Blue Lily, Lily Blue is a much less tumultuous read then the previous two books in The Raven Cycle have been. While there is definitely some exploring and researching done for Glendower as well as for Blue's missing mother Maura - it seems like things overall are more reserved. 
 These characters oh how they move me! 
 I have to say I love this cast of characters. Each has such unique and individual hangups and they make up a great team that interacts so well together. Not to mention that they just read so real. While this installment didn't move as fast as I would have liked I think it gave the opportunity to see more building upon Adam's, Gansey's and Blues characters. I think since the previous book The Dream Thieves was given over a lot to Ronan that we didn't see quite as much as him building wise here but we did see him grow up a little by accepting some things and being more willing to think before acting rather then just going with his emotional and gut reactions. Gansey and Blue we get to see a whole lot more of emotionally. Gansey finally starts to voice more emotion and we see past his mask that he puts up for so many. Blue has thoughts on the future that we never really saw before now and also I loved seeing how she dealt with her fears about what could happen to Gansey. On top of all that I think Adam made huge strides in his personal issues with status, charity and allowing people to help him because they are friends not because he's less fortunate for them. So overall in the character development department I think a lot of headway was made and I definitely enjoyed that part of the novel and I think that was a big focus of this novel. 
 A new menace in town that didn't feel as menacing 
 I think part of what made things less tense for me this time around was the villain of this particular book was a Mr. Greenmantle, the previous employer of Mr. Gray. He has come to town and has threatened to hurt Maura (who's missing) or Blue if Mr. Gray doesn't give him what he wants. He just wasn't an intimidating character. He does have a crazy wife though. I have to admit the inclusion of these two characters just didn't do it for me. Especially (view spoiler)[ considering that his wife Piper was able to find one of the hidden sleepers in less then a week when it has/had taken Gansey years of research and the team of boys with Blue that entire summer to get as far as they had - and its not like she was even going off of their research either. She just kind of what "magically stumbled" upon what she needs to find one of the sleepers? I think freaking not - I had a hard time swallowing this part especially since it's not explained at all as to how she discovers where to look. (hide spoiler)] So color me doubtful here. 
 Stuff happens but it doesn't feel like much happens? 
 I don't know if it was the mood I was in the day I read this but I felt like there was a whole lot of not much happening and yet a bunch really did happen. We get forward movement on the feelings that Gansey and Blue have for each other. We see that Adam is finally making progress on getting over some of his hangups. Blue is having some personal crisis involving what she's going to do when finishing high school plus the worry of her mother being missing all this time. Then there is Ronon, he is hard at work trying to work on his dream skills and Noah well I feel Noah is still mostly treated as an extra in things. But I've come to realize since he isn't a living character that is pretty much going to be his lot in life...errr death. I still absolutely love him though. All the while there is an extra character of Mr. Malory thrown into the mix who's flown over from the UK to help Gansey with his research. I didn't really feel like there was a need for him to have even been in the picture. There were a few big things that happened or were revealed to characters that didn't have as big of an impact as I thought they would but I have a feeling that the next book is going to pack more of a punch because of all of the building that went on here. 
 Odd discoveries and lots of progress on the research front 
 The group as a whole do have some pretty tense moments, odd discoveries and of course two major breakthroughs in this installment and the way it ends did indeed leave me eager for the next book, I just didn't feel that this one was as gripping or strong as the previous two books which I loved. But of course you know I'm still in for the long haul - so bring on some more Raven boys!