Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic, Inc.
Published October 21, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Blue and her Raven Boys (Adam, Gansey and Ronan) continue their quest to find Glendower, the Welsh King who will grant them a wish for waking him. Leaving behind only a cryptic note, Blue’s mother Maura disappears on a quest of her own. Blue worries and grieves, turning to Gansey for solace. This is forbidden.
They just talk. But it’s clear both want more, a more she can’t allow herself to give. She’s seen his death, seen his departed soul marching along the ley line. She knows if she kisses her true love, he will die, and she can’t bear to be the cause of Gansey’s death.
Adam learns more about serving as the hands of Cabeswater. It’s not always easy for him to understand what it wants, but Persephone, one of the psychics at Blue’s home teaches him. She warns Adam that there are three sleepers. One is not to be awakened.
Told in sharp prose worthy of mythic tales, this third book in Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle is a commendable addition to the series. The characters are well-developed and the dialogue tight and emotive. This book definitely weaves together some of the loose threads from its predecessors but raises some new questions left for the next tale.
The whole psychic theme really doesn’t appeal to me personally, and I would be willing to guess that a lot of Christian readers would object to the content. I’ve read the first two books in addition to Blue Lily, Lily Blue and really enjoyed Stiefvater’s style of storytelling.
Extreme word choice, moderate frequency.
Sexual Content
Blue believes if she kisses her true love, he will die. So she doesn’t kiss anyone, though she wants to…
Spiritual Content
Blue lives in a home with several women who work as psychics. They perform tarot card readings, use mirrors or bowls for scrying, communicate with dead spirits, etc.
The main characters are on a quest to wake a king from sleep. In return he is supposed to grant them a wish.
Ronan has the ability to remove objects from his dreams and bring them into existence in the real world.
In an earlier book Adam agreed to serve as hands for Cabeswater, a ley line or part of one with a lot of energy or power. (This power fuels Ronan’s ability.)
Blue, while not psychic herself is like a power boost to anyone psychic near her.
Noah is the ghost of a boy murdered in a scheme related to the quest in the first book. He comes and goes throughout the story.
Violence
Adam encounters a mortally wounded boy. It’s pretty quick, but pretty grim. A few scuffles between Greenmantle and Mr. Grey et al. Not too much as far as details and gore there.
Drug Content
None.
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