Book Review: The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves

The Raven Boys
By Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon book description:

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, 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 is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher 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 doesn’t believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

The Dream Thieves

By Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon book description:

If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.

And sometimes he’s not the only one who wants those things.

Ronan is one of the raven boys — a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan’s secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface — changing everything in its wake.

Have you ever read the first book in a series and adored it, and then you were afraid to read the second one because it couldn’t possibly be as good?

I loved The Raven Boys. But The Dream Thieves kicked The Raven Boys‘ butt. Up and down the street, all over town. It was so good, I felt like crying when I turned the last page.

The only good thing is, I’m going to bet money book three will be even better. Because this is Maggie Stiefvater, and she is amazing.

I loved her first series, Shiver, Linger, and Forever, a werewolf series with a really fresh twist and some beautiful writing. I haven’t read The Scorpio Races — just didn’t seem that interesting. But The Raven Boys looked interesting, so I picked it up, and I was thrilled to see how she has grown as a writer since her first series. She was great before; how does this happen? Her first series was full of beautiful, lyrical writing, which worked because her narrators were all writers and musicians. I always wondered what she would do if her characters were average Joes. The Raven Boys series has plenty of average Joes, and her writing style matches the characters, still with the same fresh descriptions and odd connections, but told in a gritty and blunt voice. I love how she changes the writing style to match the story. Book One was more Blue’s story, but Book Two is Ronin’s, who I actually disliked in Book One, and it goes places I never expected. I love a surprise, and I love when a book veers into areas I never imagined.

I liked that this series has four main characters, all fully imagined and unique, real people as different from each other as they are from any other character I’ve ever read — and only one is a girl. They each tell part of the story in their own voice and their own perspective, so it truly is a book boys and girls can read. The books have a touch of romance, but it’s just part of life here, not the point of everything. It might be young adult, but it’s one of the best written books, adult or otherwise, you will ever read.

So, my recommendation is, run to the bookstore and get this series. You’ll love it.