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Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

68 reviews

trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I gotta say, this book has a lot of quotable quotes. The writing's just gotten so much better and feels more poetic and very beautiful. The synonym-antonym one (Adam Parrish was lonesome, Blue Sargent was afraid etc.) was my favourite and it was a pleasure to read in a way that actually makes you sit and think about it for a while. I'm literally battling the urge to not add every single quote I highlighted into this review.

The character dynamics somehow seems to have improved? I didn't even know that was possible considering how amazing they were from the start. Every single one of their interactions add more years to my life, I'm not even kidding. Be it Adam and Ronan's relationship slowly taking root, or Adam and Gansey finally not fighting, or Ronan showing he does have affection for Blue, or even Blue pulling the plug on Noah, they all seem so real and so wonderful and I feel like a part of their group.

<blockquote>Blue and her boys were <I>all</I> in love with one another. She was no less obsessed with them than they were with her, or one another. analysing every conversation and gesture, drawing out every joke into a longer and longer running gag, spending each moment either with one another or thinking about when next they would be with one another.</blockquote>

I want to childishly believe they will all remain this way until they grow very old and die peacefully, but oh well :D

Plot wise, this book turns its focus back to Glendower (who I still don't care much for) but oh boy were there some mind-blowing plot twists. And worse, some characters I hold very dear to my heart had to go and die. And possibly even worser, some characters who give me the creeps had to make a reappearance. I genuinely don't want to read the next book because 1) that means I officially have to say goodbye to the raven squad, and 2) I really don't want to see Gansey die, even if they do end up successfully resurrecting him. Now that we've had the taste of a major character death, I do not want to go through the same with Gansey.

Adam's character development was great, and so was Ronan's many subtle improvements. Gwenllilian was a nice touch. Not enough Noah scenes. Blue is such an inspiration. Gansey is as loveable as ever. Jesse Dittley is a man with a heart as huge as him. Mr. Gray must be cherished. Calla's strength is amazing. Persephone is one of a kind. Malory, however, I don't know what he brought to the plate, but that seems very fitting to his character, so whatever.

The only thing that this book, or rather, this series lacks is a strong overarching villain. It's all just very villain-of-the-week; not to worry, just a minor inconvenience, and <I>boom</I> he's gone now. Neeve was very unnerving, but she just disappeared. Whelk gave me the creeps, but then he just got trampled over by a magic forest. Mr. Gray was a cool and badass villain who looked like he would definitely get the job done, but he had to fall in love (in the span of a few weeks? days??) and did a full 180°. Kavinsky was a strong candidate but he blew himself up. And now,
Greenmantle, who was genuinely scary, turned out to be a coward and ran away because of a few papers (and they never even properly revealed what was actually inside it)
I hope the two women, who I assume will be the part of the antagonists of the next book, actually have some skin to them. Otherwise, I have nothing else to say (actually I have a lot of love to pour for the character writing, but that's gonna be as long as the book is, so writing all of that maybe is a bad idea)

Feb 2024 reread: 5 beautiful stars
UHMM I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE WEAKEST BOOK IN THE SERIES? Like I never once hated it or thought it was bad, but for some reason I remember just not thinking this book had much going on for it. Which makes sense, in a way, because the plot is quite slow for a majority of the book and then BOOM everything happens all at once at the end. But this is the Raven Cycle we're talking about, who cares about the plot? Let's talk characters. Wait did I say characters? Whoops, let's talk Adam Parrish.

Adam's character growth was so, so satisfying, especially knowing how much he develops all the way until the Greywaren epilogue.
THAT COURTROOM SCENE!! When Adam and Gansey finally understood each other, I felt like screaming into the void and eating my pillow. That scene with Blue and Noah, the slowburn with Ronan, his "I'm awake" moment at the end, his introspection of himself throughout the entire book all deserve a medal.
God I'm in love with Adam Parrish, can you tell?

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wolfst4r's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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anni_swanilda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

So, I really like this book. I will say that in the first half of the book it just felt like things were happening for no reason at all. I can't even remember much of it, just a day after having read it.

However, it got much MUCH better throughout the second half.

I still really like Ronan, and Adam is starting to grow on me. Gansey maybe even more, but he's being pulled down by Blue. Honestly. Remove her. I cannot stand her at all. The story genuinely would've been so much better without Blue and her whole family WITH☝ the exception of Maura*. She's a great character, and her dynamic with the Gray Man works really well. Alas, I cannot stand Calla, Persephone, or Orla, and as honourable mentions: Neeve. Why not just spell it Niamh when that is her name? Silly Americans.

* You know how so many female characters are exclusively love interests for male characters? Well, Blue is Maura's daughter character. Like, she's just there to make Maura a MILF. Blue is excessive; Maura is life.

The whole 300 Fox Way family feels so... 🤌 quasi-weird. Like the author's writing a family made up of signature quirky girls™.
Now, Greenmantle and Piper?! They're the O.G.s. My favourite couple by far here. I love to see read about they're weird interactions. They never let you know what comes next, and they're just so authentically peculiar.

Like, I imagine 300 Fox Way being weird in a cat way. Like cringe. Come on, cats are not that weird, just shut up already.
Meanwhile, Greenmantle and Piper are weird in a stick insect way. So peculiar and odd, but it's just the way they live life. There are no Tumblr people going «LMAO XD STICK BUGS ARE SO WEIRD» No. They are authentic. The real shit.

The plot is good, though. :)
Very nice, very intriguing, and I LOVE the details like Chainsaw, a made-up mum?? (Niall Lynch literally got the woman of his dreams).
This is what really makes up the book, so this alone I'd say would've made the five-star, but the 300 Fox Way people pull it down. Should've just been Gansey, Ronan, and Adam, because to be honest, hadn't it been for his shared plot-line with Gansey, Noah could've been dropped as well.

Anyways, I do recommend the series. It's definitely worth it, AND it is worth mentioning that I seem to be the only person with this opinion on 300 Fox Way. That and that I think I'm going down a rabbit hole of shitty things to say about them. Giving Maura a bad reputation, really.

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nevermoregothic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Maggie Stiefvater still nurtures that delightfully strange atmosphere, quite mysterious, with a touch of nostalgy. Contrary to the previous volume which was focused on Ronan, this one lets each character take the spotlights in their turn while they keep making progress in their modern-day quest. So far this series has an insubtantial feel, in that as soon as I finish a book I can't quite tell what I've read, except that I've really enjoyed myself. The author has a way of talking about things without talking about them which is quite delightful but make things impossible to paraphrase and summarize. Just read it, because it's absolutely worth reading, and judge for yourself. 

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endlessconfused's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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canopicfemme's review against another edition

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5.0

adam parrish’s character arc in this book is so very important to me

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angstifies's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH THIS SERIES??? probably my favorite installment so far, the humor in these books and every dynamic is just so so so good, can’t get enough of it. 

definitely more plot-focused than the previous novels and that worked just great, i loved everything that happened in here. the mysterious magical elements and the characters are always SO amazing and it’s only getting better. i’m not ready for the next book to be the last one tho.

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shingekiyes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

this has got to be my favorite book of the series so far. all i can say is I LOVE ADAM PARRISH. ADAM PARRISH HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG. 

mirrors, caves, curses, cars, almost-kissing, blackmail, self-acceptance, friendship, old men and their dogs, college admissions, bisexuals, witches, school drama, MAGIC. 

what really shocked me was the Greenmantles. every conversation between them had me cackling. i actually looked forward to their POVs. 

fuck Maggie Stiefvater for being so good at her job, and for making me love these characters as if they were real. everything about them is palpable and consuming. i just want to live inside this dark and fantastical world forever. 

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