In autumn 2024, I gave The Raven Boys, the first book in Maggie Stiefvater’s “The Raven Cycle”, another try. Years earlier, I’d made my first attempt in English, but it wasn’t as successful due to the writing style and language being too difficult to follow for me as a non-native English speaker. Even though I understood the story better now being able to read it in Dutch, I still had trouble following it. That is, I understood the words, but everything remained too vague for me. In the spring of 2025, I tried the sequel, The Dream Thieves. Even though I once again didn’t understand much of it, I was still curious. Unfortunately, it still remained vague, but the ending piqued my interest enough that I decided to give the third book Blue Lily, Lily Blue a try. I did have my hopes pinned on this one as I was hoping the story would finally become clearer and I could finally lose myself in the hype. Because this series exudes such a typical autumnal atmosphere, I didn’t want to put it off for too long. The darker days of the year are perfect for these books. Did I finally get the clarity I had been desperately seeking?
About the book
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Series: The Raven Cycle #3
Published by Scholastic Press on October 21, 2014
Pages: 391
ISBN: 9780545424967
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult
Rating: 6/10
The third installment in the mesmerizing series from the irrepressible, #1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.
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.
In a starred review, The Bulletin called The Dream Thieves, the previous book in The Raven Cycle, a complex web of magical intrigue and heart-stopping action. Now, with Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the web becomes even more complex, snaring readers at every turn.
My review
Characters
While the author shifted the focus in the previous book primarily to Ronan trying to master his ability, this third book is once again centered around the entire group. At the end of the previous installment, several revelations were made that significantly impact some of these characters. Yet, they seem to develop very little. This could be due to the vague writing and storytelling, but it could also be due to the lack of elaboration of these characters. What does become increasingly clear however, are the questionable friendships. One moment, all these friendships seem to have formed without any build-up, whereas the next moment, it seems as if the entire group doesn’t like each other at all. It’s not a solid group of friends to rely on. Each character has their own quirks, but because they don’t seem to develop, you don’t get to know them well enough. They hardly become interesting, which is something you might expect them to be this far into the series. This makes the relationships feel very unbelievable, and it’s difficult to connect with these characters.
Writing and plot
Another difficulty in connecting with this book and series are Stiefvater’s writing style and the increasingly vague plot. While this style certainly adds atmosphere to the story, it’s not very accessible. Much remains unclear, making this series unsuitable for everyone. It needs the right audience and is therefore quite niche. You can’t completely lose yourself in it because of this narrative style and the fact that the author seems to keep much of the plot hidden. You have to guess a lot, at least I have to. This creates a constant search for what exactly is happening. The main plot line is clear, but the urgency to achieve the goal is palpable. It takes until almost the very end of the novel for the story to truly intrigue. The final chapter contains several revelations that pique your interest enough to want to continue reading.
Final thoughts
Despite my hopes that Blue Lily, Lily Blue would finally convince me about the hype surrounding Maggie Stiefvater’s “The Raven Cycle” series, this story failed to win me over. It’s a wonderful autumn read thanks to the mystical writing style, which lends the story a certain charm. However, this writing style is also its biggest flaw. The plot remains vague, and it’s difficult to connect the dots. Furthermore, the characters aren’t particularly interesting. It’s hard to connect with them, and the group dynamic feels unbelievable. The revelations at the end however, are so compelling that I’m interested to read the sequel and final installment. I just hope that all the pieces of the puzzle will finally fall into place.