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

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater, the sequel to The Raven Boys, was every bit as magical as the first book in The Raven Cycle series. I LOVED The Raven Boys and I loved this one just as much! Admittedly, I read about 13% of it before taking a two-month hiatus. Stupid college, messing up my reading schedule!! But even though I was extremely confused when I first restarted (I couldn’t really remember what had happened in the first book or the beginning of the second), I was drawn in, nonetheless. It takes pretty awesome writing to keep me reading and interested even when I don’t know what is going on (Don’t worry though, I quickly remembered everything else) and I finished the rest of it in just two days!

This will be a short summary because I can’t really remember how it started and it’s hard to explain the latter part of the book without giving everything away, but I shall try my hardest!

            After Adam woke the ley lines surrounding Cabeswater, the town of Henrietta has been experiencing electrical surges and outages, Adam has been seeing strange visions, and Noah has been blinking in and out of consciousness/existence. Gansey and the gang continue searching for Glendower, but are immensely surprised when they discover that Cabeswater, their only lead on Glendower’s location, has vanished. What’s more, Ronan has been falling even deeper into his dreams, pulling out larger, more terrifying things. This book focuses a lot more on Ronan, his dreams, and the people that are after him because of what he can do. Ronan also discovers that there is someone else just like him, though perhaps not exactly like him…

            I love Blue and Gansey together. THEY ARE SO ADORABLE!! But alas, they are star-crossed lovers, doomed to a dark fate. Oh, woe is me! But anyway, they are definitely my favorites because Blue is so real, funny, and grounded, while Gansey is more whimsical, classy, and dreamy and they compliment each other really well (and may I just say that Gansey and I are literally the exact same person… like exactly… but not in family circumstance, just in personality…). In this book, I didn’t like Adam. Like at all. In the last book, I thought he was really adorable and all, but I just wasn’t feeling him in this book. I warmed up a lot to Ronan, though, and could actually tolerate and maybe even like him by the end of this second book. It must be a miracle! But Noah again didn’t play a very large role, but his interactions with Blue had to be the cutest thing I have ever read/seen. Ever. BLAH I GET HAPPY JUST THINKING ABOUT THEM TOGETHER IT’S SO CUTE I’M GONNA DIE!

            I was drawn into the story immediately (once I started rereading it) and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. All of the characters were, once again, written so realistically and there were times that I actually laughed out loud. There were also times when I couldn’t stop smiling and making little “aw” sounds during the cute moments. I love the big words that Stiefvater uses, especially when Gansey talks because, instead of making it sound forced and unnatural, it actually makes it more realistic. Gansey is a preppy, smart, politician-raised boy who I would imagine uses those exact words. Plus, I get to learn a little new vocabulary J Another amazing thing was the character transformations. Ronan in particular went through an enormous change throughout the book and it as amazing to see how much he changed by the end. I liked how he changed little by little; there wasn’t a moment where it was just like BAM he’s a changed man! It took time and he made plenty of mistakes along the way, but he got through it and ended up a better person, which is how I think it happens in real life.

I absolutely CANNOT WAIT for the next book!! I’m dying in anticipation!! The ending was really good (and am I sensing a little Adam-Ronan action possibly?) and I’m really excited about what this series will bring in the future!

I LOVE this series!! 5 Smileys!!!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

When I first heard about The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, I was so excited. It sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to read it! I am SO GLAD I got this book because it was SPECTACULAR!

          Blue Sargent was always told by her psychic family that, if she kissed her true love, he would die. When Blue sees a spirit of one who will die within the next year, she is quite surprised; normally she, the only non-psychic member of her family, could not see any of the spirits. Her aunt tells her that she can see him because he is either her true love or she is destined to kill him. When she discovers that this boy is Gansey, a rich, overprivileged boy that attends Aglionby, the local all-boys private school, Blue can't imagine falling in love with him. She's much more attracted to his quiet, scholarship friend, Adam. Even his strange friend, Noah, would be better! But it's Ronan, Gansey's other friend, that she absolutely can't stand. Gansey may seem superficial and petty on the outside, but he's looking for something that could change the world and forever change the life of the one that finds it. As Blue grows ever more attached to their quest, their lives intertwine more and more. Will Blue kill Gansey? Or will it be just the opposite?


      Blue, who I consider to be one of the best main characters, is awesome. She cracks me up! There was one particular scene involving Blue, Gansey, and the subject of prostitution that I found completely hilarious. She was also very sensible and she led by her mind, not her heart or hormones, which was refreshing to see in a YA book. Gansey was largely misunderstood and could insult anyone without even trying, which got him into some very bad situations, but also some very funny situations. It was nice that he wasn't perfect (at all) and he seemed really real. Actually all of the characters were really convincing and real. Anyway, Adam was adorable, like a puppy. I wanted to take him home with me; I felt so bad for him (for reasons that you will see when, not if, you read this)! Noah, though he had a kind of small part in this book, was cool, too, especially around Blue. Even Ronan, as harsh and sometimes just-plain-mean as he could be, rubbed off on me by the end. Overall, all of the characters were AMAZING!

     At first, The Raven Boys was really confusing. I didn't really know what was going on, but I just kept going; not knowing the details didn't really bother me too much, but eventually, it made a lot more sense and it was really good. The reactions between Blue and the boys were priceless; the story was AMAZING and HILARIOUS when they were all together. I'm really looking forward to the next book because they will be friends for the entire book and the WHOLE THING will be FREAKING AWESOME. I seriously loved this book. I COULDN'T STOP READING IT EVER. I wanted it to go on and on forever (I am extremely sad that it didn't)! It was full of suspense and the plot was really interesting. I found the whole idea for the book (looking for a lost king that may or may not come back to life when they find him and grant the finder a wish) incredibly intriguing. 

      Overall, this book had awesome characters, an awesome plot, and awesome writing. But my favorite part was definitely the characters! I fell in love with every single one of them by the end!

If you choose one book to read this fall, read this one! It was AWESOMETASTIC! 5 Smileys!