Published: September 17, 2013 by: Scholastic Press
Pages: 439
Rating: 5/5 stars
In the thrilling sequel to The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves follows the life of Ronan Lynch, as he keeps secrets from the ones he loves and battles with his gift to pull things out of his dreams. As The Raven Boys continue to search for the Welsh king Glendower, Ronan must learn to control his gift and use it to the best of his abilities, in order to help find the king, and save his friend from his overlooking death.
First I'd like to apologize in advance for the reviews that will be coming out in the coming weeks, as most of them will be Raven Cycle related. I'll try to be sporadic with the reviews, it's just that I read all the books one after another and I usually review my books in the order that I read them. So if you have no interest in this series, SORRY! But anyways, on to the review. The Dream Thieves was a satisfying sequel and provided a great foundation for the climax of the series. We begin to discover more answers to the looming topics, and I loved this book even more than the original.
I loved how this book had a strong focus on Ronan. Ronan is one of those characters who you can't really judge until you've seen his true colours, and I loved how this book centred mostly around his point of view. It shows that even though he may seem like a minor character, he plays a big role in the larger idea and has his own problems as well.
I think that this book has the best quotes out of all four books. I don't know what it was, but this book provided such amazing insight into the character's friendships and feelings, and when Blue was talking about "Her Raven Boys", I wanted to cry a little. Stiefvater did it again with making the book seem so magical.
Once again, each character came back stronger and even more developed, as we get more insight into what each person's obstacles are. My little gem Adam was even more wonderful than before, and I loved him even more with each turning page. I even found a new found love for Ronan, and realised that I really don't even know anymore who my favourite Raven Boy is.
Yeah so in summary, a great sequel, even better characters, and it will begin to unfold the great mystery that is Glendower, and how it will effect the group of friends.
Have you read The Dream Thieves? What did you think?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
I LOVE THE DREAM THIEVES! it's currently my favorite book in the series just because of how much we get to see of Ronan.
ReplyDeleteI never wrote a review of the dream thieves because every time I do, I just end up raving about them. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to write a review of the Raven cycle again without completely praising it.
Lol it's very hard to keep my composure when writing these reviews. I feel like I know Ronan a bit better now.
DeleteI kind of want to read this series now, but 'Glendower?' *Bashes head against wall*
ReplyDeleteThat's an Anglicisation. Because English-speaking people find it impossible to say Glyndwr - Owain Glyndwr (or, as the English call him, Owen Glendower, ugh,) was one of our rebel leaders back in the day. He's one of the most famous figures in Welsh history.
English-speakers think that it's spelt in the same ridiculous way they say it. This means that a lot of things built in the 19th Century are called things like 'Glendower Road' - and it's just... urgh, it's one of those things which shouldn't mean that much but is SO incorrect that it actually physically hurts to hear it.
OK, that turned into a rant, sorry XD
Great review though Em. :)
Yeah I have no knowledge about the history behind the king or pronounciation, so that's really interesting! I don't believe the author is of Welsh descent, so maybe she's just going with what she knows lol.
DeleteShe probably did. But... *face-palms* Lol. It's a personal issue I have with things which are incorrect and therefore irritating.
DeleteOwain Glyndwr wasn't a king, we stopped having kings a few hundred years previously. He claimed the title of Tywysog (Prince.) He was a medieval rebel who almost managed to gain our autonomy back, and is held as a hero here for his almost-successful rebellion. This was about 600 years ago; Owain disappeared around 1415. (Yep, we have a looooong history, and the ability to hold a very long grudge, lol.)
I honestly don't have an issue with people piggy-backing on our history - we have a lot of awesome myths & stuff, not least about birds of various sorts (crows, owls, the Adar Rhiannon...), and the fair folk, and goddesses, and magic. I can totally see the appeal of using that stuff!
It's just the 'Glendower' spelling is a bit of a slap to the face, in terms of heritage. Still, I doubt she did it on purpose - if she was working from English or 19th century sources, then she probably thought that was the correct spelling - or maybe she wanted something people could pronounce without her explaining it (Welsh doesn't require many vowels - and is a pretty hard language in general. I know, I've tried to learn it - a lot.)
:)
I get how that would be hard to pronounce especially with such a diverse audience, so that's probably whu. It is interesting to hear the origins behind it though, it gets you thinking!
DeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed this book as well!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely my favorite novel in this series (haven't read The Raven King, though) and I love it even more because we got to know more of Ronan. Ronan and Kavinsky were my favorite interaction, because they're both witty and troubled, but in a way that was very interesting to read about!
And ADAM IS BAE. I hardly ever find people that love him as much as I do! In this novel, he was more honest to himself and to others, so I appreciated him even more.
Great review, Emily!
UGH I LOVE ADAM SO MUCH! He needs to be protected at all costs, the little cutie! Glad you enjoyed this as much as I did Lais!
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