*review of ARC edition
Maggie Stiefvater makes me want to be a better writer. More importantly, she makes me think that everyone could be a better writer, provided they were more like her. The Raven Boys (book 1) was my favorite of all her books and I desperately waited for the second volume of the series. It did not disappoint. When I say she makes me want to be a better writer I was not speaking out of some hyperbolic need to be effusive in my praise. As I was reading I very much marveled at her skill and dreamed I could one day aspire to that level.
Dreams are the focus of The Dream Thieves (clearly), as is the most damaged member of the Raven Boys, Ronan Lynch. Book one focused more on Gansey, and I enjoyed getting to know Ronan more. In addition I got to get closer to some of the other characters in this rich world Ms. Stiefvater created, like the gaggle of psychics occupying 300 Fox Way in Henrietta. A new addition is one Mr. Grey, a man who totally embodies the name he has adopted, a man who is also an admitted hitman. It is a credit to the writing that although everyone knows what this man is, it is accepted as merely a quirk of profession rather than the more sensible reaction that the readers would have. Mr. Grey is looking for something, hired by a faceless figure we know nothing about; indeed even by the end we won't know who this employer is, or how he knows about the mysterious Greywarren. The mystery of Niall Lynch and the decree that none of the Lynch boys are to ever go back home again is explained to a satisfying degree. Or at least it is answered to the degree that I cannot wait for the rest of the explanation. I don't get into specifics in my reviews because I violently oppose any kind of spoilers, but suffice it to say that even if you are left knowing even less than you did at the end of book one, it is only because there is so much more now to know.
The hunt for Glendower, and his hunters Gansey, Ronan, Adam, Noah, and our Blue, becomes more urgent and both closer to its end and further away. It is a beautiful thing to read. Their obsession is less about the king and the power he may bestow once awakened and about the singularity of all his pursuers. Gansey who wants the one thing that his money, power and charisma can't give him; Adam, who wants one thing that he can have that those with everything can't; Blue, who just wants her something more; Noah, who is both dead and alive because of this search; and Ronan, who's own motivations are the most complicated but just as particular. Glendower connects them. Death follows them. This magic defines them all in different ways.
The strength of this and all of Ms. Stiefvater's works is that when you are reading it you are inside of it. This world, for all of it's 451 pages, is real and breathing. These people are as alive as you and I. But it is better than real life because you can watch its imperfection and yearn for them to find whatever they are looking for. You never want to leave these worlds, and in my opinion, that is the highest compliment one can give an author.
If you have read Book 1 of The Raven Boys, you don't need me to tell you how good this second entry is; you already know and have pre-ordered it already. If you haven't started this journey yet, I can tell you you are missing out. So don't miss out.
Maggie Stiefvater makes me want to be a better writer. More importantly, she makes me think that everyone could be a better writer, provided they were more like her. The Raven Boys (book 1) was my favorite of all her books and I desperately waited for the second volume of the series. It did not disappoint. When I say she makes me want to be a better writer I was not speaking out of some hyperbolic need to be effusive in my praise. As I was reading I very much marveled at her skill and dreamed I could one day aspire to that level.
Dreams are the focus of The Dream Thieves (clearly), as is the most damaged member of the Raven Boys, Ronan Lynch. Book one focused more on Gansey, and I enjoyed getting to know Ronan more. In addition I got to get closer to some of the other characters in this rich world Ms. Stiefvater created, like the gaggle of psychics occupying 300 Fox Way in Henrietta. A new addition is one Mr. Grey, a man who totally embodies the name he has adopted, a man who is also an admitted hitman. It is a credit to the writing that although everyone knows what this man is, it is accepted as merely a quirk of profession rather than the more sensible reaction that the readers would have. Mr. Grey is looking for something, hired by a faceless figure we know nothing about; indeed even by the end we won't know who this employer is, or how he knows about the mysterious Greywarren. The mystery of Niall Lynch and the decree that none of the Lynch boys are to ever go back home again is explained to a satisfying degree. Or at least it is answered to the degree that I cannot wait for the rest of the explanation. I don't get into specifics in my reviews because I violently oppose any kind of spoilers, but suffice it to say that even if you are left knowing even less than you did at the end of book one, it is only because there is so much more now to know.
The hunt for Glendower, and his hunters Gansey, Ronan, Adam, Noah, and our Blue, becomes more urgent and both closer to its end and further away. It is a beautiful thing to read. Their obsession is less about the king and the power he may bestow once awakened and about the singularity of all his pursuers. Gansey who wants the one thing that his money, power and charisma can't give him; Adam, who wants one thing that he can have that those with everything can't; Blue, who just wants her something more; Noah, who is both dead and alive because of this search; and Ronan, who's own motivations are the most complicated but just as particular. Glendower connects them. Death follows them. This magic defines them all in different ways.
The strength of this and all of Ms. Stiefvater's works is that when you are reading it you are inside of it. This world, for all of it's 451 pages, is real and breathing. These people are as alive as you and I. But it is better than real life because you can watch its imperfection and yearn for them to find whatever they are looking for. You never want to leave these worlds, and in my opinion, that is the highest compliment one can give an author.
If you have read Book 1 of The Raven Boys, you don't need me to tell you how good this second entry is; you already know and have pre-ordered it already. If you haven't started this journey yet, I can tell you you are missing out. So don't miss out.
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