on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
- Get link
- Other Apps
Read and annotated on Ada's copy, which she had already annotated :)
Rating: 4/5
Pages: 391
Started: 29 September 2022
Finished: 1 October 2022
Summary:
Blue's mother has disappeared, and all the psychics at 300 Fox Way have agreed that she's gone underground to find one of the three hidden sleepers, or possibly Blue's father, Artemus. Or both. So, in all the spare time they can find between school and work, Blue and her Raven Boys search, finding caves and hunting through Cabeswater, both for Maura and for Glendower.
To make matters worse, Greenmantle, the Grey Man's old boss, and his wife have come to Henrietta. They're determined to track down the Greywaren, which they believe is an artifact that allows Ronan to bring objects back from his dreams.
As Blue and her Raven Boys all discover more about their power, they can only hope it'll be enough.
Thoughts:
I really do like books better the second time around. I remembered the aesthetic and character dynamics of BLLB from last summer, but I had completely forgotten about some of the biggest plot points. I had forgotten how funny Greenmantle and Piper are: they're horrible people but their banter is so random and irreverent that it's hilarious. The relationships between the protagonists came into better focus, too. Blue and Ronan, Blue and Gansey, Adam and Ronan--they somehow got to know each other even better.
One of my favorite scenes exposes Gansey even more. Starting on page 241, Malory tells Blue about what Gansey was like when they first met:
"'They were glorious days [...] He was smaller back then.' The way he said smaller made it seem like he wasn't talking about height."
He was adventurous and a "keen researcher" and desperate to understand more about ley lines and magic, but also constantly having panic attacks about wasps and breakdowns about his mortality. It shows Gansey as young and vulnerable in a way that he doesn't allow himself to be seen anywhere in the series. And then, as Malory is describing the way Gansey just left one day, the real Gansey appears:
"'It was cowardice and stupidity,' Gansey said from the doorway. He leaned on the doorjamb, hands in pockets, as he often did."
He seems very suave and collected, but there's an open and mature sort of vulnerability in his apology that I think is really incredible. It sets the scene for his following in Glendower's footsteps of being a king who asks, not demands.
What happened to Persephone was really sad--it totally blindsided me; she seemed too ethereal and permanent for anything to go wrong. But a lot of super cool things happened too. Adam finally stopped complaining about how he was unknowable, thank God, because it was so untrue it was getting on my nerves. And I love how Blue begins to realize that her ability to be a mirror and an amplifier actually gives her a lot of power on its own. I can't wait to read The Raven King, my favorite book out of the four, and have annotated the complete series.