Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Release date: September 17th, 2013

Publisher: Scolastic Press

Rating: 4/5 stars

Warning: Since this is the second book in The Raven Cycle, there will be (minor) spoilers for the first book in this review. Don’t read this review if you have not read The Raven Boys.

I picked this book up almost right after I finished reading The Raven Boys (this was at the beginning of July, last year), but I didn’t manage to get very far. After that, I kept picking it up and putting it down because I just wasn’t in the mood for it. But a couple of days ago I decided to give it another try and boy, am I happy that I did.

Summary:

This book picks up right where the previous one left off. We’ve just discovered that Ronan can take things from his dreams (sick, I know!). And this revelation plays a big part in this story. We see less of the search for Glendower and learn much more about the Greywaren (it took me around 2/3 of the book until I finally understood what the actual f*** ‘Greywaren’ means).

I know this is probably the shortest summary that has ever been posted to this blog, but I really don’t want to tell you more than this. Because I feel like you will get the most out of this book if you don’t know too much going in.

Characters:

The characters are quite possibly my favourite thing about this book. Blue is one of the best female characters I’ve ever read about! She stands up for herself and doesn’t take any shit of the boys. Especially when she feels like they’re treating her differently because she’s a girl. Now let’s talk about Ronan, he is such a complex character and I love it! He’s not just a cookie cutter bookboy. He makes mistakes and does everything he can to fix them. He struggles with himself a lot but fights like no other to get better. He cares unconditionally for his two brothers (yes two, one biological and one non-biological) and his friends. He’s just too precious. Speaking of precious, that brings us to Noah. I would have liked to see more of him in this book and he will hopefully play a bigger part in the next two installments of this series. He was the perfect companion for Blue and Ronan in this story (that’s all I’m gonna say in case you haven’t read it yet).

Adam, good ol’ pal Adam. Not gonna lie, he annoyed me tremendously for the better part of this book. Don’t get me wrong I love Adam, and I totally get where he was coming from but that doesn’t mean I liked his actions (and words for that matter). But I have high hopes for him in the next two books cause I think he redeemed himself towards the end of The Dream Thieves. And last but certainly not least my man Gansey, in my opinion Gansey is basically the definition of the perfect boy. I mean if your name is Richard “Dick” Campbell Gansey III, you’re already a winner in my book (I mean c’mon is that not the best name you’ve ever heard?! If not, then please enlighten me by commenting a better name down below). Also, he is just the sweetest person ever, isn’t he? Sure, he doesn’t always realize he’s being a bit pretentious but he means well.

Likes:

THE WRITING! Oh my goodness, the writing style in this book is marvelous! Maggie Stiefvater has a way of completely sucking you into the pages of this book. I can’t really explain it but reading this feels just like breathing in the perfect autumn day. Crisp air, warm fire, hot chocolate in a small café and a walk through a park covered in fallen leaves, all at once. It’s like the perfect aesthetic in one book (series).

Another thing I love about this book (don’t worry, I won’t share all of them. We’d be here all day) is the fact that the story doesn’t revolve around the romantic subplot. Sure, there is romance in this book but it’s not what this story is about. It’s more about friendship and the epic quest to find something that has been hidden for centuries, rather than which boy Blue is going to fall for.

The last thing I am going to mention is family. I love how family plays an important part in this book series. It happens all too often that I read a YA novel where the family isn’t really in the picture. Which just seems very unrealistic to me. That is why I love the family dynamic at 300 Fox Way so much. Maura is very involved in Blue’s life and so are the other females of the family (to some extent). “Because you and I, we’re both wealthy in love”.

Quote: 

Gansey had been excited; he was the sort of boy who didn’t necessarily believe everything, but wanted to.

And a bonus quote ’cause I can’t not:

Also, it was champagne. Ridiculous colour for a car.

Dislike:

I found this story very confusing at some points. I feel like I don’t really have a full understanding of the world that Maggie Stiefvater has build yet. Take Cabeswater for example, this is still a bit of an abstract concept for me. Half of the time they’re there I have absolutely no idea what is going on. But I feel like that is also the beauty of this book. It keeps you guessing and I am sure that I will discover countless new things when I reread this series. (please note that I said when not if, because there is no doubt in my mind that I will return to this world once I have finished The Raven King)

Final thoughts: 

I would 100% recommend this book if you’ve read The Raven Boys. It only gets better. And if you haven’t read The Raven Boys, 1. Why are you here? I told you there’d be spoilers! 2. Read it! It’s phenomenal.

Lots of Love,

Lotte

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