Greywaren is the final book of The Dreamer Trilogy and The Raven Boy Series. Read my review of the previous novel Mister Impossible here: https://illinoiseagle.com/2023/03/02/book-review-mister-impossible-by-maggie-stiefvater/. Greywaren starts where Mister Impossible leaves off with the ley line asleep. Declan fears that Ronan is dead because Matthew and the other dreams have fallen asleep, and he hasn’t heard from Ronan since the moderators went after him. The way that Declan has been able to keep Matthew asleep is by using a sweetmetal. I love Declan’s constant refrain of “Was Ronan dead?”. It really shows his concern for his brother. He loves Ronan so much, it makes me really feel for Declan.
Ronan has been watching his family, and experiencing life from outside his body, unable to wake up. Jordan has been able to use painting to keep herself stay awake. Hennessey has just made the ley line fall asleep, and she is worried that she may have killed Ronan. But Carmen Faroque-Lane tells Declan that Ronan is asleep. Without the ley line, Ronan is also being killed by the nightwash. Declan knows that he needs a very powerful sweetmetal to save Ronan. Matthew is at the end of his rope because Declan has made him fall asleep by snatching the sweetmetal from him, so he runs away. Carmen is searching for the other moderators who have mysteriously disappeared. Have they been telling her the truth about the dreamers, especially her brother, Nathan?
I loved this series and went through this novel especially quickly. Stiefvater is great at making interesting and likable characters, so when they were in grave danger, I was hooked. I needed to know that Ronan was going to be okay. Declan and Matthew are clearly very worried about him, so I also was concerned about them. The plot was also very engaging because I wanted to figure out what was going on. Was Ronan a dream? What happened to the moderators? I also really enjoyed Hennessey’s and Carmen’s relationship. It was a bit sudden, but I saw it coming. It’s cool that the majority of the main characters in the series are LGBTQ+, this includes Ronan, Adam, Hennessey, Carmen, Liliana, and I think Jordan if she has the same sexuality as Hennessey, as her dream copy.
The conclusion felt a tiny bit rushed. I was a little confused about what had happened and had to read an explanation on Tumblr to understand it. I also didn’t every part of the character development. But it was still a nice ending overall. I really enjoyed reading Greywaren and The Raven Boy Series in general. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It’s bittersweet since this is the conclusion, but I’m sure Maggie Stiefvater will write some great new novels.