-> declan bringing ashley to monmouth. ashley, the raven boys, chapter 4. (we’re meant to look pretty for her.)
- this is one of the first chapters where we really get to know a lot about our characters, and ashley being there—combined with adam suddenly being aware that they are observed when it’s clear he didn’t feel that way immediately preceding the start of the book—lead me to believe that the fourth wall is very thin here.
-> ashley, this is noah, can you see him?
- ashley is one of the only characters outside of the gangsey themselves who is not only able to see noah but also to meet and interact with him.
-> (your hands are cold. (i’ve been dead for seven years.))
- ashley is also the first person that noah says this to within the confines of the narrative himself. nobody is surprised when he says this, so clearly he does make these jokes a lot, but it’s significant that we, the reader, hear this for the first time when it’s directed at ashley—ashley who, like us, just got here and doesn’t (can’t) know the significance of this interaction until after everything is over.
-> adam. (don’t you feel observed? someone is looking in when they weren’t before.) the raven boys, chapter 4.
- adam: wary, adam: watchful. adam feels the eyes of the reader when the others do not; adam becomes aware of us as soon as we become aware of him. no sooner is ashley named than adam is introduced; no sooner is ashley introduced than adam is wary of her.
ashley (f, gaelic: aislinn): dream, vision
-> (three ashleys) (three brothers) (three witches) (nine’s very three plus three plus three) (6:21) (3+3:+3)
-> declan started hating me first. it was all because declan loved ronan.
-> this is not the first time
- declan lynch was 18 the first time matthew fell asleep (was ronan dead)
-> gansey. where’s ronan? i don’t know. something’s wrong. something’s happened to him. how do you know? i can’t explain. i don’t know. we fought. something’s wrong
- he’s your dog, gansey (i can’t help him any more (i’m killing him and i don’t know how to stop))
-> he trusted gansey (he still worried about ronan (he never stopped worrying about ronan))
- i want you to meet ashley. yes again it’s a different ashley (i need to check in with you) is ronan around? he shouldn’t be (we’ll fight if he’s there (i need to know how he’s doing (he’ll hate me more for hovering)))
-> ronan please just tell me it won’t happen again i’m doing everything i can to keep you both alive
- the brothers lynch (a dreamer (a dream (declan)))
-> half none of declan’s surviving family was real. half a dreamer. half a dream. to lose one is to lose the other (part of ronan died when niall did (part of ronan died when his dreamer did))
- ronan lynch was 18 when a demon nearly unmade him (the second time matthew fell asleep (the second time declan almost lost them both at once (was ronan dead)))
-> declan cannot let go (if he lets go who will hang on (who will live without him fighting tooth and nail to keep them))
- matthew lynch was 18 when he punched his eldest brother in the face (matthew lynch was 18 the third time declan almost became the last living lynch)
-> was ronan dead
- declan bringing ashley to monmouth. ashley, the raven boys, chapter 4. ashley (f, gaelic: aislinn): dream, vision. three ashleys. three brothers. three dreamers. three sleepers. three witches. three murders. nine’s very three plus three plus three
- (i look just like my father (so do you (every time i see your blood on my knuckles i remember him dead in the driveway (every time i look at you i see the face of a dead man))))
-> was ronan dead
- declan brings ashley to monmouth.