Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The Dream Thieves (Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from Scholastic on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: The Dream Thieves
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Year Published: 2013

My Pre-Reading
My Review of The Raven Boys 

Synopsis: 
The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!


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: I had pretty high expectations for this book, since I really enjoyed The Raven Boys last year. And ohmygoodness guys, I was not disappointed at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure Maggie exceeded all of my expectations and then some. Because this book is fantastic, and all I want to do is gush and fangirl all over the internet about it. Seriously. It was that good.

Like The Raven Boy, The Dream Thieves is full of twists and turns and intricate details that cause everything to come together in the end. Well, most everything - there are still two more books to go so there are definitely some unanswered questions and unsolved mysteries. But all of the reveals done in this book are done so well that I didn't see a lot of them coming. A couple were more obvious if you play Nancy Drew and pick up on all of the little details and suggestions... but others aren't so obvious. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I never wanted to put the book down (even though I had to to do things like eat and sleep). 

I really enjoyed that this book doesn't so much center around finding Glendower and Blue trying to figure out Gansey's death (although those things are certainly still there), but instead has a new plot with a similar theme - secrets. But now we're flung headfirst into Ronan's world and his secrets, and it is just as dark and mysterious and scary as you would imagine, but there's still light and love somewhere beneath the surface. It's just beautifully done and fantastically written. And one of the big character reveals about Ronan is just so well done; it's delicate, but not, and it's implied throughout the whole book looking back on certain events and observations but could be easily missed. 

All of the characters seem so radically different from how they were throughout The Raven Boys. Finding Cabeswater changed something in all of them, and it's really reflective throughout this book. I loved watching them change and grow even more, and I loved the glimpses into their pasts. The dynamic in the group changes so much, but I almost think it's for the better. And I'm so glad Blue is friends with these boys now, because they all fit so well together. I also really liked the new characters - they're complicated in and of themselves, and it just adds so much more depth to everyone else's story. They help grow the main group, as well as themselves, and it's actually really interesting. 

I really don't know what else to say without giving away too much. If you can, avoid spoilers for this book at all costs! It's so much more powerful if you find things out for yourself. I would most definitely recommend this to anyone who has read The Raven Boys. This book definitely does not have second-book-syndrome, and I think it's even better than the first one. I would also recommend this to anyone who is looking for a contemporary fantasy book - something set in the world we know, with a little bit of magic thrown in. And I would recommend this series to pretty much everyone I know who just enjoys reading YA books. A 5/5! 


--Ashley

No comments:

Post a Comment