“The Dream Thieves” by Maggie Stiefvater

Unfortunately, I was bored by this despite the fast cars, loud music, and drugs.

Quick summary:

The search for Glendower continues.

We focus on Ronan.

There is a new threat in the form of a Mr. Grey.

Anger sparks, feelings develop, dreaming, and Adam wanders aimlessly down a road.

My thoughts:

SPOILERS so skip to the Overall section below if you haven’t read the book.

It was an okay read. A solid 3 stars; but I was disappointed because I really enjoyed the first book and this installment didn’t match up to that one. This one starts out slow like the first, but this time the pace bored me and unfortunately, my interest didn’t rise much as the story progressed.

As mentioned above, this installment focuses on Ronan and his abilities and I guess that’s why it was filled with angst and drugs. Ronan just turns shit up when he’s around. But I wasn’t interested in it. I much rather the laid-back feel of the first book and the mystic atmosphere of it. The first book made me feel as if I’m in the South. This one made me think of hardcore rock music, which I like but I wasn’t feeling for this story.

However, I do appreciate it that Stiefvater gives us some reasons, validation, for Ronan being considered a badass. I really hate it when a character is said to be a badass or evil and no evidence is given to prove that they are. Ronan is rough around the edges but he has a good heart and can be caring. But that Bulgarian dude is a real badass to me because he does some crazy-ass shit.

I assumed as I read that he’s attracted to Ronan and that there might be some interest on Ronan’s part. It’s probably just me who thinks this (naughty mind), but one of Ronan’s weird dreams struck me as a wee bit erotic when the Bulgarian dude swallowed something. I forgot the details; but it was then that I thought Ronan might be interested in him. Anyways, I thought Bulgarian dude was hilarious. He’s a bad person but I kinda liked him and felt sorry for him too. And shouldn’t he have overdosed multiple times already?? Does he even have a septum still? I do hope Ronan doesn’t get hooked on those pills he got from the dude.

As for the other characters, Blue and Adam are still annoying. Gansey still my dude and I like how things develop between him and Blue. Calla is my favorite character so far and Mr. Grey simply took the place of that weirdo teacher ex-Aglionby student former friend of Noah dude from the first book to signify a lurking threat to the Raven Boys and Blue. I wasn’t wowed by him.

In the break between the first book and this one, I thought that they had found friggin Glendower. I was so shocked to find that they hadn’t but had instead found an additional clue. I should be pissed at that because I felt tricked, but I liked it. I chuckled at myself about that.

I just remembered that Bulgarian dude’s name is Kavinsky. I’m not changing shit.

Overall: ★★★☆☆

As I said, a solid three stars. The story is okay, the writing is okay, the development of everything is okay. It’s not a bad book. I was just bored by it. And though it ends on a cliff-hanger, I’m starting to lose interest in the story, unfortunately. However, I would like to know what will happen when they do find Glendower and also who is Blue’s daddy and what exactly does Ronan’s older bro knows. So, yeah, I’ll continue with it.

And I recommend it if you’re really interested in the series.

<- The Raven Boys (book 1)

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (book 3) ->

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