Friday, May 23, 2014

Teen/YA Review: The Dream Thieves

My 19-year old son and I both enjoyed The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and couldn’t wait to read book two in the series, The Dream Thieves. Stiefvater didn’t disappoint – this second novel in the YA series The Raven Cycle was just as good as the first one.

I don’t want to give away too much for those who have not yet read the first book, Raven Boys (and if you are in that group, what are you waiting for?). In this second book, the quirky and lovable Blue is back, along with her group of unlikely friends, boys from the exclusive private school, Aglionby Academy. Blue is a teen girl who grew up among a family of psychics, though she has no special powers of her own, other than amplifying the psychic abilities of others in her presence.

In The Raven Boys, Blue met and became friends with the Raven Boys: Gansey, a privileged and handsome young man from a wealthy family; Adam, a boy who grew up amidst poverty and abuse and is working hard to earn enough money to stay at Aglionby since the tuition was raised past the amount of his scholarship; the kind but quiet Noah; and Ronan, who is full of anger and has no one left in the world for him except his two brothers and the other Raven Boys.

The boys – and now Blue, too – are on a quest to find a dead Welsh king named Glendower, who they think was hidden somewhere in the hills near their small Virginia town. Legend has it that whoever finds Glendower will have a wish granted. That quest continues in this book, though there are several new developments that were introduced in book one.

Ronan has a secret that explains the mysterious appearance of his pet raven, Chainsaw, in the first book. And there is a new character in this book, a secretive and dangerous man known only as the Gray Man at the start of the book, who seems bent on somehow harming the close group of friends.

Like The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves is full of action and magic, with elements of romance, suspense, and mystery thrown in. Blue’s affections are torn between moody Adam, whose background is more like hers, and handsome, easy-going Gansey, but her lifelong curse – that if she kisses the boy she loves, he will die – hangs over her head. The quest for Glendower continues, but now there are other challenges the group of friends must deal with, including Ronan’s secret power and the mysterious Gray Man. This book is a bit darker and more suspenseful than the first, but it still has Stiefvater’s wonderful sense of humor to balance the tone and keep it fun. My son and I can’t wait to see what will happen in book three!

437 pages, Scholastic

 

1 comment:

  1. Adding this to my must read list! I really enjoy YA because it's a nice easy read for me. Thanks for linking up with the #smallvictoriessundaylinky! You've been pinned to the group board. :)

    ReplyDelete