raven boys – Among the Authors

Well, I did it. I managed to complete all three Raven Cycle books just in time for the release of the final book – The Raven King (which will be out April 26th). I thought that life might steal this book away from me, as I’ve had a lot of extra work here lately on top of dealing with some ongoing health problems, but I triumphed. Book #3 of the Raven Cycle – Blue Lily, Lily Blue – is setting up some major events for the grand finale so let’s jump right in to the good stuff…

bluelilylilyblue

Synopsis (via Goodreads)

There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.

Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.

The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.

Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel.

Continue reading “Off the Shelf: A Review of Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater”

701930_10208898432764109_1965720434203096203_o I have loved the Merry Fates for a long time. When Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff got together and started writing short stories together as the Merry Fates, it was like a blissful literary union that was simply meant to be. I loved their website (merryfates.com), where they each frequently posted new short stories, and I was even so inspired by it that, for a short time, I had a similar website with two close friends (spellboundscribblers.com). I’m hoping that sometime soon we can revive that site, but two of us being in grad school and the other in her senior year of undergrad while all three working full time…well, it just didn’t pan out time-wise.

But are you ready for a major confession? As much as I love the Merry Fates, and I enjoy all of the anthologies they’ve put out together, I have never read any of their individual works. Why not? I’m not really sure. I think I stumbled into loving them while I was majorly on a short story kick, and I just never pursued it past that. A ridiculously stupid excuse, I acknowledge, because I finally picked up Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys, and all I want to do is scream, “HELLO, BEAUTIFUL, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL OF MY LIFE?”

To which the book would respond, “On the shelf, you idiot. Why don’t you listen when people talk about how good I am?”

Or at least it would if books could speak. So, while it has taken me some time to come around to picking this book up, and even though it’s not a new release (not even remotely close…although book 4 soon will be), let’s go ahead and take a look at why this book is so amazing. Shall we?

Continue reading “Off the Shelf: A Review of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater”

About the Author

Julianne Tillis is an Ohio native and the leader of a ragtag group of misfit writers known as Wicked Wordsmiths of the West (who have published two anthologies – see links below!). She is also a library branch manager, avid reader of young adult literature, obsessive foodie, and she talks about her pug more than most people talk about their children. She is the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison for the Huntington, WV Region.

Among the Authors is her little space on the web to discuss her writing process, life in the library, and review her recent reads. One day, she hopes to publish her own book and be placed among the authors on the library’s shelves.