Review & Giveaway: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stifvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: September 17th 2013
My rating: 4.5 stars 

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...

My Thoughts:

I loved The Raven Boys with its intricate plot, many characters, and beautiful writing.  The Dream Thieves is all of that and more.  It takes the story up a few notches in just about every way.

There are a few plot threads happening at the same time and I won’t go into detail on any one of them, but the gist of the main ones are: Ronan and his ability to take things out of dreams, the Gray May and his pursuit of the Graywaren, and the continuing search for Glendower.

Ronan, his power and family history play a major role in the story and I was excited to have the mystery behind his family and situation revealed.  However, I still feel a disconnect with Ronan and at this point he is still a lesser character to me. 

I feel the story focused more on Gansey, Blue and Adam, which was fine with me.  Actually, I’d be fine if it centered mostly on Gansey and Blue because Adam has become a bit of a thorn in my side. His pride, anger and bitterness just started to tick me off after a while. There’s always a chip on his shoulder and I just don’t understand why he couldn’t accept some help from his friends. That what friends do for each other, they help!

Gansey and Blue are the two characters that I’m most invested in, and THEIR story comes a long way.  The romance is a subtle, yet constant component of the plot, and I gloried in every small bit!! I was picking apart and holding onto every glance, sentence, and interaction!  Two complications loom over their romance.  First, the psychic prediction that Blue’s kiss will kill her true love and then the fact that Gansey appeared on the corpse road when Blue first spied him, and that most of the time means death within the year.  And yet, I can’t help but root for them every step of the way!  There must be a way around these complications!

I loved the sequel in the Raven Cycle, it surpassed my expectations!  Maggie’s writing has a way of breathing life into every character, and making them come alive!  The secondary characters were a treat because they were made interesting, real and very entertaining!  Blue’s psychic family is a crack up at every turn!  Even Chainsaw, the dream raven, was enchanting and I loved every scene she was a part of. 

If you were a fan of the first book, The Dream Thieves is a must read!  It's one to savor and spend time with.  Now the only problem is the wait I have for the next book!  

As a show of appreciation for our lovely readers I’m giving away my ARC copy of The Dream Thieves.  The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL, simply fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win.  Good luck and thanks for visiting The Readers Den.

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