★ 09/16/2019
Book one of Stiefvater’s Dreamer Trilogy, spun off from the Raven Cycle, centers on orphaned high school dropout Ronan Lynch. Ronan yearns to follow his boyfriend, Harvard student Adam Parrish, to Massachusetts, but until he can better control his propensity for manifesting elements of his dreams (“monsters and machines, weather and wishes, fears and forests”), he’s stuck living on his family’s Virginia farm. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., art forger Jordan Hennessy sleeps in 20-minute bursts for fear of entering REM sleep, during which she creates sentient clones of herself, each of which “physically cost her something.” Neither knows the other exists until mysterious fellow dreamer Bryde visits Ronan’s dreamspace and sends him to save Jordan. Also en route to D.C. is reluctant government agent Carmen Farooq-Lane, whose organization hunts and kills dreamers to try and forestall a widely prophesized apocalypse. Chaos ensues as their paths converge. Stiefvater delivers a stunningly imaginative tale that is by turns dark, funny, tragic, romantic, and surreal. Exquisitely drawn characters and witty, graceful prose complement the artfully crafted plot, which thrills while examining issues of individuality and mortality. Stiefvater delivers a dazzling fantasy, at once epic and intricate, from which readers will be loath to wake. Ages 12–up. (Nov.)
* "Blue Lily, Lily Blue is, simply, a triumph." -- Booklist, starred review
* "Expect this truly one-of-a-kind series to come to a thundering close." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "We have not yet finished loving these characters and exploring their world." -- The Bulletin, starred review
* "Stiefvater's razor-sharp characterizations, drily witty dialogue, and knack for unexpected metaphors and turns of phrase make for sumptuous, thrilling reading.... Readers will snap up the final installment the second it's available." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "The prose is crisp and dazzling and the dialogue positively crackles." -- School Library Journal, starred review
Praise for The Dream Thieves:
* "Richly written and filled with figurative language... this story of secrets and dreams, of brothers and of all-too-real magic is an absolute marvel of imagination and an irresistible invitation to wonder." -- Booklist, starred review
* "Mind-blowingly spectacular... Stiefvater's careful exploration of class and wealth and their limitations and opportunities astounds with its sensitivity and sophistication. The pace is electric, the prose marvelously sure-footed and strong, but it's the complicated characters . . . that meld magic and reality into an engrossing, believable whole." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "A paranormal thriller... this installment [is] more tense and foreboding than its predecessor -- and every bit as gripping." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "A complex web of magical intrigue and heartstopping action." -- The Bulletin, starred review
* "Readers who want a moody chill and appreciate an atmospheric turn of phrase will want to spend more time in Henrietta." -- School Library Journal, starred review
Praise for The Raven Boys:
"Stiefvater is a master storyteller." -- USA Today
"A dizzying paranormal romance tinged with murder and Welsh mythology." -- The Los Angeles Times
* "Simultaneously complex and simple, compulsively readable, marvelously wrought." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "A tour de force... such a memorable read." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "One unexpected and wonderful surprise after another... a marvel of imagination." -- Booklist, starred review
* "The Raven Boys is an incredibly rich and unique tale, a supernatural thriller of a different flavor... Fans have been salivating for Stiefvater's next release and The Raven Boys delivers." -- School Library Journal, starred review
"Equal parts thriller and mystery, with a measured dash of romance sprinkled on top... Maggie has woven such a unique, intriguing narrative that I struggled for comparisons." -- MTV.com
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
10/01/2019
Gr 8 Up–Once there were three brothers—Declan, the eldest; Ronan, the middle whose dreams became reality; and Matthew, the youngest who was dreamed into existence by Ronan. After finding a painting of their deceased mother at the Fairy Market, the brothers are drawn into a dangerous world where anything can happen. Magic collides violently with art and dreams in this novel, and every chapter pulls the reader deeper into a story that starts out dark and gets progressively darker, stranger, and more convoluted. Warning: May cause sleepless nights, strange dreams, and obsessive glances over one's shoulders to make sure nothing is creeping up from behind. A cliff-hanger ending will leave readers impatient for the next book in a projected trilogy. VERDICT Atmospheric, weird, disjointed, and difficult to follow but intriguing as hell and almost impossible to put down.—Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage Public Library, AK
★ 2019-08-28
Dreams are reality and the apocalypse is nigh in this spinoff from the Raven Cycle series.
Ronan Lynch can pull objects from his dreams; but as blowback from his powers complicates his life (including his relationship with Adam), Ronan follows cryptic clues from a voice in his dreams to learn the scope of his abilities. Simultaneously, art forger and dreamer Hennessy seeks a solution to a life-threatening hitch in her powers. Ronan's older brother, Declan, works to keep his siblings safe at the expense of pursuing any passions of his own. Plus, government recruit Carmen Farooq-Lane aims to prevent the apocalypse by hunting down dreamers. This cast of characters, each with their own palpable desires, orbit one another until their paths come crashing together. Mysterious magic and secrets abound. The exquisitely painted characters and artful prose propel the plot, which is filled with satisfying twists and turns. Despite the scope, the narrative stays focused, drawing to a dramatic conclusion. While most rewarding to readers of the original series (though they should prepare for brief-but-necessary pockets of summary throughout), the novel is accessible to new readers, too. Ronan and Declan are white and of Irish descent; Hennessy is dark-skinned and English.
Exceptional. (Fantasy. 13-adult)
