Me on Opal

Title: Opal
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: March 1, 2018
Publisher: Scholastic

An enchanting story from Maggie Stiefvater featuring Opal, Ronan, and Adam from her bestselling Raven Cycle, taking place after the events of The Raven King.

Opal is a brief return to Henrietta, a return to a dreamer and a creature pulled from dreams. It's the story of a summer through inquisitive and thoughtful eyes.

After Cabeswater, after Gansey and Blue left, Ronan stayed at the Barns. Because of course he would. And he wouldn't be alone. He'd have Adam, when Adam wasn't away at school. And he'd have Chainsaw, who wasn't the best at conversation. And he'd have Opal, the young girl with furry legs and hooves where human legs and feet would be, because he'd pulled her from his dreams.

This is the story of Opal, of life at the Barns seen through her eyes and thought about in her mind. It's a story of curiosity, Opal ever interested in anything and everything she comes across. It's a story of magic, Opal wary of the dreamstuff Ronan keeps off in the long barn, afraid of it but still drawn to it because she's also dreamstuff. It's a story of fear, Opal unsure of what the future holds, the idea of undefined periods of time without Adam around upsetting her. This is a glimpse in time, a moment tethered to the page by the way Opal's mind works, her thoughts and feelings driving it through the house and across fields of sleeping and not sleeping cows. It's seeing that life continued on in Henrietta, some of it good and some not, some of it happy and some full of questions and arguments. It's seeing that, for some, the story didn't end, and instead continues down another road.

(I borrowed a copy of this title from the library.)