The Dream Thieves
(The Raven Cycle #2)
Maggie Stiefvater
Release: September 17, 2013
Goodreads Amazon
If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?
Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.
One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.
And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things.
Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.
Of The Raven Boys, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Maggie Stiefvater's can't-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two." Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, dark romance, and heart-stopping twists that only Maggie Stiefvater can conjure.
Review by Rose Red:
I have something I want to say before I get into my review of The Dream Thieves. Ronan Lynch, I freaking adore you! Don't tell the others but you're my favorite, thorns and all.
Holy crap! I have no words to describe how awesome this book was. The hype surrounding this series is so deserved! I loved The Raven Boys with its intricate plot and setup, but The Dream Thieves went and blew that out of the water. I seriously have no words for how awesome this book was. This has quickly become a series that I have become obsessed with. I love it so much!
Maggie Stiefvater is so gifted and it's incredible how real these characters feel. This book completely engrossed me from the first page to the last. Many authors can create characters I love, but not many authors can create characters that I can actually believe are real. I feel like that I know these characters and, like Blue, I've fallen head over heels for her Raven Boys.
This book was definitely Ronan's book. Ronan Lynch with all of his honesty has secrets and a lot of those secrets get quite a bit of page time. We learn more about his unique ability to take things out of his dreams and we learn along with him. Ronan is kind of a bastard but I've loved him from the first. And I love him even more now. He's prickly on the outside and he only really shows two emotions. If it's not happiness, everything else manifests as anger. He may be an asshole but he cares. He cares about Chainsaw and Matthew and he cares a lot about Gansey. He cares about Adam and Noah. I'm pretty sure he cares about Blue even though he doesn't show it. Ronan doesn't do casual relationships. He doesn't understand them. It's all or nothing for him.
I was both enthralled and appalled learning about his past. I feel like this series throws so many twists at you and you never see them coming, you just feel it in your gut and in your sore eyes afterwards. Ronan's storyline was wonderfully developed and I can't wait to learn even more about him and the rest of this family. While we're learning more about Ronan, we're also learning more about the other members of the Glendower gang. They're each growing as characters and their relationships are changing to fit that growth. Adam especially is undergoing a lot of changes thanks to his sacrifice and deal with Cabeswater. I'm both curious and scared about how his character arc in this series is going to play out. There's a scene with Ronan and Noah in this book that may be one of the funniest scenes I've ever read. I love how the two of them have this weird friendship.
One of the things I've really appreciated about the villains in this series is that they're as complex as our main characters but they're not your normal villains. I'll admit that I disliked Kavinsky. It's not just because he was a bad person because he is. He does bad things just to do bad things. There was just something about him that makes my skin crawl and I can't pinpoint what it is. I will admit that he was the perfect character for Ronan to play off of to help him discover things about himself. Kavinsky is one of those villains that I pity while actively disliking them. It's not often I can feel sorry for a character while wishing they'd get their comeuppance. If you've read this book, you really need to go read this essay by Brit Mandelo over at tor.com! It made me look differently at Ronan and Kavinsky's relationship. Actually, if you've read this whole series so far, go read Mandelo's essays on each book. She has a lot of excellent points.
This book is the kind of story you don't just give your heart to, you give it all of your love and adoration as well as its own space in your brain because you won't be able to quit thinking about it. I'm blown away by how intricate and detailed the story telling in this series is. I could pour over it for hours, trying to understand the evil brilliance behind each uniquely flawless turn of phrase and each effortless plot twist that leads to the ending with all the major plot points wrapped up. The characterization is so subtle, vivid as all hell, and just plain fantastic! You discover things with the characters as they discover them but there are tiny tiniest hints as you work up to the subtle reveal. I need to reread this book because I'm sure I missed a ton of the subtle nudges that Maggie Stiefvater writes into the prose. The writing and atmosphere of these books is truly magical. If you haven't read these books yet, please go buy a copy or borrow it from a friend or your library. I think everyone needs to give this series a chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to read comments!