Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
What: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
Who: Scholastic
When: September 30th 2014
How: A copy of this novel was provided by Scholastic Australia for review.
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.
First up, I’m going to say that I did not love The Dream Thieves quite as much as The Raven Boys. I felt like it was missing a little bit of the magic, and the tight plot and urgency. Whilst both of these were pretty much rectified as time went on, I can’t forget that I felt that way at the beginning of the book.
Now that is out of the way (and hence my reasoning for the four stars even though I adored this book), let’s get on to the FLAILING.
I absolutely loved the fact that we got to have Ronan chapters in The Dream Thieves. I loved his character in TRB, and getting to know him so much better in this second book was fabulous. He’s so incredibly intricate, and I loved reading about all his feelings and thoughts and the way he thinks and feels about everyone around him. I just. His character is extremely wonderful, and I love him a lot.
The introduction of Mr. Gray actually surprised me with that I liked him. I usually don’t like the random third person POV (I wasn’t the biggest fan of Barrington Whelk in TRB), but the evolution of this minor character over the span of the book was pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself.
We got to see a little more into Adam in The Dream Thieves, as well, which was superb because I freaking love Adam. And all I could think of in the last few chapters was “he keeps saying Ronan needs this”. Which brings me to the next point: Pynch. We received, like, the tiniest indication that Pynch is, at least on Ronan’s side, canon. I mean when he dreams of him and then the particular sentence in the Epilogue. P Y N C H.
I must say that I wish Noah had a bigger part in this book, and the last for that matter. I think he’s so gorgeous, and I really don’t think his potential is being used. I would really love to see a chapter from him, or at least more of him. He’s just freaking precious.
Blue grew as a character in The Dream Thieves quite a bit. She was pretty quiet in TRB, but I think she really grew into her own a lot in this instalment. She’s a little bit more sassy, a little bit more daring. Everything about her was a little bit more, and I really liked that!
Gansey. Oh, Gansey. Where do I even begin? I adore Gansey very much. Extremely much. I love his complexity, and the fact that he is described as young and old, because I really see that coming through in his character. And I think the aspect of him that I love most of all is how much he loves his boys, and Blue. He’s such a poppa bear to them and it breaks my heart with its cuteness.
Again, Maggie’s way with words was beautiful, and I enjoyed reading every single one of them in The Dream Thieves. I’m pretty sure that will be a recurring thing that I mention in these reviews because it’s beautiful. BEAUTIFUL.
Overall, The Dream Thieves was an excellent sequel, and I cannot wait to read Blue Lily, Lily Blue ASAP!
© 2015, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.
I actually skimmed through your review since the first book is next on my TBR list, your reviews have me looking into it now :)
Yay! I’m so glad I have convinced you to read them, Benish. My job here is done :D
I agreed with pretty much all that you said here – except the part about Ronan. I know EVERYONE loves him, but I just… don’t. He feels a lot like a typical Irish stereotype (why do we constantly need to be reminded that he is Irish, so his fighting etc is acceptable?) which bugged me. BUT I do love the idea of Pynch. That was pretty adorable!
Beth x
Awh, no! It’s a shame you don’t love Ronan as much as everyone else. I just adore his complexities, I suppose. And how he keeps everything so hidden inside.
Pynch is ruling my life at the moment, and I am not even joking, haha! I really hope it becomes canon in THE RAVEN KING!
I’m really glad I’m not the only one who adores Noah! He’s my favorite Raven Boy! To be honest, before I read the Dream Thieves, I was wondering why Ronan was almost everyone’s favorite character, but now I know :)
I absolutely LOVE NOAH. He’s such a darling, precious soul and I really wish he was in the books more! I would actually read a whole book about Noah ^.^
I do adore Ronan, but in all honesty, it’s only a fraction more than all the other boys. They’re all gorgeous!
Everything is the Raven Cycle and EVERYTHING HURTS.
This review was so wonderful! I find it funny that I loved The Dream Thieves more than The Raven Boys but you’re the opposite. XD Blue Lily, Lily Blue was my favorite of the series, though, and I’m hoping The Raven King is the best yet. ;D
This book had SO. MANY. Ronan feels. They were practically EVERYWHERE. He’s such a precious little bb, and I adore him. He’s definitely my favorite Raven Boy, but I also love Adam, and I love Noah, and I love Gansey. They’re all so wonderful, tbh. I wish we saw more of Noah but I feel like we will eventually. I think him being a ghost — and consequently disappearing more and more — has a lot to do with his lack of POVs. I’m hoping there’s more of him in The Raven King, but I’m also terrified he might disappear completely. D:
You’re reading BLLB now and there’s SO MUCH PYNCH in that one omfg. I cannot waaaaaaaaait to read your review of that, and you’ve kept me fairly updated on your feels ;D So I’m super excited to know what you think.
TEXT ME ALL OF THE RAVEN CYCLE FEELS CHIARA. YOU CANNOT DISAPPOINT ME AGAIN BY NOT SENDING ME THEM.
Eep, thank you, lovely! ^.^ Your reviews have been so perf for this series, oh my gosh. AND YES it is so weird that we love them the other way ’round XD I’m interested to see how I stand on BLLB, but I think I might adore it. Everything has been so much more FEELSY, DAMMIT. And THE RAVEN KING will be perf. It will be so perfect.
I am freaking in love with every single one of these damn boys because they’re precious and darling and GAH. Poor Noah. I am so scared for him, tbh. I want to cuddle the shit outta him and make sure he’s okay. Bb. <3
EEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I am going so slowly, I cannot handle it. >.> But hopefully I will finish soon and we can drown in feels together!
I NEVER NOT SENT ANYTHING. I UPDATE YOU WITH EVERYTHING. EVERY SINGLE THING!