Review The Dream Thieves

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Available Now

Book Two of Raven Cycle

Bookologist Analysis: Ley lines need pruning just as some parts of the book due, but alike they are wonderful and magical just by themselves.

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...

If you have ever read one of the 19th century English/American classic novels, you know what I mean when I say long descriptions. The descriptions can go on for pages. These descriptions are beautiful and eloquent, but are sometimes just very annoying. Maggie seems to have this same tendency as Washington Irving and Jane Austen.  Maggie does a wonderful job mirroring these greats in the same lengthy description. It reminded me of free verse poetry in  paragraph and sentence form.  One beautiful example would be:

"He would have noticed it sooner if he hadn't been overcome by gray days-days where morning seemed to bled of color and getting up unimportant. The Gray Man often didn't eat during them; he certainly didn't keep track of time. He was at once sleeping and awake, both of them the same, dreamless, listless. And then one morning he would open his eyes and find the sky had become blue again." (The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater)

Unlike in Raven Boys, Blue is honest in how she feels about Gansey  in this book she finds herself having more fights and overall not getting along with Adam. I never saw the chemistry between Adam and Blue despite them getting into a relationshhip. You can feel the romantic tension everywhere between Blue and Gansey though. Halfway through the book Blue admits she has a crush on Gansey not Adam. When I read this I started jumping up and down on the balls of my feet with a grin on my face. After this though the romanticism just goes down hill. It disappears except for one phone call between Gansey and Blue.

I felt that character development in this book expanded exponentially  We see Adam become more withdrawn, but stronger by himself when he understands the sacrifice he made. Ronan is starting to embrace his party boy side and is losing control as he squanders his gift in the beginning. Through the book you feel him come to terms with his gift and family. Gansey starts feeling comfortable in his skin. Blue just starts wanting to be herself and realizing she has to stop being a person she isn't. Though the book you see Glendower the main focus of the group take a back seat as the ley line start being endangered.  The group is starting to break up and this saddens me because they work so well together.

I'm a big fan of using near death experience and mythology. My favorite seen is where Gansey explains shy he has made his life goal to find Glendower and revive him. It involves dead kings, whispered  words, and bee stings. Mythology is a classic form of literature. When you combine the classic legends and new ideas you get a whole new specimen of book. I could go on and on about the dimensions of this book, but I won't. It's great. Simple now scurry off and read it.

Maggie wrote this book a lot better. I was able to keep up what was happening and the action was placed in the right order. This time unlike the first book Maggie nailed ma writing it was just the perfect amount and kaboom. Differently then other authors Maggie stepped up her game in this book. This series is going to be better than I expected. 

Review Raven Boys

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Available Now
Book One in Raven Cycle

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

I was enticed by the magic and wonder in the book. It was brought on a mysterious air of  darkness and maybe a little of the raven on the front.

You are head on thrown into the world of Henrietta, Virginia. No warning or background information, this tipped me off a little. I enjoy the bit of starter or beginning is something i value in a book. I feel as if there was no ma (Japanese for emptiness). It's the space in a book where you can recoup from dramatic phase. In this book you felt the drama take a toll.

I  liked the suspense of Blue's prophecy of killing her true love when she kisses him. First you assume it's Gansey because of the dramatic build up to him. Then just as you find him and get to know him Blue starts another relationship. The relationship is with one of the Raven Boys. He is the persona of the alternate ego of Blue. Of course, Gansey doesn't know how a seer can see someone on St. Mark's Eve. This leaves a love triangle (very mild) that only Blue knows about.

This book to be honest lost me at quite a few intervals I felt like you lost the narrative few too many times because of the randomly switch dialogue. The book is not written with YA tone it is one of those more eloquent and traditional tones you hear in slightly older books.

The climax was something that I felt was a little controversial. Only I felt the important supporting roles were heavily involved. One major character had a big showdown, but it was something that you can't feel. 

Overall I felt the book had a good story line and ideas. The mythology and random facts never miss a beat. You can feel the book is lacking something, but can't put a finger on it. This book can only be read with a clear head and attention to detail.