Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

62 reviews

evelynyle_88's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

scribblesandsuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Am rereading this along with a friend reading the series for the first time, still enjoy it just as much. It's such a different series to the other books you find in the genre, and the relationships between the characters are so developed and fulfilling

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

ifoundcallie's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

A homophobic slur is used on page, fair warning.

zoejjj's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This felt like a filler book, but at the same time I was obsessed with the kavinsky/lynch dynamic and how unhinged the ending of this book was. Spoiler, dragons show up for some reason??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Physical abuse

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I didn’t realize just how much I had forgotten about this story - I’m pretty sure I read it when I was young.

 It’s still an exciting and  thrilling story, with a hitman, dream thieves, and also a normal teenage girl with a fantastic family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Violence, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

girlgetsbook's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Maggie Stiefvater has such a unique prose and way of structuring a story, nothing is too obvious and the story unravels itself slowly, like a secret (to use metaphors present in the book). Ronan's story is an example of this, it was so perfectly crafted in this book, the clues were there but nothing was revealed before its time. Another amazing thing about her writing is how much she's able to make us care about the characters, I'll admit Ronan wasn't super pleasant in book one and part of this book even, but the way I grew so attached to him by the end is insane and a testament to her ability to make sympathizing and complex characters. Speaking of complex characters, the Gray Man was a surprising addition to the cast of characters and I was shocked to see how well crafted he was and how he fit really well into the narrative (I much preferred his POV than the Latin teacher's, that's for sure).

I think I've said this about book one and I'll say this as well, if I was just a bit younger this would be my favorite series of all time, I just love the mixture of normal, daily life, it's ups and downs and struggles with some casual magic. 

The major thing that took .75 star from my rating was probably a more personal thing for me. Though I appreciate Maggie for her exploration on the cycle of abuse, boy rage, toxic masculinity and ptsd – especially in Ronan and Kavinsky's characters and their relationship, and the intense representation of their emotions and their psyche through dreams, that beautifully crafted, and not something I've ever seen before – I still thought that in some moments those displays of anger and violence were directed towards the only female central character, Blue, which I guess makes it realistic since someone who is used to being the victim will try to intimidate someone who is more fragile than them, but I think the narrative would stand strong on this own without this (I also felt that this anger at times was maybe a product of a low-key character assassination? The way it was very purposeful how this one particular character seemed to target these two other characters maybe to push them closer to each other?).

 I think maybe this is why I'm reluctant to put this series in my favorites, it is very much boy-centric, and very much outside of my comfort zone in that sense, I'm just used to female main characters or at least more than one if it's an assembly, I think if I had a teenage boy in my family I'd definitely recommend this series to him. 

Another thing that made me like this book a bit less was the lack of Noah and the metamorphosis of Adam, but I understand that this was time to focus on other characters and I hope on future books they have a bigger role. My favorites are definitely Noah, Blue and Adam, in this order. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic friendship

nevermoregothic's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Suicide, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Classism

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

oh this book was WILD. i truly enjoy every magical thing in this book and damn me i like these characters A LOT. Ronan’s narration was great, i’m so glad this book focused a lot on him!!

main reason why i enjoyed this slightly less than book one is probably because it was set in the summer (i personally am not a fan of summer) therefore it lacked that “private school vibe” which i loooved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

canopicfemme's review

5.0

this series is the most fun i’ve had reading in AGES

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicide

cowardlyteaman's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So, I absolutely love this book. Perhaps even more than the first one. Yeah, this one was way more fun.

I love Ronan's POV! He's such an interesting character, and though he's «edgy» in a way, I don't feel like it goes overboard.
I also adore the Gray Man. I love to read about him,

and I think his dynamic with Maura works well.

The only thing I have to say is that ... well, I frankly cannot stand Blue. Maybe I'm just a misogynist, but that girl and her entire family (with the exception of Maura) is just not it for me. Frankly, her entire plot could've just been removed, because so far I don't really see the relevance.

However, back to my beloved birds and Welsh Kings——
Dwi'n caru ti, Glyndŵr.🫶 I'm learning Welsh and adore the references to Anglo-Saxons and Celts here. A bit confused about why they're looking for a mediaeval old Welsh fart in Virginia, but I'll accept it.
And Chainsaw, I love her, too.
Having serious homosexual feelings for Joseph Kavinsky. I don't want to talk about it.
The nightmare corvid monsters are cool, too. 10/10

So, this book is definitely recommended! I may or may not be the only person who dislikes Blue, I dunno, but don't let her stop you from reading this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent