The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2)

by Maggie Stiefvater

[Amber]

This review was originally posted on Books of Amber

I don’t even know how to go about starting this review because all I want to do right now is fangirl over Blue and Gansey and complain about Adam. So I guess that’s what I should do? It’s probably not what everyone else has done because The Dream Thieves puts more of a focus on Ronan, but I don’t really have much to say about him in comparison to the previously mentioned characters. Am I a bad fan? Perhaps.


The Dream Thieves is just as riveting and emotionally scarring as The Raven Boys. I ordered it right after I finished the first book (perhaps even before, I can’t remember) and I set about reading it as soon as possible. I was so ready to get sucked into Blue’s crazy world again, and catch up with the characters that I loved and adored in the first book. Except some things had changed.

I’ll talk about Adam first, since he was my favourite character in The Raven Boys and I was looking forward to seeing what had happened with him after his sacrifice at the end of the book, and to see how him and Blue (who I did not and do not ship, by the way…. At all) were getting on. In The Dream Thieves, Adam dropped from my favourite character who was going through a lot of abuse at home, to someone I want to kill. The reason for this is that he turns into an abusive twat who shouldn’t be allowed in the same room as Blue ever again. Yes, this development makes sense due to his upbringing, and yes, I know that this is all part of his journey, but no, I am never going to forgive him for what he did. I mean, I grew up with parents who would beat the crap out of each other and a father who would break things in blind rage, closely followed by my sister’s father who did the same thing, but I don’t go around punching and threatening people. I know that everyone deals with abuse differently, and I still feel for Adam after knowing what environment he grew up in, but I don’t want to forgive him because I don’t forgive abusers. Maybe that’s harsh of me, maybe I should learn to let go, but I don’t want to.

I wasn’t a giant fan of Ronan in The Raven Boys, and while I have grown to really like him, I’m still not a huge fan. He is a great character, and if he were to ever die I would be very upset, but he’s not a favourite of mine. He’s just not my type of character. I did appreciate and kind of love the greater focus on him, one because I liked getting to know him better, and two because hello, he’s gay and REPRESENTATION. Also, his dream powers are awesome and I loved reading about those. I want dream powers too!

Kavinsky is a new addition to the series; although he was mentioned in The Raven Boys, he becomes an actual antagonist in The Dream Thieves, and he is someone who I love to hate. I wanted to murder him for what he did in this book, but I still couldn’t stop reading about him and his storyline with Ronan, because I was so ready to see Ronan and the group best him.

I’m still in love with Gansey, obviously, and in The Dream Thieves he shot to my favourite character. I like him lots and lots and lots, and I don’t even really know why. He’s another character who isn’t my usual type, but for some reason I feel drawn to him like the other characters are. And his chemistry with Blue is insane, so that helps because MY SHIP. Some of Blue’s scenes with Gansey were brilliant and I squealed a lot, and I can’t wait to see where they go in the future because PROPHECY.

There are a couple of other new characters in this book, but I don’t remember all too much about them because I was too focussed on my shipping and also on reeling back the anger. Just know that The Dream Thieves is just as solid as The Raven Boys, and if you liked the first book then you will like this one too. Also, THE ENDING. How dare you end it that way, Maggie?! HOW DARE YOU. I’m so upset.