Review: The Dream Thieves (Book 2 in The Raven Cycle)

It started off with promise but somewhere along the way, Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves, book two in The Raven Cycle series, loses interest in itself.

Perhaps it's in the abundance of imagery that staggers the progression of the story. Or in the forced manner in which Adam seems to be changing, going from a quiet, intelligent and poor but proud boy, to someone seriously whiney and exasperating to read as a character. But really, I think it fails because there just isn't enough meat in the story to justify 453 pages.

The Dream Thieves has an intriguing enough start. We learn that Ronan Lynch can pull things out of his dreams. These are mostly terrible things such as the Night Terrors, dark and evil creatures with beaks for mouths and sharp craws for hands that are out of slash him to ribbons. In the meanwhile, Gansey's search for Glendower is put on hold by the disappearance of Cabeswater, the ancient, magical forest they discovered in the last book. Blue starts to struggle with her feelings for Adam, and realises that she's drawn to Gansey, knowing full well how that's going to turn out after her vision of the two of them having their first and last kiss in the previous book. Noah too seems to be less there than usual, disappearing completely in the second half just like Cabeswater.

The book also introduces a Ronan's formidable nemesis and fatal attraction, the psychopathic Kavinsky who disregards personal and public safety in favour of dangerous drag races and Fourth of July explosions. We also get to meet The Grey Man, a mysterious assassin in search for an object that can invade dreams for the treasures that lie there.

The premise is fascinating and for that Stiefvater's imagination needs to be lauded. It's a pity that the world she weaves in her head reads more like a series of dreams, fascinating when you're penning it into a diary, but lacking in storytelling when you try to put them together.

The novel needed more. Be it more plot connectors or hooks that draw you from one chapter to the next and from this book to the third.

Frankly, I'm going to have to take a break from this series because unlike Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games, heck, even Twilight, the series isn't immersive enough to keep you hooked from one book to the next.

The Ravel Boys helped the series off to a good start. But The Dream Thieves makes me wonder if Steifvater is just stretching the series on just for the sake of it.

I honestly believe this book was an unnecessary detour to a very promising story, shifting the reader's focus from the real prize, the unearthing of Welsh legend, Glendower.

I'm still going to finish this series because I've committed to it and I genuinely like it. But yes, a break is is order before I can delve into the next one because finishing this book was felt like a chore. And it will take me some time to get over that.

Initial thoughts on The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater

It's been around eight months since I read a book that wasn't backlit. Yes, ink and paper, and my beloved third generation Kindle are gathering dust on the beautiful bookshelves we built shortly after moving to Bangalore.

Most of my reading is now done in my phone as it's the only gadget I have on my person at all times between feeds and naps and feeds and more naps. I'm not complaining because the books I have been reading this last year aren't the sort you'd want to collect in physical form. Also, since most of my reading is done either with the curtains drawn during the day or with the lights out at night -- motherhood is a strange adventure -- my good, old Kindle isn't getting much use either. 

But every once in a while, I come across a book that I wish I could just read, touch, smell and lovingly display on my bookshelf until the end of time. And while I've only just started Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series, I already know that these are books I would have loved to add to my collection.

While I'm a huge fan of Young Adult fiction, I was afraid that I had read every good title in the series before the genre and its sub-genres became formulaic. Witches, vampires, werwolves and trolls; dying girl loves boy who dies first, suicidal girl loves manic depressive... Ok, about this second set of examples, I have to justify myself by saying that I have nothing whatsoever against books about star crossed lovers, torn apart painful circumstances that are very, very real. I'm just against writing that jumps on the bandwagon of whatever is making YA enthusiasts swoon and/or cry. It's like publishers are picking novels they think will find their way to the top of your Recommended Reads list on Amazon and GoodReads. Seriously, after a while, the stories start to sound like clothes that tumbled about in a washer-drier stained by one bleeding red sock. 

When I first read the blurb for The Raven Boys, book one in the series, I was absolutely sure that this was going to be no different in essence from titles such as The Vampire Diaries and Bloodlines. But the price of the book, twice as much as mass fiction bestsellers, caught my fancy. So I decided to download a sample because what had I to lose, right? 

I'm so glad I did because this series has me absolutely hooked! And this is despite the fact that the blurb heavily emphasises that protagonist is fated to kill her true love with a kiss. Really, it should be talking about a young man's intellectual obsession with finding the last Welsh ruler who is fabled to be asleep since the 15th Century and whoever wakes him will be granted a favour. Set in a small town that is a hotbed of spiritual energy, our protagonist is joined by four misfits who each have their own reason for helping him out.

What I love about the novels is that they're driven by characters whose backstories and personal battles fuel the plot. It's also so much more than fantasy/paranormal fiction because every theme built up in the book has a basis in actual fact. Like the Ley Lines for instance, are places theorised for their intense mystical and spiritual energy along significant landforms. The motely crew's obsession with the lines and their hunt for Owen Glendower, is an intense study into history, mythology, religion and dead languages.

As readers we get a fascinating insight into all of this with a pretty immersive story to go with it. What's more is that while there is a love angle to the story, it's more of a detail, one of many in a series that's filled with so many I just can't wait to see how they all come together in the end.

My reading had reached a plateau this last year and I was afraid that I would be stuck like that forever. Sure, the view was pretty scenic but it was as good as gazing at everything and nothing at the same time. I'm glad to have discovered this series which is promising to be a good ascent back into the world of literature. I'm not expecting a life changing experience here, as was the case with the Harry Potter series and Elenor and Park. But it's good to be back on track and see where I go.