Tag Archives: maggie stiefvater

Observations on Blue Lily Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

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blue lilyAll the feels!  Re-reading this book just reaffirms how painful The Raven King is going to be.

  • What’s the deal with Henry Cheng?  I mean seriously?  Maggie has already said he is going to play a bigger part in the next book but what?  What was he doing out that late at night when Gansey and Blue run into him?
  • Speaking of, is there ever been a more romantic non-kiss.  It almost puts some actually literary kisses to shame!
  • I want to know more about Persephone’s backstory.  Actually I want a spin-off series that is just about Persephone, Maura and Calla.  Hey Maggie, can you make that happen?
  • Adam learned a very important lesson.  That it is okay to ask for help and even if you don’t ask, if a friend offers it’s not out of pity but out friendship.
  • Piper Greenmantle is not someone I would want to meet in a dark alley.  That woman is truly scary.
  • What is Gansey doing in the faculty lounge?  Does he already know he’s going to die and this is him making plans?
  • Why haven’t any written the Murder Squash song?
  • I love how all-in Ronan is to being Supernatural.  He’s owning is Greywareness!
  • Also how touching was his revelation about Matthew?  How he’s working on saving him.  With what happened in the cave, do you think he’s figured it out.
  • I like Blue and Ronan’s relationship. For all his guff, Ronan can’t help but care.  He saved her from falling twice, once in the beginning of the book and in the end and then stayed behind in the dark to make sure she got to the other side.  He’s a class act when he wants to be.
  • What kind of man buries their daughter, face down in a grave for robbers to find? Maybe Glendower isn’t worth it after all.
  • Jesse Dittley wasn’t kidding when he said his cave was cursed.  May he Rest In Peace
  • Never Scrying by yourself kids.

So, we are now two weeks away from the release of The Raven King and the anticipation is just killing me.  Will they find Glendower?  Will Blue and Gansey finally kiss and will it kill him?  Will Ronan and Adam kiss? Who is the third sleeper? Is it a huge spider because I am not okay with that! What has Neeve been doing all this time?  I have so many questions that I hope to get answered soon.  Dear readers, what are your questions for The Raven King?

Observations on The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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dream thieves This is my favorite book in The Raven Cycle (so far). Gansey in his Ganseyness. Adam in his Adamness and Blue in her Blueness but most importantly Ronan in his Ronaness. I love him.

  • If you could dream anything and bring it back with you when you awoke, what would it be?
  • What really turned Declan and Ronan into enemies?  Is it just that Declan is a liar and that he upheld Niall’s will without a fight?
  • How long has Declan known about Ronan and Niall?
  • Oh Poor Adam.  It’s almost painful to read about his abuse and almost harder to read him think that he deserved it.
  • I know Adam had to accept his bargain but maybe when he started to see strange things, maybe that’s the time to go to the women who deal with strange things?
  • I don’t think I’ll understand the internet stanning for Kavinsky?  He’s a terrible human being to put it mildly.
  • I’m quite charmed by the courtship of Maura and the Gray Man. To quote Hamilton “So this is what it’s like to match wits”
  • Calla is amazing.  Her interactions with Ronan are always a delight.  They should have more scenes together.
  • I wish I knew more about the Gray Man and his brother.  I get his brother is a sociopath but I feel like there is more there.
  • champagne mistake.  the champagne atrocity.  I just loved how the Gray man described his rental car.
  • Let’s talk about Ronan’s sexuality or how little it’s talked about.  I think that’s it’s great that he never out right says his gay. He doesn’t have too. It’s pretty clear that he is.  Just as it’s pretty clear that Gansey is straight.
  • I wonder if there is more to the break in to Calla’s office at Aglionby.
  • Kate pointed this out but I do love how Maggie writes her female characters.  They stand up for themselves.  They never play the damsel in distress.  When Adam loses his cool when arguing with Adam, Blue doesn’t apologize for making him angry or stands and takes it.  She just tell Adam that she would be outside and he can join her if he calms down.  Take note ladies.

I think I had a few more thoughts but now I can’t remember.  Oh well.  Onto Blue Lily Lily Blue.

Observations on The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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ravenSo it turns out that I never did a review of The Raven Boys. I guess that makes sense since it did come out in 2012 and well, Stacks did launch in 2012 but it took us two years to really get things going here.  Check out Kate’s review and now a few observations.

  • Richard Gansey III is smooth with the ladies, amorite? Blue’s and Gansey’s meet-cute may not be all that cute but it was pretty funny and a perfect set up to their relationship.  Gansey is earnest but a little clueless but also shows how much both have changed throughout the series.
  • On that note, Adam is a pretty smooth operator with the ladies.
  • I love the way Ronan is described as he is more a sharp object then a person.
  • Is Barrington Whelk the worst name ever?
  • Neeve is shifty you didn’t have to be a psychic to figure that out.
  • Does anyone else want a floor plan of 300 Fox Way? and Does anyone else want to live there? I do.
  • Speaking of, I want to have drinks with Maura, Calla and Persephone and I’m not sure there is ever too much vodka.
  • You have to love a book that features Welsh history and Latin as major plot points.
  • Adam makes me so sad but I love him.  He hasn’t excepted his situation as how things have to be and is doing something about it.  I think he’s actually the best thing to happen to Gansey and Ronan.
  • Blue is amazing.  She is not afraid to stand up for herself. I also think she is the best thing to happen to Gansey.  She challenges his perception of what it means to be poor.  While Adam lives the life Gansey assumes all poor people live and life with violence and little love.  Blue’s home life doesn’t fit that.  It may be chaotic with all those women live in 300 Fox Way but it’s definitely a house full of love.
  • Poor Noah.  How many times did he tell people he was dead?
  • Neeve will show up eventually.  You think so?
  • Adam what have you done? Next time you sacrifice yourself, know what you getting yourself into.
  • How adorable is Ronan with Chainsaw?
  • Speaking of Ronan, if you could bring anything from your dreams what would it be?

Ok, now onto The Dream Thieves.  It’s my favorite one so far.  Also, 20 more days until The Raven King!

Countdown to The Raven King!

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Guess what Guys?!  I just figured out we can do slideshows! This is so exciting to me!  Anyhoo, it’s April!  Finally!  Only 25 more days until the release of the The Raven King!  FINALLY!!!!  I can’t wait!  I’m excited but dreading it all the same time because you know that none of us are coming out of this unscathed.  Now that I think about it, keep Stacks in your thoughts in the last week of April, first week of May because it’s going to be a couple of brutal weeks for Kate and I between this and Captain America.  So here we go, to help everyone prepare for the final book in the The Raven Cycle, we are going to look back at past reviews and commentary about one of our favorite series.

First, Let’s start from the beginning with Kate’s review of The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves.  Somehow, I haven’t written a formal review for this series.  Strange.

Here are a few more posts about The Raven Cycle

Public Service Announcement

What I’m Thankful for

Books that Rocked My Face off, Part two

Dear Stackologist: Life is Full of Tough Choices

RE: Sexism, Twitter and Giant Insects

Highs and Lows of Fandoms by Cassandra Clare and Maggie Stiefvater

Cover Reveal: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Discussion Posts: Re-reading series before the new installment comes out

Fan Art

Books that Rocked My Face Off in 2015

What I Can’t Wait to Read in 2016

Currently Reading: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

And finally, First Listen of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Later this week, we will start discussion posts about what we think is going to happen in The Raven King.

First Listen of The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

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the raven king
As you know we at Stacks are super excited for the release of The Raven King, the final book in her The Raven Cycle.  We are about a month away!  Today, Maggie Stiefvater posted clips of the Prologue and Chapter 1, read by actor Will Patton on her Tumblr.  There isn’t any spoilers since both excerpts have already been released online but Will does reads a mean book.  So go have a listen and come back and post what you think will happen to Blue and the Boys.  Can you believe it’s only a month away?!

 

http://maggie-stiefvater.tumblr.com/post/141617391621/maggie-stiefvater-heres-will-patton-reading

 

What I Can’t Wait to Read in 2016

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It’s 2016!  Happy New Years!!  A new year means new books!  And we love new books even if they just add to our TBR pile.  So here a 10 books that I’m super excited to read in 2016!

  1. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater- The final book in the Raven Cycle and I couldn’t be more excited and dreading at the same time.  It is well documented about how much I love the series and Maggie as an author.  I can’t wait to see what will happen to Blue and the Boys but at the same time not ready to say goodbye.
  2. The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan – The first book in Rick’s new series The Trials of Apollo is going to be good.  I just know it.  For one thing Percy is back!  That’s really all I need to know.  I also hope it means that Leo is also back and happy and in love with Calypso.  That would be the best.
  3. Untitled by Sarah J. Maas – So the next book in the Throne of Glass series doesn’t have a title but hasn’t dampened my excitement for it.  Aelin has all but declared her intentions and now heading for home.  The real fight for Erilea is abou to get real.
  4. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir –  An Ember in the Ashes was one of the books that I loved the most last year.  A mixture of historical fiction, dystopian and fantasy it was truly something refreshing.  I can’t wait to see what happens next.
  5. The Last Star by Rick Yancey – The final book in the 5th Wave series should be interesting.  The 5th Wave was full and real but the The Infinite Sea was a intriguing but not as entertaining.  Now that we know that who the aliens are and not things are really going to go down.  Not to mention the movie for the first book comes out soon and I’m quite interested to see how it transitions from page to screen.
  6. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard – The Red Queen was the other book by a new author in 2015 that I really loved.  The other was Ember in the Ashes.  It was quite a debut.  I can’t wait to see what Mare will do now.
  7. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare – It’s been over a year since Cassandra’s last series ended. She has filled the void with her novella series Tales from Shadowhunter Academy it hasn’t been the same.  Now we are moving from New York City to LA with Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorne five years after the end of The Mortal Instruments so of course the world is once again in peril and it’s mostly the Clave’s fault.  I do hope it’s better then the last 3.
  8. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas – I’ll admit that I was only so so on the first book but I think this series has real potential and I’m willing to give it a go.
  9. The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan – Magnus and friends stopped Ragarnok from happening at least for now and now he’s going to have help from his cousin Annabeth.  (Annabeth is going to be very busy this year) We know from the last book that Thor lost his hammer and judging by the title that is going to be a major part of this book but he won’t be the only God as we also know that Loki has been pulling strings for a long time. Things should get interesting.
  10. The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon – Now I’m not sure if this book is really going to come out this year or not but according to Goodreads, it’s scheduled for 11/3 so *crosses fingers* Paige has taken over the syndicate only to be betrayed by her former boss.  It’s time to start a revolution against Scion but I have a feeling they won’t go down without a fight.

And so many more books I want to read and not to mention try to complete our reading challenges. It’s going to be a busy reading year.  How about you? What books are you looking forward to reading this year?

Review: Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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I did not expect to binge read Dream Thieves on Thanksgiving. But, I did and now I have to slow my roll down because the fourth book doesn’t come out until Spring. The Raven Cycle is about a group of teens who are looking for a medieval Welsh King rumored to be sleeping somewhere in America. If you wake him, he will grant you a wish.

From here there are spoilers for The Raven Boys.

This novel picks up where Raven Boys left off. Ronan can pull things from his dreams and make them real. Adam woke the ley line and is now its hands and eyes. Noah is still dead and Gansey is still Gansey. Blue is still a not-psychic in a family of psychics. Adam and Blue are kind of together, as together as you can be when your kiss can kill. There is a lot of pain in this novel. Adam doesn’t get why Blue keeps him at arm’s length. Blue can’t help that she’s falling for Gansey. Ronan is still broken from losing his father. None of them understand why Adam went off on his own and, as he grows into what the ley line needs him to be he feels isolated. Gansey is beat up over feeling like he’s losing Adam and he’s at a loss for what to do with Ronan at times. Oh, and Noah keeps reliving his death.

And, now some spoilers for this novel.

In addition to all the growing pains, we learn more about Blue’s family. Persephone has a connection to Adam, we find out. We also meet the Gray man who is there as a bounty hunter to collect whatever allows Ronan to steal things from dreams. I really enjoyed the subplot with the Gray man and Maura and I hope that he continues to be part of the next book. We also learn a little more about Gansey’s and Ronan’s families.

A lot of this novel really focused on Ronan, his ability and its connection to the ley line. I liked Ronan a lot as a character in the first book but he was a little one dimensional. He was Gansey body guard and enforcer. So it was interesting to get some Ronan point of view in this novel. He’s got a lot of anger and also a lot of questions surrounding his father’s life and death. Unraveling the mystery of Niall Lynch not only pushes the narrative forward but also gives Ronan some much needed character development.

We also get a lot of point of view from Adam. We learned about his family in the first novel and we got to see a lot of fall out related to that in this one. We also got to see why this quest and the ley line mean so much to him. Some of the scenes where we see Adam and Gansey together actually lead to some much needed character development for Gansey as well.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I needed to know what happened next. But, I have to say that Adam repeatedly broke my heart. That kid, man. He deserves better.

I am really looking forward to the next novel, Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

Discussion Posts: Re-reading series before the new installment comes out

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This month has seen the announcement of the next book in the Raven Cycle series’ cover announced and the next book in the Cinder series released. Both of these things prompted much excitement here at SxLx because we’re into these series. Beth struggled with the decision to re-read the whole series before diving into Winter. I took the new cover art as a signal to re-read the Raven Cycle. In my case, the decision was easy because I haven’t finished Dream Thieves and at this point I’ve probably forgotten more than I remember. But, I know that not everyone feels this pull to revisit the older installments before getting to the new one. So, the comments section is open! What are your thoughts on re-reading a series before the new book comes out? Are you for it? Against it? Do you do it?

Are you a re-reader?