Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
between this and lucy dacus i’m in a crazy mindset right now oh my god
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I like how this book delves into the history of the Lynch family, not just by describing Declan, Ronan, and Matthew's childhoods, but by exploring their parents' backstory, too. I especially enjoyed seeing more of Niall's relationship with Mór.
I wonder if Maggie Stiefvater meant to make Mór loveless, because while I've never seen any character described with that label outright, I've also never heard it described so well in a book before. (Alice Oseman's novel "Loveless" may sound like it addresses the subject, but it simply uses the word to describe a protagonist who feels alienated due to her asexuality and aromanticism. It doesn't explore the concept of lovelessness. Instead, it follows the relatively common practice of expanding the definition of love to better suit folks on the aro and ace spectrums—which is fine, but not the loveless representation that I had been hoping for, based on the title.)
In Chapter 28, Mór confides in her husband that she doesn't think she has any feelings, saying that, "I thought we were all in this grand play on a stage, where it's like when someone asks how you are and you say 'fine,' because that's what you're supposed to say. ... I just watched how other people said 'I love you' and I tried it out, I tried out all the things other people did to make sure I was doing it right. I've been pretending to be like others for a long time, but I don't think I /love/ things—I think I am /interested/ in them."
Niall seems upset at first and asks Mór if she never meant it when she said that she loved him, to which she replies, "I'd be sorry if you died ... I've never cared about that before." She also adds, "You are the only one I've ever talked about this with."
Later, in Chapter 37, Niall thinks, "[Mór] /did/ love him. He didn't know why he hadn't realized it before, that it didn't matter if she felt love the same way. Love, for her, was her confession to him that she /didn't/ feel it the same way, that she's trusted him enough with this truth about herself. Love was that she wanted him to know her truly, rather than love a version of herself that she simply wore for him. That love might not ever look like the love he gave to her, but it didn't change what it was."
Sure, Niall sounds like he's missing the point a bit by describing Mór's feelings of lovelessness as "love," but I really like (dare I say, I love) how Niall comes to terms with Mór's "true nature" (as he describes it in Chapter 35) and decides that her actions are more important than her feelings. She cannot choose to have an emotion that she's not built for, but she can act in ways that reflect her care for her family and reinforce how she is reciprocating their affections however she can.
All this to say, I started the Dreamer Trilogy because I loved The Raven Cycle in high school. I was not expecting to stumble upon a loveless character, but now that I have her, I am not letting her go. Thank you, Maggie Stiefvater, for Mór Ó Corra. She may be morally gray, but she's not the villain, and her lack of emotions (specifically, her lack of love) is not what makes her an antagonist. In fact, it's what makes her the most interesting in my eyes (though of course, I am very biased when it comes to lovelessness; I think it's an underexplored identity with lots of nuance and the potential for fascinating discussions about amatonormativity and perceived morality).
As for the other 98% of this book... I liked it! But (and Mór will back me up on this) I didn't love it. I think it's fitting that this series is called The Dreamer Trilogy and not The Ronan Trilogy, because it's about way more than just him. It thoroughly explores the concept of dreaming introduced in The Raven Cycle, and it gives us great new characters such as Jordan, Hennessy, and Carmen Farooq-Lane, in addition to revealing new layers of returning figures such as Declan, who gets the "Most Changed Opinion Of" award in my book.
My main complaint is that things felt a little rushed towards the end. The novel's pacing itself was fine, but there wasn't as much of a denouement for certain characters as I would've liked, specifically Carmen. I wanted the plot to slow down at times so we could talk more about her mental state, about the potential haunting of Parsifal Bauer, and about the psychology of her brother. I appreciate that Nathan was introduced in "Call Down the Hawk," so the final villain didn't come out of nowhere. But I remain unsatisfied as to why he acted the way he did or felt so negatively towards the world.
I'm also not sure how I felt about the fake-out deaths of Matthew and Bryde. Did I want them to die? Not really. But would it have been so narratively juicy that I was a little disappointed when it was revealed that they were OK? Unfortunately, yes... I might need to sit with this ending a little longer before my feelings can properly solidify. Regardless, I enjoyed this trilogy immensely and would highly recommend it to fans of The Raven Cycle. I wonder if Maggie Stiefvater will write any more stories with these characters—and if she does, I would love to see more of Blue, Henry, and Gansey! (Perhaps it can be about "that whole Pando thing" that Ronan mentions in the epilogue? Count me intrigued!)
I wonder if Maggie Stiefvater meant to make Mór loveless, because while I've never seen any character described with that label outright, I've also never heard it described so well in a book before. (Alice Oseman's novel "Loveless" may sound like it addresses the subject, but it simply uses the word to describe a protagonist who feels alienated due to her asexuality and aromanticism. It doesn't explore the concept of lovelessness. Instead, it follows the relatively common practice of expanding the definition of love to better suit folks on the aro and ace spectrums—which is fine, but not the loveless representation that I had been hoping for, based on the title.)
In Chapter 28, Mór confides in her husband that she doesn't think she has any feelings, saying that, "I thought we were all in this grand play on a stage, where it's like when someone asks how you are and you say 'fine,' because that's what you're supposed to say. ... I just watched how other people said 'I love you' and I tried it out, I tried out all the things other people did to make sure I was doing it right. I've been pretending to be like others for a long time, but I don't think I /love/ things—I think I am /interested/ in them."
Niall seems upset at first and asks Mór if she never meant it when she said that she loved him, to which she replies, "I'd be sorry if you died ... I've never cared about that before." She also adds, "You are the only one I've ever talked about this with."
Later, in Chapter 37, Niall thinks, "[Mór] /did/ love him. He didn't know why he hadn't realized it before, that it didn't matter if she felt love the same way. Love, for her, was her confession to him that she /didn't/ feel it the same way, that she's trusted him enough with this truth about herself. Love was that she wanted him to know her truly, rather than love a version of herself that she simply wore for him. That love might not ever look like the love he gave to her, but it didn't change what it was."
Sure, Niall sounds like he's missing the point a bit by describing Mór's feelings of lovelessness as "love," but I really like (dare I say, I love) how Niall comes to terms with Mór's "true nature" (as he describes it in Chapter 35) and decides that her actions are more important than her feelings. She cannot choose to have an emotion that she's not built for, but she can act in ways that reflect her care for her family and reinforce how she is reciprocating their affections however she can.
All this to say, I started the Dreamer Trilogy because I loved The Raven Cycle in high school. I was not expecting to stumble upon a loveless character, but now that I have her, I am not letting her go. Thank you, Maggie Stiefvater, for Mór Ó Corra. She may be morally gray, but she's not the villain, and her lack of emotions (specifically, her lack of love) is not what makes her an antagonist. In fact, it's what makes her the most interesting in my eyes (though of course, I am very biased when it comes to lovelessness; I think it's an underexplored identity with lots of nuance and the potential for fascinating discussions about amatonormativity and perceived morality).
As for the other 98% of this book... I liked it! But (and Mór will back me up on this) I didn't love it. I think it's fitting that this series is called The Dreamer Trilogy and not The Ronan Trilogy, because it's about way more than just him. It thoroughly explores the concept of dreaming introduced in The Raven Cycle, and it gives us great new characters such as Jordan, Hennessy, and Carmen Farooq-Lane, in addition to revealing new layers of returning figures such as Declan, who gets the "Most Changed Opinion Of" award in my book.
My main complaint is that things felt a little rushed towards the end. The novel's pacing itself was fine, but there wasn't as much of a denouement for certain characters as I would've liked, specifically Carmen. I wanted the plot to slow down at times so we could talk more about her mental state, about the potential haunting of Parsifal Bauer, and about the psychology of her brother. I appreciate that Nathan was introduced in "Call Down the Hawk," so the final villain didn't come out of nowhere. But I remain unsatisfied as to why he acted the way he did or felt so negatively towards the world.
I'm also not sure how I felt about the fake-out deaths of Matthew and Bryde. Did I want them to die? Not really. But would it have been so narratively juicy that I was a little disappointed when it was revealed that they were OK? Unfortunately, yes... I might need to sit with this ending a little longer before my feelings can properly solidify. Regardless, I enjoyed this trilogy immensely and would highly recommend it to fans of The Raven Cycle. I wonder if Maggie Stiefvater will write any more stories with these characters—and if she does, I would love to see more of Blue, Henry, and Gansey! (Perhaps it can be about "that whole Pando thing" that Ronan mentions in the epilogue? Count me intrigued!)