The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, Book 2)

By: Maggie Stiefvater

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

©2013 Maggie Stiefvater (P)2013 Scholastic Inc.

More.

More please.

great book. Looking forward to more.

Magically enthralling!

Did not want to stop listening in. Brilliant performance and story kept me enthralled!
The Raven Boys is fast becoming a favorite series.

Great

Amazing audiobook and the narrator was amazing brought the book to life. This is a fantastic series both in book and audio form.

love love love

Probably my favorite of the 3 out in thus series ... probably because I adore Ronin

Totally absorbing--and then it unravels

To repeat myself: Another great example of a wrist-gnawing narration suddenly made pretty durned good sped up. In other words, I'd completely agree with the reviewer who pans Will Patton as being a bad fit for this book--if I'd listened to this at normal speed. However, at a truly listenable speed (yep, he needs 1.5x--1.0x is *that* bad), I'd say the opposite. 1.5x Will Patton keeps these books from being pigeonholed as YA paranormal romance--and they really are not, in spite of this author having written books of that flavor in the past. His narration fits the mostly-male cast of protagonists, and is even better than the first as he better gets the characters--and his delivery (on 1.5!) is really enjoyable. Despite other listener complaints of him being a bad fit, I can't imagine a female reader convincingly voicing Ronan, who takes the lead a lot more in The Dream Thieves than The Raven Boys.

As for the story, it gets richer and the characters more compelling. While the first book certainly had more of a YA flavor, this one felt broader and almost completely outside the genre. Sure, the protagonists are teenagers, but for the greater part of the book, they're handled with a depth that simply makes them human. Definitely wittier and more eloquent than is realistic, but all the more enjoyable. The ideas are fresh, and the writing is of far higher quality than the YA novels that get churned out left and right. The author does well to not just make this story so much of an Act 2 (as is typical) but rather, focuses on a fresh plot and brings a new antagonist. In other words, there's a real story arc.

However, I was pretty disappointed when the final section of the book started to unravel and push me out of it. I felt that The Raven Boys also started to fray in the last couple chapters, but this one started coming apart far earlier...it felt 10x more jarring and disjointed and rushed. There are WAY too many wth?! moments/scenes, beginning with an absolutely unconvincing and seemingly arbitrary scene when all the characters decide to go over and chat with said antagonist. Pretty much everything from that point devolves. It felt (and disappointingly so, considering how carefully written the rest of it felt) like a book deadline rapidly approaching...and the effect was such that I went from being utterly absorbed in the story and totally caring about these characters...to not being sure I cared that much and feeling mighty dubious about a fictional novel I was just listening to. In other words, the people in a believable world suddenly became contrived characters in a book, and I was just sitting there observing an author make up stuff about them. Big, sad difference. Not sure how that's supposed to compel me to wait for another year until the next book comes out to find out if I still care enough.

So good!

I wish I didn’t have to stop listening to this book. Ronan is my favorite character and Maggie did him justice with this book wrapped intricately around his life. The cliffhanger at the end though shocked me and I can’t wait to get started on book 3 during my lunch break!

If your in the mood for something different...

Any additional comments?

I adore Maggie Steifvater’s books. Her stories are unique and her writing is witty yet poetic. The Raven Boys is no exception. I loved it and I think this is one Steifvater’s best books. It’s slow at the beginning but I wouldn’t necessarily change that. It lays some important ground work for the intense ending and the books to come. What I liked most about The Raven Boys was the originality of the story. I’ve never read/listened to anything like this before and that is one of the main reasons I highly recommend it.

I truly do not know how to summarize this story. Any attempt to describe this story does not do it justice. I will do my best with one sentence. There are some psychics, some ghosts, a murderer, a creepy mystical place, and teenagers on a supernatural quest. That’s all I can say. It's different, and for me different is always refreshing.

The Characters
The characters in The Raven Boys are deep and complex. These are not your teenage angsty, love triangle entangled, young adult fiction characters. These guys are different. Blue Sargent is the daughter of a psychic and lives with 3 other psychic women. Blue is not psychic but she has the way of amplifying energy. Gansey is a wealthy teenage boy on a mission to find something supernatural. Joining him on his quest are his 3 friends, Ronan, Adam, and Noah. Ronan is a wealthy boy gone bad. He’s reckless, edgy, and unpredictable. Adam is the poor, nice boy who’s under a lot of pressure. He’s on a scholarship at Anglionby Academy and under extreme pressure from his parents.
Each character feels real and as the reader, you feel for them. Like I said earlier, I’ve never encountered characters like these. I can’t say I loved them or related to them but I was definitely intrigued by them and I want to learn more about them.

The Story
As I said earlier, the story takes a little while to really get going. However, it lays important groundwork for the plot and develops all of the characters. Hang in there, things get really interesting about half way through and you want to stop after that. What pulled me in was the mysterious quest the group embarks on. I had never heard of lay lines or a sleeping ancient king named Glwendower and I was eager to find out more. I also felt Steifvater wrote wonderful side stories involving each of the characters. They added layers to the main plot and overall, made the story so much more substantial.

Conclusion
I loved it. I wish I could say more about The Raven Boys but I fear I would give away too much. The writing is beautiful. he characters are strong and well developed. The story is unlike anything else out there. The only downside to the story is it’s left very open. Something is resolved in this book but many things are not. Obviously they we will learn more in the next book but I really wanted to know more in this book. You can probably guess I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

Wow

Fantastic! Such a unique plot and characters! I was completely drawn in. The narration was top notch as well.

Perfect narrator for a brilliant story

Such a magical, dark and fascinating world in these books. The characters are very well developed and there’s humor too. Looking forward to the third book.

Love this series, love this narrator!

Any additional comments?

I've read Maggie Stiefvater's other series, the Shiver trilogy, and it was passable. The Raven Cycle, in comparison, is brilliant. The characters are all complex and relatable, unpredictable and imperfect, but likable. I love Blue, who is one of the few young adult female protagonists who is not defined by her love life or her insecurities. The story is so much bigger than her romantic prospects, and it is frankly a relief to read a book where they are not constantly distracted by how gorgeous they all happen to be. There is an adventure to be had and there are friendships to maintain, and those two things are what drive the story. I love these people and the world they inhabit.

I don't know how much Will Patton's narration contributes to my love affair with The Raven Cycle, but he is amazing. He 'gets' this book and these characters, and I feel like he loves them as much as I do. I have started to look for other books narrated by him.

If you want insipid teen romance where the insecure heroine is either wondering if someone who is mean to her will kiss her or is jealous because she thinks he might want to kiss someone else, this is not the series for you. If you want an adventure with unpredictable outcomes, characters who actually grow, and beautiful writing about fantastic things, this series will hit the spot. I want more. More!!