Maggie Stiefvater, Blue Lily, Lily Blue

***Warning: SPOILERS for previous books in the series!***

Blue Sargent and the Raven Boys are approaching the end of their quest to find the long-lost Welsh king Owen Glendower. But as always, there are complications. First of all, Blue’s mother is missing, and the cryptic note she left behind says only that she is “underground.” Is she one step ahead of them in the search for Glendower, or has she gotten involved in something more sinister? Then there’s the fact that Colin Greenmantle, the person who hired the Gray Man to kidnap Ronan in The Dream Thieves, is in town — and he’s the boys’ new Latin teacher. Worst of all, when Blue and the boys finally locate the cave where Glendower rests, they realize that their troubles are only just beginning. For there is more than one entity dwelling in this cave, and some things are better left asleep…

As a fan of the previous books in the Raven Cycle, I pretty much devoured this installment. I think it might be my favorite book yet in the series, because it’s finally starting to pull together the various plot threads and character relationships that have been simmering since the first book. More secrets are revealed, the plot continues to twist and turn, and various characters’ motivations are slowly uncovered. I really like the fact that Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah have become this inseparable unit now. In the first two books, there was a lot of tension between various members of the group, with everyone trying to figure out whom to trust. But in this book, they have finally accepted each other and decided to work together. I also love how certain characters (Blue and Adam in particular) are thinking about their futures: Even if they do manage to find Glendower, what happens then? So I’m very excited to see how things will turn out, and I can’t wait for the release of the fourth and final book next year!