ARC Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Title: The Dream Thieves
Series: The Raven Cycle #2
By: Maggie Stiefvater
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre Type: Supernatural, Magic, Romance
Publication Date: Sept 17th 2013
Pages: 439 pages
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...
Review may contain spoilers for book one of the Raven Cycle, The Raven boys.
“A secret is a strange thing.”
The air moved around him, and in it, and he heard his name.
Ronan Lynch Ronan Lynch Ronan Lynch
There was no one there but Ronan, the trees, and the things the trees dreamt of. He danced on the knife's edge between awareness and sleep. When he dreamt like this, he was king. The world was his to bend. His to burn.
The Dream Thieves, the second book in Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series, is dark, compelling, and supernaturally atmospheric. Full of secrets, superb characterization and magic, the book continues the amazing story of Blue and the Raven Boys (Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah's) search for the legendary Welsh King, Glendower. This time around the main focus of the story is on Ronan Lynch and his dark dreams, with plenty of rotating perspectives within the entire group to keep fans of each character happy.
Imagine a world where four daring boys and one very brave girl are on a quest to find the legendary sleeping Welsh king, Glendower, that will grant one of them a wish. Each wants the wish for reasons of their own, and each is keeping a secret. As these friends continue their search for the legendary King that began in book one of Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle, it become clear that this only the beginning of their adventures together as they encounter a magic more powerful than any of them could have ever imagined.
“Ronan Lynch, keeper of secrets, fighter of men, devil of a boy, had told them all that he could take objects out of his dreams."
Blue and The Raven Boys need to uncover what the connections are between Ronan's dreams, the sacred ley line Adam awoke (in book one), and the disappearance of the mystical forest, Cabeswater. A large part of the story focuses on Ronan Lynch, whose powers are becoming increasingly dangerous as he uses them to take/steal objects from his dreams, unknowingly setting off a chain of supernatural events that could have dire repercussions. Additional problems are presented with the arrival of The Greyman, a hitman who shows up in town looking for the Greywaren, a mysterious relic thought to be in The Raven Boys hands, and a new Aglionby boy named Kavinsky enters the story causing havoc and mayhem to follow.
There's plenty of inner Characterization as the POV is shifted from each character, and even though much of the story is focused on Ronan, there's plenty of action and drama that involves Blue and the Raven Boys. Somehow Maggie Stiefvater wraps her story around each of them, weaving some of the best characterizations I have read. I ended up reading both her books back to back, and falling in love with not one, but each character. Is that possible? Yes! That is really one of the best parts of this series, the characters. I love how they are slowly being revealed layer by layer. Their secrets and dreams, hopes and fears.
I also have to mention Blues family, the clairvoyant women of 300 Fox Way are back and not only add comic relief but some interesting insight to the mysticism and supernatural mystery that surrounds Cabeswater, Blue, and The Raven Boys. I've come to enjoy their strange antics and endearing habits.
Maggie Stiefvater has added two new characters to the story: a fabulously-villainous antagonist that goes by the name The Grey Man, and a destructive teen-rebel named Joseph Kavinsky and both are key players in the story.
Also the Pig is back in all her furiously orange-redness, and this time Gansey's Camero plays a key part in some exciting street racing and part of Ronan's dream taking. Not to be missed!
The Romance: Blue's first kiss. In book one (The Raven Boys ) we were introduced to Blue, who just happens to have a prophecy about her killing her first true love with a kiss. Well, Maggie gives us two spectacular kisses to look
forward to in The Dream Thieves, both are sweet, poignant, and
beautiful-one is real and one almost. There is something so special and
magical between Blue and her Raven Boys, and it comes through as more
than just a friendship or romance, but a bond between them.
"In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.”
and
"Well, I don't want to be just someone to kiss. I want to be a real friend, too. Not just someone who's fun to have around because-because I have breasts!"
Besides the fantastic characterization and magic, one of my favorite aspects about the story is the use of secrets and symbols. Each
character is keeping a secret in the story, and what makes this so
fascinating is how the author Maggie conveys what those secrets are by incredibly lyrical and descriptive writing. She has a sort of mysterious symbolism going on in her story, that the geek in me is trying to decode to see if there is a much bigger picture she is hinting at. There's references to colors, tarot cards, dreams, the characters, magic and the land to name of few. If you like secrets and symbols like I do, I think Maggie is your gal, because she seems to adore them too!
Fans of The Raven Boys won’t want to miss the second installment of The Raven Cycle,
there’s plenty of action, danger and suspense in The Dream Thieves
including daring street racing, mysterious psychic predictions and epic
battle of supernatural magic. The superb characterization and epic battles of magic were unforgettable!
My Rating: 5 Stars. I loved it!
PLEASE NOTE: A Copy of this book was provided by NetGalley/Publisher in exchange for my review. Thank you Scholastic Press for the review opportunity!
