Blue Lily, Lily Blue & The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #3 and #4)
Now that I have officially finished The Raven Cycle, I feel bereft of comfort and happiness. It’s been so long since I’ve jived with a young adult series and fallen in love with the characters and the plot so much. It was very good. I cannot emphasize this enough. Although, this review encapsulates both Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King, more than anything this will just be a rant of things I loved and things I didn’t like so much in Maggie Steifvater’s fantasy series.
The ending, as for all her endings, are not enough for me. I want epilogues of the future, of happy couples, of mentally healthy characters, and goals being achieved and strived for and a general sense of love and peace.
Steifvater doesn’t deliver on that and I’m not sure if I like the real aspect of it more or hate the fact that I’m left starving. The end of The Raven King was both everything I needed and not nearly enough. As always, I feel like her books contain too much to be restricted within the limited pages.
I want to know about Noah and his mourning, I want to know about Gansey bargaining away Monmouth, I want to know about Adam and Ronan’s relationship, does Ronan wake the sleeping herd? Does Adam get a scholarship? Does Blue finally get to go to freaking Venezuela with Henry?
So many unknown questions and not enough answers. Maybe the characters don’t even know themselves. I often got the feeling while reading Maggie Steifvater’s work that her characters got the best of her, quite literally ran away with their own stories and dreams and desires.
This theory I believe is innocuously proven by Blue falling for Gansey. I think originally Steifvater wanted Blue and Adam to be a thing, but Blue’s character said, nope, no way and took her own path. As did Adam. And Ronan. And Piper. And Henry.
Speaking of Henry, I may get lynched (lol) for this but I felt his addition to the group was a bit awkward. He joined the beating hearts club not because he was “found” by Gansey like the others, but because he was an outsider looking in and wanted to be in. I like his character don’t get me wrong, love his Korean background, his badass mother, and his love for Robobee, but I dislike the fact that he “completed” the so called group that had been present SINCE BOOK ONE.
Again, it’s as if Maggie was like, “oh, I guess this is happening.” Much of her book didn’t seem to be stringently planned out, which is fine! It’s lovely and takes a lot of talent to do that, but some things, like Henry, felt a bit too big for their shoes to me.
I also love the way Maggie writes. Its metaphorical and whimsical and somehow just enough information for you to get all the little insinuations between lines. Also, her metaphors are so random but make so much sense. Like I would never consider comparing tears to tracks on gravel, but she somehow makes it work and makes it work good.
Unlike most young adult series that bore you to death by spelling out every little emotion and breaking down every sentence, this doesn’t happen in The Raven Cycle. Instead of feeling like I’ve been left hanging, I feel like I was actually there because the breaking down of emotional situations like statistics is not how real life works and I think Steifvater gets that on an intrinsic level.
All in all, I highly enjoyed this series to the highest extent. The plot surrounding Glendower was interesting, as was Cabeswater, the psychics at 300 Fox Way and all that entailed, and especially the friendship between all the characters. Everyone had depth and personality and quirks and qualms and I feel like I was a part of a journey lucky enough to have been bestowed upon me.
The best books don’t make you feel like you’re reading a story, they make you feel like you’re a part of it. Thank you, Maggie Steifvater. I’ll cherish the memories.
Recommendation: “The Raven Cycle” is truly a wonder of the young adult fiction community. If you haven’t read it what are you waiting for? Go now! Use your own Barnes and Noble Membership or someone else’s but either way, you’ve got weekend plans.
Score: 9/10
