Poudelivre

As you may know, I really adore Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys and I’ve read it quite a few times by now. Though, I haven’t reread the sequels despite liking them and I thought it was time to at least read the second one, The Dream Thieves, now. It's been a few years since I read it and I was surprised when I realized that it’s even better than I remember! If you’re interested in The Raven Boys but haven’t read it yet, HERE is a link to my most resent review and yeah, stay away from this one because it contains a few spoilers.

The Raven Boys introduces us to Blue, a non-psychic girl in a very psychic family. After hearing all her life that if she kisses her true love, he will die, she sees the spirit of a boy walking on the corpse road on St. Mark’s Eve. It’s said that when a non-seer sees a spirit on that day, it either means that he’s your true love or that you will kill him. The boy Blue sees turned out to be Gansey, a seventeen-year-old boy attending Aglionby Academy, a prestigious private all-boys school and Blue has a rule to stay as far away from them as she can. But after getting to know Gansey and his friends, Ronan, Adam and Noah, Blue is intrigued by the mystery of them and the quest they’re on to find the legendary sleeping king, Glendower. Together, they wake up the energy line (called ley line) that runs through their little town Henrietta and then The Dream Thieves begin.

The ley line in Henrietta is awoken again by Adam’s sacrifice and Blue’s half-aunt Neeve is nowhere to be seen, but the search for Glendower continues. But there are so many secrets in everyone’s lives and one after the other, they come up to the surface and for the most part, it’s nothing good. The biggest one of all is, of course, that Ronan can take things out of his dreams. No one understands how it works and they have no idea the danger that Ronan is in because of it. People are searching for him and the newly awoken ley line is changing the life in Henrietta. Noah is not himself anymore and Adam is moving further away from the others after his sacrifice. Blue comes to terms with her feelings for Adam and Gansey comes face to face with the fact that he doesn’t have control of everything. And Ronan? He is turning darker by the moment and the only help he can get is in the hands of the cruelest person he knows.

While The Raven Boys was a story that told the reader a little about every character, The Dream Thieves focuses mainly on Ronan and his abilities to take things from dreams. We still get to follow Adam and his struggles to reconcile with the sacrifice and bargain he made, and the gang is still searching for Glendower, although not quite as frantic as in the first novel. But, Ronan is in the spot light and he is a very intricate and interesting character to follow. To dive into his head, follow what he thinks and see his dreams, really answers a lot of questions about him. This novel is much darker than the first one but, perhaps, more important. It’s not just about the adventure, the search for a sleeping king. It’s the friendships that evolve, the love that is felt even when things are dark. Stiefvater gives us a variety of characters that helps the story move forward and, I believe, helps the reader to maybe see the world in a different way.

Of course, Stiefvater’s writing is just as good as in the first novel and her way of writing really fits the story. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but there’s a certain flow to her words, and to the entire story. It’s both scary and funny and wonderful all at once. From times I wanted to close my eyes and hide away and the next moment I couldn’t get enough and I kept reading even though I should’ve stopped a long time ago.

This series is a very special and I’m not sure it works for everyone but I do think you should give it a chance. There are so many impossible things happening, especially in The Dream Thieves, with the ley line and the psychics and the ghosts and of course, the ever-present search of the sleeping Glendower, that you kind of need to like paranormal stuff and magic and things that just doesn’t happen in every-day life. Now if you like all that, this is definitely the novel for you. And if you don’t? You should really give it a try anyway, because if ghosts and predictions and sleeping, ancient kings aren’t your thing, Stiefvater’s writing is glorious and I would hate for anyone to miss out on that!