The stakes are high in this one, for Blue especially, as her mother has gone missing. She’s underground, figuratively and literally, and no one can find her. SHIT IS GETTING REAL, Y’ALL.
Not only is Blue dealing with the loss (misplacement?) of her mother, but her feelings for Gansey are getting harder to ignore. The two are playing with fire, really, growing closer and trying to hide it from their friends and themselves. They still can’t kiss, due to Blue’s prophecy that she’ll kill her true love if she kisses him, and the fact that they’re being so careful (though at times carefully careless) speaks volumes about their feelings for one another.
They’re not the only ones trying to ignore their feelings, though! Ronan’s feelings for Adam are gloriously, wonderfully just THERE on display (and am I so HERE for this) but Adam is going through some all caps SHIT. He’s moved out of his parents’ house, after an altercation with his father left lasting effects on his body and his psyche. He’s living in a ramshackle little room over a church, though Gansey would rather having him living with he and Ronan. Adam’s got to make his own way, though, and he’s now doing it without the hope of Blue’s affection, something both feel uncomfortable about but neither seem to be that disappointed in. Adam, at some point, realizes that he’s the apple of Ronan’s glaring eye and would probably have more time to think about what that means if the world wasn’t currently crashing down around them.
Because the hunt for Glendower is ramping up, placing them all in very real danger. Enough danger that they don’t have time to focus on who wants to be kissing whom. They have their priorities in order, is what I’m saying.
Blue and her Raven Boys have been told that there are three Sleepers underground, and that they must not wake one of them. The other, we suppose, is Glendower himself, leaving the third a mystery (for a time, anyway). They are busy hunting caves in the area, hoping to either turn up Glendower or Blue’s mother. Blue also has her friend Mr. Grey looking out for her, which is good because his old boss, Colin Greenmantle, has come to town with his wife, Piper, in tow. (I found these two alternately hilarious and annoying but mostly hilarious.) Greenmantle wants The Greywaren, which we found out in the last book was Ronan himself. Ronan and Adam take it upon themselves to deal with the Greenmantle problem, with disturbing results. I mean. Real disturbing, you guys.
Along for the ride is Gansey’s elderly friend, a Glendower scholar named Malory (and his service dog, who I can only assume is adorable because DOGS ARE SO GOOD). This novel is clearly moving the pieces into place for the final novel, The Raven King, which I am now just itching to read. I don’t want to say I’m Deathly Hallows levels of excited for it but it’s pretty damn close, which I did NOT see coming.
TOMORROW YOU GUYS.