a relatively uneventful one.

Despite its few virtues, this book definitely doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessors in terms of entertainment. Where the first two books were hard to put down, each page leaving you hungry for the next, this book was at its best pleasant enough to read, and at its worst slightly boring and difficult to follow, qualities made worse when the book is compared to the previous two. The story is messy and all over the place, and the antagonist is incredibly disappointing and quite frankly surplus to requirements, and so I give Blue lily, lily Blue, a very generous:

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