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

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.

As the second book in the series, I feel like The Dream Thieves puts the reader right back into the world, action, relationship dynamics, and characters perfectly. There are small reprises of what happened in the first one to help make the transition that much smoother.

Just like the first book, there are multiple perspectives we follow. But they were easy to distinguish, nothing about the difference in POV was confusing. We followed the perspective of antagonists, as well as protagonists. These were so good, in my opinion. Just like in the first book, it gave a clearer image of the entire plot/picture. We knew more than the characters at some point, less at others and it just made it to be a gripping story.

After a while, the perspective of who is presented as an antagonist got slightly boring and I felt the same way about Whelk in the first book. But Maggie Stiefvater is just so talented in making a character layered that the chapters in this perspective weren't so much boring as they were a way to show character development - which in turn made them just as interesting and read-worthy as the other perspectives. In fact, I didn't even really see an antagonist in this book. I know there are characters that are meant to be the 'villain' but they were too complex for me just to put them in that box.

This book definitely centered around Ronan. Ronan's character was so complicated and tortured. At first, I didn't really enjoy reading that much in his POV because that anger got kind of repetitive. It felt like that was all the substance he had as a character, he was too broody. But, just like the other characters, who all had incredible character development, I loved how layered he got. After a while, it just felt like I understood him.

This means that though I liked Ronan, I still preferred Blue and Gansey centered chapters, though there were a few of them - I wish there were more. I also just loved Blue and Gansey's progression throughout the novel as well as Blue and Noah's friendship. I felt this way with the first book and I still feel this way now - I want more Noah in these books!

Further on characters, they were probably my favorite part of the book. I loved the importance of Gansey and the focus on how much his friends would do anything for him. Gansey is just so otherwordly, so other. I love him so very much. Usually, I prefer characters like Ronan but Gansey has just captured my heart. I was also just so surprised to see how attached I had gotten to The Pig without me even realizing.

Timelines were easy to understand. It was easy to see when events were happening at the same time and how each event related to the other in terms of time. In the same way, each perspective had its own story. I think we followed around four different stories at the same time. They interacted perfectly, just enough to show how everything could be connected but not enough to get them muddled and confusing.

I felt a lot of anger towards Adam and Ronan in this book. This is also why I prefer the first part of the book - which isn't to say the second part isn't incredible as well, just less so. I was so frustrated, mostly, with Adam and I still really dislike his character. But honestly, this is okay! These characters aren't perfect and that's perfectly fine! It makes them realistic and just further shows Steifvater's talent in character development. My disenchantment with Adam doesn't mean his characterization wasn't flawless. It means I just dislike very core parts of him - his stubbornness, ungratefulness, etc.

The romance was exquisite. There was just enough, a perfect balance. I can't even put into words how much I loved seeing Blue and Gansey's relationship slowly progress. I loved how there were small hints throughout the book that slowly piled up. They're chemistry was just so potent and electrified.

There were many connections between this book and the first/future books and I loved seeing them and being able to understand the first one so much more and make theories for future books. It made it feel like everything is a continuous force that is connected. This really makes the world seem like a realistic world, not just a made up story. Nothing is abandoned. There was a feeling created by this that made me feel like 'wow, that was so much deeper or so much more important that I thought it was when it was first mentioned'. The reactions/action based off of these were also realistic. The continuous effects even small things can have on the lives of others was so realistic.

The plot didn't feel slow. It was nicely paced with a good storyline to keep the reader engrossed. The story was as creative and incredible as the first book. I think the only part I didn't like of the book was near the middle where time felt more like a montage, for a lack of a better analogy. It was hard to feel submerged into the story. It was like a slump in the storyline. But it only lasted a few chapters but it was enough, paired with my frustration with Adam and Ronan, to make me feel a little displeased with the book - at least for a few moments. The first half and the rest of the book, however, really picked up. Especially the end which felt like a thriller with how stressed and excited I felt. At first I was disappointed with what perspective we were going to be closing the book with but as it continued, I totally understood why it was the final POV and I loved it!

I constantly compared The Dream Thieves with The Raven Boys. The Raven Boys always won out. I definitely enjoyed the first one more but I think my favorites parts of the series - the friendship and relationships formed - was just as beautiful in this sequel. I just wish the characters - Ronan, Gansey, Noah, Blue and Adam - were together more. That would've made it perfect.

It also had a few downfalls, along with that moment in the plot that I didn't really like. I wish that there was more background on The Gray Man and Kavinsky. There were important parts of their lives that were mentioned and were actually pretty big but were either just mentioned once or twice or occurred randomly without any further explanation as to why. It would've made the characters, even the plot, that much greater if we had explored their backgrounds and motivations more. It's regretful we didn't get to see that. However, though this book had some things that I wished were different, the rest of the book just made up for these small things. It wasn't perfect and the first one was better but this was still absolutely incredible and blew me away.

I think Stiefvater is one of the best authors I've ever read when it comes to description. Just like in The Raven Boys, the description was just beautiful. This allowed for the mood that was created in different parts of the book to fit perfectly and really make you feel even more so that you are inside the world she has created. I enjoyed learning more about Ronan though I sort of wish there was more focus on Glendower himself. The twists of the story were so unpredictable and it left me shocked and surprised by everything. I was so sucked into the book that I never wanted to stop reading, I didn't feel time passing. I always thought of the characters even when I wasn't reading, particularly Gansey. I actually think I may be in love with Gansey's character. After I finished the book, I actually missed the world and the characters so much.

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I think The Gray Man was such an incredible character and so is Maura. But the relationship between them was kind of irrelevant in my opinion. Like, why is this a storyline? It's obvious why it was needed as the book progressed but it felt forced, boring, and rushed. Which is unusual because Maggie Stiefvater is usually a master at slowly building connections between characters.