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

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same.

Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life.

Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after.

My Thoughts:
A good book is a strange thing.

Well, in this case it's a bit strange. The book, I mean. Ley lines and magic and psychics and all things strange. Oooh, I loved this book. I loved this book so much more than the first in the series.

The first thing to draw me in was the writing. It's so well-written; Nothing is over-explained, there's no info dumping and Stiefvater actually assumes that the reader is intelligent. Honestly, she assumed I was a bit more intelligent than I really am because there were a few moments where she alludes to something from earlier on in the book and I had to flip back a few chapters to be reminded of what she was alluding to. Which I loved. Thank you, Maggie Stiefvater for thinking the best of me.

Maggie Stiefvater knows no equal for characterization. She has this way of artfully unfolding each character so that we get to know them like you would a normal person. Maybe that's why I didn't like the first book in this series as much as this; I didn't know the characters, didn't understand their motives, wasn't as invested. Or maybe this book was just better. Either way, now I know these characters and I can't wait to keep reading this series. The Gray Man was so perfectly revealed. I loved every moment of his story.

I guess I'm kind of a sucker for the troubled bad boy but I was actually pretty excited this book was mostly about Ronan. His sadistic, manic, intense insanity was really fun for me to watch. You know, in a depressing, worrisome kind of way. I loved how Ronan was so misguidedly selfless. His loyalty was touching. In a depressing, worrisome kind of way. One thing that felt like a cop-out was Kavinsky; The way his story played-out felt too coincidental. Or too forced. Not my favorite.

I don't know what else to say about this book. I loved it. The writing is flawless. The story develops slowly but it's all the better for it. The characters are beautiful and real and I love them. If you have the time to invest to read the first book, do. But if you don't, just skip to this one. If you can catch up with the story, you'll love it. If you like well-developed plotlines and fully-rounded characters and things happening in (fictional) real but unexpected ways, you'll love this book.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Heavy