The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater - Review

So I'm really sorry that it's been quiet around here. It's because.... we moved house! It has been in the works since February but because the people we were buying off were buying a new house, which wasn't yet built, we had to wait. We had put a lot of things in storage in preparation to move, including most of my books. I had kept one basket full out in the old house, but I was so sad without my shelves of books. In the new house one of the spare rooms has enough space for a TON of bookshelves, so we've been building those and unpacking my books. It is glorious to see them all again! I will share some photos when everything is unpacked and looking great. 

Over the move itself I found it hard to read because I was stressed and wound up, so I tried to be gentle on myself. I started this book just before the move but couldn't concentrate on it, so I put it down for a bit. I finished it at the end of August and thought it did redeem itself in the last fifty pages or so, but I think it was overly long. I reckon you could have cut out about seventy five pages and still had the the same novel, with a bit less flannel. 

I love Maggie, as you know, so when I saw this book I was intrigued by it. I requested it at the library and picked it up in mid August. Although it seemed like my kind of thing, and although it's really typical Maggie, I did find it slow. Maybe that's one of the differences between Young Adult fiction and fiction for adults. Dunno. But it did annoy me somewhat.

So the book is about the Avallon hotel in West Virginia somewhere. It is set in about 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The hotel is owned by the Gilfoyle family but June Hudson - aka Hoss - is the general manager. She is from the area, from a poor family, but she was kind of adopted by the Gilfoyle family. The patriarch, Mr Francis, who has died not long before the start of the book, basically moulded June into the person she is now. She has kind of had a relationship with one of the sons, Ed, but the war is looming and she has refused to marry him. A different son, Sandy, has been injured and is now using a wheelchair and unable to move around by himself. His sister, Stella, is basically his carer. A different sister exists but doesn't feature. 

June is told that the hotel is being requisitioned by the FBI to house diplomats from Germany, Italy, and Japan. Apparently this was a thing that really happened in World War Two which was really interesting to learn. She has to get rid of all the guests - except for the mysterious long term guest who lives in Room 411 and who demands things daily. A number of her male staff have been drafted to fight and those that are left often have problems. She is well respected by her staff though. 

The FBI men are headed up by Tucker. He is a native to West Virginia - as June identifies by his coal tattoo - but doesn't really talk about that. The Axis diplomats arrive but they're almost slightly incidental to the story. There are quite a few Nazis, of course, and there is a girl who the story follows through. She is most likely autistic or something similar, but it's not diagnosed. The FBI men work to repatriate the diplomats and get some American diplomats back in exchange. This was all very interesting!

And then there is the water. The hotel has four bath houses and fonts on every floor. The water is sweetwater. June drinks glasses of it daily. It definitely has magical qualities. It is there, bubbling under the hotel, bubbling under everything that happens in the book. June knows how to subdue it, but eventually, she can't anymore. This is really typical Maggie, and I loved it. 

in all, this is a 3.75 out of five, so I'll round it up to a four. I loved the ending but as I say, I felt like there was quite a bit that just didn't need to be there. 

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater - Review

Okay so here's the thing. I recently mentioned to my friend Lucinda (who is a children's librarin in London currently) that I was going to get Call Down the Hawk for Christmas, and she sternly told me that I can't read that until I've read The Raven King, so hadn't I better hurry up and read The Raven King? The thing is I've been putting it off for almost two years, because, as I said in the review of Blue Lily, Lily Blue, there's a prophecy that Gansey will die, and I just can't bear for it to happen. Lucinda told me that people who are dead can always be brought back to life in magical books. She basically told me to stop whinging and get on with it.

So I did.

And I loved it. Seriously, this is the best book of the quadrology, for me. I absolutely loved it.

It is Gansey's book. Which makes sense! The first one is Adam's, the second one is Ronan's, the third one is Blue's, so it was obvious that this one would belong to Gansey and his long quest to find the body of Glendower. The others do get a look in but in a far lesser way.

Adam is trying to just make it through to graduation, really. He's Cabeswater's magician, and he's struggling to keep Cabeswater under control because it has a demon. And the demon may or may not be possessing him.

Ronan is skipping school, not caring about anything except going back to his family home so that he can dream and keep his father's dreams alive. He gets Matthew and Declan out of Henrietta, but there's a problem because Declan is involved in his dad's ex business of magical artifacts, and there's something bad coming to Henrietta.

Blue's dad Artemus was freed in the last book, but he's currently living in a pantry at Fox Way, unwilling to come out or talk to anyone. Blue is also seeing Gansey, only they're keeping it secret from everyone, and of course, she can never kiss him because if she kisses her true love, he will die.

Then there's Henry Cheng. We met him in previous books as a co-student of Gansey and co at Aglionby, but in this book we see him a lot more. Gansey and Blue go to a toga party at his dormitory house, and then Henry takes Gansey to a secret place at Aglionby and tells him something. He then goes along with the other four in the rest of the novel, which I actually really liked. I liked him as a character and I felt like the others needed another one, as Noah is largely missing by this point. You know, cos he's dead and all, and the ley line is failing at keeping him around and his energy is growing less and less by the day.

Ronan and Adam kiss, which I knew happened because of Twitter, and which I thought was PERFECT. It was totally lovely, and they're both adorable. I like how Ronan had so many feelings that he had to go stand on a roof. Haven't we all been there? I'm sorry to put this spoiler in this review, but it was SO LOVELY and I love them both SO MUCH, and also, this book has been out for over three years, so get on with it, you know?

Gansey is........... still wanting to find Glendower, but he also wants much more out of life. If he finds the dead king, what does that mean for the rest of his life. It's a lot for him, bless him.

I loved this book. It is a good ending to the series, things happened in perfect ways and there were a lot of genuinely funny bits, touching bits, moving bits. I loved it. I'm giving it five out of five. So good.

And I faithfully promise I will read Call Down the Hawk in a much swifter time!

This page, after Ronan and Adam have kissed, was the most perfect. I loved it.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater - Review

Where did I get it? The library! I hadn't even heard of it, it just caught my eye because it was by Maggie. 

What's it about? It's set in the Colorado desert in 1962. There, one night, we meet three cousins, and their pirate radio station. The cousins are all in the Soria family; the Sorias left Mexico and set up a small settlement, Bicho Raro, in Colorado. There, the Saint of Bicho Raro performs miracles for the pilgrims who arrive to the village. But, the miracles never quite work out how the pilgrims think they will, making a motley crew living in the village. The Sorias can't talk to the pilgrims for fear of 'interfering' with their miracles, something which they've done in the past and which has had terrible consequences. 

Anyway, the cousins. There's Daniel, who is the current Saint of Bicho Raro because he has a lot of magic, I think? He seems pretty sick of pilgrims and performing miracles, to be honest. There's Joaquin, who seems quite desperate to get out of Bicho Raro and out of Colorado completely; he looks east for his fashion inspiration. He is the host of the radio show the cousins are putting it, under his alter ego name Diablo Diablo. Lastly there's Beatriz, second choice for Saint, but who is said to have no feelings, and who is quite worried about her parents, who are falling apart. 

Into the village arrive Tony and Pete. Tony is a DJ who needs a miracle, and Pete is a high school graduate who has been promised a truck in Bicho Raro and who is hitchhiking there. Tony gets his miracle, which backfires, and Pete is set to work. 

It took me a week to read this book, and it isn't that I didn't like it, but I found it quite dense. It skipped about a bit in point of view, which I find odd and somewhat confusing. I liked Daniel and Beatriz and some of the pilgrims, but not everyone. It's filled with Maggie's usual mix of realism and magic, which I liked. I wish we'd seen more of Beatriz's personality, and less history, but that's possibly just personal preference. It's a good book. 

What age range is it for? 14+ 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No 

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes, they're all Mexican Americans, except maybe Pete and some of the pilgrims? I think Maggie did a good job of incorporating this folklore, but I appreciate she is white and so am I. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, it's not graphic

Are there swear words? No 

What criticisms do I have? I just.... I didn't love it. I don't think it went deep enough. I'd have liked one storyline to follow instead of lots. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? Library deadlines

What other books is it like? Maggie's other books!

How many stars? Seven out of ten 

Where is the book going now? Back to the library... I've already had to renew it once as I didn't get to it over Christmas!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater - Review

Warning: spoilers ahead (a little bit) if you haven't read the Raven Cycle)

I finally finished the third book in the Raven Cycle series and I LOVED it! My relationship with this series is complicated and for several reasons this book took me nearly two weeks to read, but the pay off was worth it.

Okay so let me start at the beginning. I loved the Raven Boys, I thought it was a really perfect adventure with the cutest characters. I loved the mythology and the set up of searching for Glendower and I loved the juxtaposition of the boys' and Blue's ordinary lives with their individual worries and school lives. I was really excited for The Dream Thieves, but then I really didn't get on with it. I found it dragged and didn't really add a lot to the overarching plot of the series for me.

I guess that put me off a bit because I haven't picked up Blue Lily, Lily Blue until now. But I was wandering through the bookshelves and I do, and I thought, you know, I really ought to get to reading this whole series. I think I was also putting it off a bit because, as you'll know if you've read the series, right at the beginning, it's foretold by Blue that Gansey is going to die, and I just don't think I can deal with the heartache - even though I don't think he's going to die in a typical fashion because, well, I just don't believe it! But I knew it would hurt so I've been gaily going along in ignorance so that nothing terrible happens to Gansey.

But, anyway! I started reading this and got into it, but the text is very dense and that's one reason why it took me so long to read. I like to go over things to make sure I really understand what's going on. I've also been away for a couple of nights where I didn't read, and been a bit ill, both of which are things which don't make me rush through a book. And that's okay. Life happens. In 2018 I am definitely trying to focus on quality over quantity, and this book definitely fits in.

First of all, loads of things happened, all of which brought the plot along very nicely. The novel as a whole can only be set within about three weeks of time, which I really appreciated. Let me talk about each character and what they're up to:

Adam: There's not nearly as much Adam as I would like. He's still living above the church and is waiting for the court case against his father. He's pretty upset and he rows with Ronan which physically pained me. I think, in thinking about this series as a whole, that really, the first book is Adam's. It's about his family situation and abuse and about his escaping from that. The second book is Ronan's, this third book belongs to Blue. Presumably, that means The Raven King will belong to Gansey, which is great because I love Gansey, but also, if the first book is the most Adam I'm going to get I'm a bit sad about that. I need a whole TV series about Adam Parrish living his best life, to be honest.

Ronan: Ronan is back dreaming, but in a much more concise way. He's trying to wake things up at his family home, and he's discovered something about his brother that literally made me gasp when I read it. He's there for Gansey and for Adam when they need him, even if he's pretty belligerent about it when he wants to be. He and Blue have never really bonded, but then towards the end of this book he really comes through for her in a way that I really loved. I love him, in all his sullen sweary ways.

Gansey: Gansey's friend Malory has come from England and Gansey is trying to find another way into Cabeswater after suffering a horrendous panic attack near the beginning of the book. There's not enough Gansey in this book, but his scenes with Blue are adorable and painful in turn. I love him, I don't even care.

Blue: Most of this book is from Blue's point of view, which was great because it's so easy to like her. She's got a lot going on and a lot of grief after the disappearance of her mother in the Dream Thieves and desperately wants to find her. She's in love with Gansey but can't kiss him because of the curse upon her, so all her pining is quite relatable too. She makes friends with Jesse Dittley in a way that I thought was just brilliant. I am so glad that this particular part of the series was told from her point of view because I think her experiences gave it the gravity it deserved, if that makes sense.

So, there's a lot going on and threat coming from Greenmantle, who has moved to Henrietta and is teaching Latin at the boys' school (Latin teachers are always really shady characters aren't they). There's a few bits of his point of view which I also liked; his relationship with his wife Piper is pretty bonkers and funny, and honestly it was nice to read an adult's point of view in a YA novel.

I won't talk any more about the story, but there were a lot of twists and turns, many of which made me laugh out loud and some of which made me gasp and want to cry. I loved the whole thing, I will probably reread this book as a standalone at some point. The Dream Thieves did, as I suspected, set up some things in this book, which was nice to see. I laughed out loud at a lot of the conversation, I love how sarcastic each of the main four are with each other, and the little asides. I laughed so much that my partner kept asking what I was laughing at, and I think I piqued his interested enough that he might try the first book.

I love the series, but I'd be able to understand if people didn't. Some of it is just totally ridiculous and I just went with it and let it be, but I could understand if people didn't get it and couldn't run with it. We'll have to see what Lee thinks!

Most of all I love the friendships within this group. They will all literally die for each other and I love that. The fierceness of those friendships and the lengths to which everyone will go for all the others. The fact that everyone else might not really understand Gansey's mission to find Glendower but that they're willing to join in with it anyway. That for me is the real takeaway of the series and I think it's gorgeously summed up here:

I love it, it gives me all the feels!

Finally, I have to show off that my copy of this book is signed. I met Maggie at YALC in 2016 and got her to sign this. I was using my signed Becky Albertalli bookmark too!

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - Review

Where did I get it? I bought it off eBay

What's it about? This is the second in the Raven Cycle series. I read the first, The Raven Boys, last year, shortly before I started this blog, and absolutely loved it. I wanted to read the next three before I see Maggie at YALC this year, but I'm not sure that will happen now. I really felt like this book dragged. I'm sure it's setting things up for the third and fourth books, but I felt it was really lacking in plot. I didn't like Ronan just wandering around on drag strips getting high. I didn't feel there was enough of Adam, and I didn't feel that all five of the main characters did enough together. I liked their adventuring in the first novel and felt it was lacking here.

Basically, in this novel, Ronan dreams a lot of things, a Gray Man is after him and his brothers, Gansey and Adam are trying to impress some posh people, Ronan has a rivalry with some Bulgarian fella, Blue's mum is dating the Gray Man, Blue does very little, and gahhhh. It just dragged for me and it took me two weeks to read! Two weeks. 

I will read the next two, but I hope they're better than this. 

What age range is it for? 14+ for the series overall I think. The night horror that came after Ronan was absolutely terrifying!

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Not explicitly, but I've seen Maggie say that you can absolutely read them as queer characters and that's okay. There's a lot of joking from Kavinsky to Ronan about the nature of Ronan and Gansey's relationship, which gets annoying, but there's also a lovely bit which I think is as close to canon of a coming out as I've seen so far, in which Ronan doesn't deny "swinging the other way". 

There's tons of Raven Boys fanfiction encompassing every pairing you could think of, so if that's your jam get on Archive Of Our Own or something. Maggie seems to directly encourage fanfic!

Are any main characters people of colour? No, but again I think that's been more than covered in fan art. Personally I like to think that Blue is mixed race. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, Adam has been physically damaged by his father's abuse (a big storyline in the first book) and clearly mentally traumatised by it too. In fact, abuse/survival is a big part of this series, in my opinion.

Is there any sex stuff? Not really

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes, cocaine is pretty prevalent and some unspecified "pills" which make Ronan and Kavinsky fall asleep very quickly. 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, it's quite graphic in parts (like when talking about Niall Lynch's death)

Are there swear words? A few, I actually love it when my Raven Boys swear, but your mileage may vary of course. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, but only if you've read the Raven Boys and want to read on. Grit your teeth and get through it. 

How many stars? Six out of ten.