I don't know how to rate this one. The characters are excellent and diverse. The tension is palpable. The mood is mostly perfect. But there's no way to describe this situation with enough depth and gravity. I think that after reading this, there's no need for fiction about a school shooting. There are real voices to listen to, and far too many of them. Turn on your news. Listen. Let Parkland be "where it ends".

This is by far the best translation I have read of Ulysses'/Odysseus' story. I highly recommend this version for teachers or for students who are struggling through the epic poem version of this story.

Also, if you liked Percy Jackson, this is where the story really comes from!

Overall, I'm okay with the ending of the Penryn trilogy. The writing felt a little rushed compared to the other two books, but the planning for the plot was spot on. I'm somewhat dissatisfied with the end, as it came so quickly and does leave some things unanswered. But I love the characters of Penryn and Paige and their mother so much that I can forgive this book the flaws it had toward the end.
The book was creepy and unbelievable when it needed to be. It was sweet when it needed to be. It was a lesson on humanity when it needed to be, and it was even funny when it needed to be. I wanted something more complete for the characters, and not so rushed at the end.
Still,...
I'm so glad to have found this series and will continue to fight people by saying it is much better than Hush, Hush.

What. A. Book!

If you "aren't a reader" this book will make you forget that and will change your mind. It will keep you guessing and prove you wrong time and time again. I can't say enough good things about this book, but if I say any more, I'd be spoiling it for you.

Do yourself a favor. No matter what your preferred genre is, your gender, or your age (well, maybe above sixth or seventh grade), GO GET THIS BOOK!

I thought this book was going to be a cutesy story about a boy coming out and falling in love (and it is, to a point), but it's moreso about confronting our own prejudices (especially racist tendencies we may not even realize we have). I love that this book challenged me. Four chapters in, I realized one of the characters I had thought of as a certain way in my head, was black. Six chapters in, the same thing happened with another character. Some twenty something chapters in, I realized a character I had imagined as a thin to average sized person was not. My default for imaging characters is straight, white, and thin.

And that's not okay.

White shouldn't be a default. Straight shouldn't be a default. Thin shouldn't be a default.

Thank you, Becky Albertalli for helping me shine a light on my own prejudices. We only stop growing when we think we've figured it all out, are as open-minded and progressive as we think we can be. We are wrong. Now I know better about how I assume people and characters "should be". I will do better.

I grew up loving the Royal Diaries series, but only had access to books about European rulers. How fascinating it was to find a "diary" about a young Pocasett woman who could neither read nor write. I do like how the author structured this account as a series of thoughts. Weetamo's worry over her future, both immediate with her youngest sister, and far in the present ways heavily throughout this book, as it certainly did in her life. I greatly appreciated this account but I do feel it left off rather abruptly.

WHOA.

I honestly did not have the greatest expectations for this book after not caring much for Shiver (blasphemy, I know). However, this book blew me away. I don't even want to take the time to review this one because I'm so ready to read the next one.

I feel like I've never read a book that was this creepy. This book can take creepy to the next level.

The characters feel so real, even though they're steeped in magic and mysticism. I could go on for days, but I'm just going to pick up the second book now.

Like Blue, I'm a little in love with all the Raven Boys. Ronan is my favorite. He's broken in more ways than I can describe, and I adore that this book tends to center on him more than the first. I can't say more without spoilers. I see too much of myself in Gansey. Unfortunately, it's not the rich or charming parts I see mirrored in myself, but the obsessiveness in his personality with his projects and his friends, and also his insomnia. Adam is flawed in a lovely way, and I am glad to see him come into himself a little bit in this book. Finally, there's Noah, whom I would try to make my best friend if he were real.

And then there's Blue. I love Blue.

This book. Just read it. Read the series. Do it.

This book did have a few places where it just didn't catch my interest at the level of the first two. I also think a couple of the more "villainous" characters could have used a bit more work. Still, this book did break my heart more than once and I am very sad that the next book in the series is the last.

This book isn't perfect, and that's exactly what makes it perfect. Not all of the loose ends are tied up perfectly, in fact, very few things are truly resolved. That's what makes this book absolutely amazing. It's something you can continue dreaming about even when you've finished it. You can dream up Cabeswater, and Blue and Gansey, and Ronan and Adam and Henry and all the other characters. I am excited to see that Maggie Stiefvater has released a short story after this and I feel that there could be a hundred more. That's what makes life so interesting and this art definitely imitates life, despite, or perhaps because of all of it's glorious strangeness.