Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

by:  Maggie Stiefvater
published by:  Scholastic Press
publish date:  October 21, 2014

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.

This is the third book in the Raven Cycle book.  I don't really get what's going on in these books.  Overall, I understand.  The Raven Boys and Blue Sargent are looking for the lost king buried somewhere near where they live.  However, he's hidden by some kind of magic.   All the other intricacies, I've gotten completely lost in the various threads going every which way.

I've stuck with these books for one reason.  Will Patton is the narrator for the audiobooks.  He does an excellent job reading them.  There's another book in this series coming out next year.  This totally surprised me because I thought at the ending of this book, things were resolved.  Maybe I misunderstood what was happening.  I suppose as long as Will Patton is reading it I will listen to the audiobook.  I'm sure I will because maybe if I keep going with it, it'll eventually make sense.

Autumn's top 10 most anticipated for 2015

My 2 MOST anticipated books for 2015 don't have cover reveals yet.  They are Winter by Marissa Meyer.  That's book 4 in the Lunar Chronicles.  The second isn't even titled but Maggie Stiefvater is coming out with book 4 in the Raven Cycle series.  I don't know where that series is going and I don't even know why I want to keep on with that series other than Will Patton reads the audiobooks.

After those two I have:
Survive the Night by Danielle Vega
Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes
Vanishing Girls by Lauren Olivier
Sisters of Shiloh by Kathy and Becky Hepinstall
Finding Paris by Joy Preble
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

by:  Maggie Stiefvater
published by:  Scholastic Press
publish date:  September 13, 2013

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. 

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. 

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

This is the second book in the Raven Cycle series.  I like this series a lot more than the Shiver series.  If you haven't yet, do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobooks for these books.  They're read by Will Patton.  If you don't know the name, you probably know his face from movies like Armageddon and TV's Falling Skies.  He's an excellent audiobook reader.  

The Dream Thieves was a really interesting second installment in the series.  This book focused more on Ronan and his gift.  He has the ability to dream things into existence.    This book didn't seem to bring the group any closer to Cabeswater though.  In fact, it didn't appear as though much effort was being put forth towards that goal at all.  

Despite my reluctance to get involved with YA trilogies/series I'm drawn to this one.  I'm interested in seeing where this one goes.  The third book in this series, Blue Lily, Lily Blue, looks like it comes out in October, 2014.

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

by:  Maggie Stiefvater
published by:  Scholastic Press
publish date:  September 18, 2012

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Blue Sergeant grew up in a family of clairvoyant women.  All her life they've been telling her that she will cause her true love to die.  Because of this she pretty much stays away from boys.  She especially stays aways from the Aglionby boys, the boys from the fancy prep school.  They are known as the Raven boys because of the ravens on their uniforms.

While Blue isn't a psychic, she has the ability to turn up the volume for other psychics.  She increases the energy around them.  So one of the psychic women is using her to help commune with the dead when Blue actually sees and talks to her first spirit.  The spirit's name is Gansey.  The pyschic tells Blue that the reason she can see him is because he will die within one year, he is her true love or she will kill him.

Gansey is in Henrietta going to Aglionby because of his life's pursuit of ley lines.  He's convinced they run through the town.  Blue gets involved with Gansey and his friend during his search for the ley lines despite all her mother's predictions and warnings.

I ended up really liking The Raven Boys.  I listened to the audiobook.  It was read by Will Patton.  If you don't know the name, you probably know the face from movies and television.  It was extremely well done. 

I have to give props to Maggie Stiefvater for keeping things fresh.  From werewolves to water horses to raven boy, she's definitely covering a lot of territory.  The writing is awesome.   I'm bummed that this is the first book in a series/trilogy/whatever but it's to be expected in YA now.  Hopefully we don't have to wait forever for the next book.

 

Autumn's Top Ten for 2011

I cheated a little and this ended up being 11 instead of 10.

So in no particular order they are:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Original Sin by Beth McMullen
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

Scorpio Races

by:  Maggie Stiefvater
published by:  Scholastic Press
publish date:  October 18th, 2011

The only synopsis I find anywhere is this:  "With her trademark lyricism, Maggie Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous race across a cliff--with more than just their lives at stake should they lose."


That's all you need to know.  That's what the book is about.  It's about a horse race...a WATER horse race.  It's dark, it's tense, it's violent, it's utterly unique and it's AWESOME!

I wasn't a huge fan of Maggie Stiefvater after the Shiver/Linger Werewolves books.  I really didn't like them much at all.  She's completely redeemed herself in my eyes with this book.   It might be the best book I've read so far this year.  It's definitely right up there in the top 3 for sure. 

The story is about these violent man-eating water horses that come out of the ocean and the riders capture the horses and train them to be raced in November when the Scorpio Races are held.  Sean Kendrick is the best trainer and rider on the island.  He's won 4 of the last 6 years.  He's signed up to race on his favorite water horse Corr.  Kate "Puck" Connelly is a young woman who has signed up to race to save her home.  Problem is, no woman has ever raced before, but there's no rule against it.  She's also riding on her "regular" horse Dove, which is also not against the rules.  There's a lot of opposition to her presence in the traditionally all-male all-water horse race. 

I won't tell you anymore because I know you'll be dying to read it!  Run out and get yourself a copy when it comes out.  Pre-order one right now!

Shiver

by:  Maggie Stiefvater

There have been wolves in the woods behind Grace's house ever since she was a little girl.  She should know this better than anyone.  She was attacked by them, until one saved her life.  The one with the strange yellow eyes.  She knows that wolf as her wolf and she watches it from her backyard over the years.  Then one day, she meets a boy with the same strange yellow eyes.

Okie dokie, so Shiver is your classic girl meets werewolf and falls in love story.  These type stories are all the rage right now.  Seriously, are there any YA books right now that aren't about chicks falling in love with either vampires or werewolves?    I don't have a problem with it though.  Team Jacob here  :)   Anyway, overall the story was pretty good.  I liked it.  Grace's parents pissed me off.  This book could have easily been retitled to "How To Be An Absent Parent".  It reminded me of Dora the Explorer, you know the cartoon?  Her parents send her off into the jungle with trolls and dragons and such with a talking monkey and talking backpack.  Grace's parents didn't know she had a werewolf sleeping in her room for weeks.  Thank God these are all fictional parents!

I liked the subplots going on with her friends particularly Olivia.  I won't give away any spoilers here, but I loved the way the ending worked out for Olivia. 

According to Ms. Stiefvater's website (she's got all kinds of fun stuff on there) Shiver is going to be made into a movie. 

Linger is the sequel to Shiver and it was just released.  Don't you just love the covers of these books?