The Raven teens are off on a new adventure in this second installment to Maggie Steifvater’s The  Raven Cycle. If you read my previous review of The Raven Boys, then you know how much I enjoyed the first novel. Luckily the sequel has lived up to my expectations.

 Unlike the first novel, where readers got to learn all about Blue and the Raven Boys, Dream Thieves focuses more on Ronan.

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Summary:

We begin this novel with Ronan confessing to his friends that he can manifest things from his dreams into real life. Meanwhile, Adam’s deal with Cabeswater has taken a toll on him, and he struggles to decipher what is real and what is a vision. Adam’s new vision is negatively impacting his relationship with Blue. As a result,  Blue and Gansey grow closer, leaning on each other when drama becomes too much. And Noah is the same chismoso (gossip lover).

However, a mysterious stranger known as the Grey Man comes to town, and he has a mission to fulfill for his boss, kill the dreamer.

Thoughts:

As I am gathering my thoughts for this review, it has occurred to me that the Dream Thieves reminded me a lot of a Midsummer Night’s dream. Blue is with Adam but wants to be with Gansey, Adam loves Blue but might be catching feelings for Ronan, and Blue’s mother is seeing an assassin. 

Shakespeare’s play is all about messy love triangles and unrequited love. And Dream Thieves also had this similar structure.

I may be reaching, but why name this novel the dream thieves? Hmm. Okay, my tin foil hat is off.

Maggie Stiefvater keeps the same whimsical and gothic atmosphere that the first novel had for the sequel as well. The writing is phenomenal, but the pacing feels like it veers off into character development a little too often for my liking. Unlike the first one, where I was uncomfortable with Ronan’s ignorant comment, I didn’t catch another one this time around. This novel also contains more cute moments with Noah and Blue.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Ronan in the first novel, and a majority of this novel is through his pov. And Ronan grew on me. Ronan gets a more in-depth backstory, and I was left on edge when he started to hang out with Kavinsky. Of course, if Blue comes from a family of psychics, there has to be more paranormal elements to this series. Anyway, I enjoyed the character study of Ronan more than I thought I would.

I was a little frustrated that Adam didn’t have much focus in this novel, and at first, it seemed like this novel was going to drift away from him and the deal he made at Cabeswater. I wasn’t a big fan that the author withheld this arc of Adam’s story, but it flowed well with the novel overall, so I’ll just pout on my own.

The romantic arc in this novel curves in different directions. As I explained earlier, it felt very Shakesperian. Ronan and Adam are giving me a slow burn romance, which I hadn’t expected at all. However, out of the two of them, I think Adam will be the one to fall in love first. I cannot wait to see what the third novel has in store.

Gansey and Blue have realized they have feelings for each other. And their friendship deepens in this novel. I predict they are going to have a hard time denying their feelings for each other and start seeing each other in secret. Overall, I very curious to see how they’ll act around each other when they eventually start to date.

“I wish you could be kissed, Jane,’ he said. ‘Because I would beg just one off you. Under all this.’ He flailed an arm toward the stars.”

Dream Theives Maggie Steivater

And to round off this review, I just want to say I don’t know how to feel about the Gray-man. Although he’s an assassin, he gets some morals when he starts dating Mora and compromises his mission. But I thought it was weird to have Mora fall in love with a guy like that. I’ll check back in on how I feel about their relationship in the following novel review.

The ending plot twist! Who let Maura do that? No!!

If you would like to purchase a copy of Dream Thieves or The Raven Boys and help support independent bookstores, you can do so by purchasing through my bookshop link. If you want to purchase more of my favorite books you can do so through my bookshop store!

I’m currently reading the next novel in this series and I hope to have a review for it soon!

Until next time book lovers keep living in libros,

Gaby