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A review by jollypeeps
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A slight improvement on the previous book, I would say.
My biggest gripe with this series is that while it is really beautifully evocative with its writing and mystery, Stiefvater is almost TOO vague with descriptions ranging from characters feelings, physical locations, and general activity. I find myself too often trying to reread and simply guess at what is going on. Even at the penultimate climax of the book, where characters are clearly struggling against one another, description is actually EXPLICITLY left vague due to poor lighting in the scene, and while this would ordinarily feel intense and worrying, the scene featuring only a couple of grunts from fights makes the intensity drop immensely.
Thesudden death of Persephone held no real weight in my heart as aside from kind interactions here and there, she talks too vaguely throughout the series to really feel like she’s bonded well to anyone .
Unfortunately a lot of the secondary characters - Calla, Maura - feel written to be “lovably” vague at best and obnoxious at worst. The exception to this was Jesse Ditley, who while only featured for a few scenes, is clearly a kind and well meaning man, with no second meanings to his words.
Greenmantlejoins the cast of impotent villains throughout the series in that he makes a few threats that have no real bearing on the story and eventually dies/goes away without any real consequence
As with the rest of the books, the story shines when it focuses on the mystery of Glendower and the bonds and struggles the main 4 have. I particularly enjoyed Ronan and Adam bonding throughout their shared perspective ofbeing affected by Cabeswater, and their realisation that they can properly get along was heartwarming
All in all, I unfortunately wished that the writer focused more on the struggle of the four characters and wrote a little more purposefully rather than with extreme uncertainty.
My biggest gripe with this series is that while it is really beautifully evocative with its writing and mystery, Stiefvater is almost TOO vague with descriptions ranging from characters feelings, physical locations, and general activity. I find myself too often trying to reread and simply guess at what is going on. Even at the penultimate climax of the book, where characters are clearly struggling against one another, description is actually EXPLICITLY left vague due to poor lighting in the scene, and while this would ordinarily feel intense and worrying, the scene featuring only a couple of grunts from fights makes the intensity drop immensely.
The
Unfortunately a lot of the secondary characters - Calla, Maura - feel written to be “lovably” vague at best and obnoxious at worst. The exception to this was Jesse Ditley, who while only featured for a few scenes, is clearly a kind and well meaning man, with no second meanings to his words.
Greenmantle
As with the rest of the books, the story shines when it focuses on the mystery of Glendower and the bonds and struggles the main 4 have. I particularly enjoyed Ronan and Adam bonding throughout their shared perspective of
All in all, I unfortunately wished that the writer focused more on the struggle of the four characters and wrote a little more purposefully rather than with extreme uncertainty.