The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2)

                Hello happy readers!  I finished The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater this morning and wanted to share my thoughts on it.  This will contain spoilers from book one which I reviewed here.

Rating: 5 Stars

                So I read book one, The Raven Boys (review) back when it first came out a few years ago.  I never finished the series, wanting to re-read the first book and marathon them once complete so I wouldn’t miss anything.  I re-read The Raven Boys and started in on The Dream Thieves but RL and having a million open books pushed it back but I was determined to finish.  Given the time lapse a re-read was pretty much needed or I feel I wouldn’t have remembered so many of the details built into this world.  We pick up where we left off before, Adam made a sacrifice that no one really fully understands.  Blue is dating a boy she can’t kiss or risk him dying.  Ronan has some serious secrets held within and so much more is happening. 

                So Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.  How flipping cool is that?  I mean this is flipping awesome.  Think of the things you could bring out?  Okay maybe not so good if you’re not good at controlling it and you bring out nightmares but the positive side is pretty cool.  As they start to unravel things with Ronan and his past and understanding how it relates to Glendower you follow along for the unique and often creepy ride.  Like most of her books, Stiefvater manages to bring such magic into her writing and not simply with the magical aspects but the words themselves.  You really feel you are part of the gang struggling along with your own issues as you try to keep your group on task and from falling apart.

                This book focused on all aspects of our group and the dynamics within.  Adam still has some serious issues about his circumstances.  He’s had it bad, no doubt, but he’s angry at those who didn’t in an almost irrational way.  It’s so surreal because I’ve seen people who act out in some ways so similar.  Blue and her confused emotions between liking more than one boy, especially when kissing one could end up in death.  Plus can we just say the emotional damage that could do to a girl, if you kiss your true love they will die, that being all you know growing up not interested in anyone is hard enough.  However, when people come into your life that you find yourself wanting to kiss…well one way ticket to sucksville.  What is crazy here though is that even though there is no epic kissing scenes that we all seem to love some of the scenes where kissing may take place in other stories are so intense and intimate. 

                In The Dream Thieves we also get to meet a new character, They Grey Man.  A hit man with more to him than you might expect.  He wasn’t painted as a saint by any means but he had some depth.  As he began to interact with character we know and love we saw more to him, and maybe more than he saw of himself.  We also get to learn more about another elite private school Aglionby boy, one with a much darker side than even our somewhat dark boys. 

                This one continues the dark mystery and adventure we started in book one but keeps upping the ante with romance, and keeps the heart racing with twists and turns.  Still in the end my favorite part, aside from the beautiful writing, are the relationships.  Be it Blue and her Raven Boys or her and her family of eclectic psychics, and each boys relationships with family as compared to that of the group dynamic.  I loved this continuation and can’t wait to read more and figure out more of the mysteries of this world and what power it holds and how it will affect everyone I care about.   Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

                Until next time…