Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater

I had such high hopes for my October Reading, but mood reading and book hangovers had other ideas.

I started strong with the next Guild Hunter book, Archangel’s Storm, Mister Impossible, and finishing up my ACOTAR re-read. A Court of Silver Flames left me in a bit of a book hangover, but a couple of rom com audiobooks and a Halloween puzzle helped keep my head above water.

Enter Greywaren. I hadn’t expected to be able to read it on or near its pub date so I was ecstatic to find it was available through my library and Hoopla on Oct 18. Full hangover mode took over then.

I started and stopped multiple books. None of them true DNF’s, just books that my brain wasn’t in the mood for and couldn’t focus on. I tried The Marriage Portrait, Holiday In Death, Gods Of Jade and Shadow, and When Life Gives you Vampires (that one may be a true DNF, maybe I’ll try again in print/ebook).

From Goodreads:

This is the story of the Lynch family.

Niall and Mór escaped their homeland for a new start, and lost themselves in what they found.

Declan has grown up as the responsible son, the responsible brother–only to find there is no way for him to keep his family safe.

Ronan has always lived on the edge between dreams and waking… but now that edge is gone, and he is falling.

Matthew has been the happy child, the brightest beam. But rebellion beckons, because it all feels like an illusion now.

This world was not made for such a family–a family with the power to make a world and break it. If they cannot save each other or themselves, we are all doomed.

Thoughts

As the final book in the Dreamer’s Trilogy and the Raven Cycle world, Greywaren had some high expectations to fill. And it lived up to them. You can see my thoughts on Call Down the Hawk here. I never got around to writing about Mister Impossible 🙁

At the end of Mister Impossible, we are left on a pretty big cliffhanger, which set the tone of Greywaren. We learn a lot of the Lynch family history including some pretty mind blowing reveals.

There were multiple times in Greywaren where the emotions were almost too much. When characters feel betrayed, choices have to be made, and reality is questioned. My heart hurt so many times for the characters and how life is full of choices and roads. Some which may not be for you, but you don’t know that going in.

Maggie Stiefvater can use the same words over and over and make you feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest. And with Will Patton saying those words in the audiobook, thinking about it still gives me chills.

I ended the book with tears on my face but my heart was light.

The Raven Boys introduced me to how Latin can be used add mystery, romance, and emotion to stories. The Dreamer’s Trilogy takes it to a whole new level with tamquam alter idem and numquam solus. Using Latin to express emotions without actually saying the L word is extra and dramatic, but fits with the characters perfectly.

I definitely feel the need to reread The Raven Cycle books. The different perspectives on some of the events there, I think will make that experience even more meaningful. Thankfully Half Price Books had all 4 of the first books at one of the stores, so I’m set up. Now to get the Dreamer’s Trilogy in my hands and I’ll be set.