Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Dream Thieves

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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

7 reviews

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

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adventurous dark relaxing tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

I genuinely don't think I can put my love for this book into words. So here's a list of all the things that made me go insane:

- Best boy Noah being fascinated by a snow globe, my hearttt
- Ronan throwing Noah out of the window AHAHAHAH
- Every Ronan/Noah interaction actually. Those two are comedy gold. Something about the way Ronan treats Noah like he would treat any other makes my insides tingle
- Chainsaw being so adorable :(( I really really hope they don't kill Chainsaw off just because it would be a tearjerker, I will actually kill myself
- Gansey being the bestest best friend you could ever ask for. The things I would do to have an irl Gansey.
- Like when he thought his car was wrecked and was so nervous he couldn't even bring himself to glance at the car. But then he saw Ronan smiling and just melted???
- "His face went somber for half a second, and then it dissolved into an absolutely wonderful and fearless laugh. The old Ronan Lynch’s laugh. No, it was better than that one, because this new one had just a hint of darkness beneath it. This Ronan knew there was crap in the world, but he was laughing anyway." KILL ME RN
- The Blue and Noah kissing scene just broke my heart
- The Blue and Gansey not-quite-kissing scene broke my heart as well
- The Blue and Adam no-kisses-for-you scene broke my heart way too much
- Ronan and Gansey casually flirting ("Am I in your dreams?" "Oh, yes, baby", "While I'm gone, dream me the world. Something new for every night." etc)
- Ronan and Gansey being canonically shipped together but Ronan seeing Gansey as more of a brother than Declan
- Ronan having erotic dreams about Adam??????????????????
- Ronan and Adam mask dream vs. irl scene ooooooof
- Ronan's many secrets and him struggling to admit everything to himself
- Ronan's conversation with Kavinsky helping him figure everything out. "You didn't say you don't swing that way" "No, I didn't"
- Just Ronan in general. His powers, his character, his humour, he's the absolute best part of the book. I thought he's gonna be one of those overdone bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold trope, but he's genuinely the best of them all.
- Blue's family made a lot more appearances and I'm happy. Calla and Persephone are amazing, I hope they never experience a tinge of sadness in their lives. Orla ("i'M fLeXiBLe") jkhadfs ~~me too~~.
- Ronan's childhood? For some reason I expected him to like hate his childhood or whatever but I'm so so glad we got to see him be that vulnerable. "Softly, just for Gansey, he asked, “Can I go and see Mom?”
- I still don't understand what's the issue with Declan. Matthew is adorable though. Protect him.
- Mr. Gray's character development ("I'm not a kidnapper"), his convo with those other thugs, him killing off his brother like a savage, his adoration for Maura (same, bestie)
- Adam running off like that. Adam being insecure. Adam thinking he's turning into his parents. Adam just not knowing what to do. Adam forgetting Gansey's phone number. Adam getting angry at everything. Adam not being with the others that much at all for the entire book. "Do you think you’re a train wreck?" "That would mean I was on the tracks to start with"
- Adam and Persephone working together in the end. That was very much needed
- Blue's pink switchblade. "They were a good pair. Both incapable of opening up without cutting someone."
- I loved Blue even more in this one. The way she's dealing with all this mess is quite mature for her age. I love how she takes absolutely no shits, be it from Adam or Ronan or Gansey (not Noah, ofc. My wittle Noah would never harm anyone)
- Wild!Gansey, Wild!Gansey, Wild!Gansey, Wild!Gansey, Wild!Gansey, Wild!Gansey
- Blue and Gansey's casual back and forth, the late night phone calls, the long drive together
- The casual banter between all of them in general. And the character dynamics. It's all so well done, literally every character (including the side characters) already made their way up my top characters of all time list
- The foreshadowing??? From the first book??? The way it all pays off???? So many things that I never caught on despite it being literally right. there.
- THE EPILOGUE!! I'm generally not a fan of epilogues but this one was beautiful??? I would even say it's the best part of the book

Other thoughts:

- There wasn't that much chemistry between Gansey and Blue in the last book, but I feel like it kinda improved with this one. It's still not the best (even Ronan and Kavinsky had better chemistry), but it's better ig? I can already tell it's only going to get better from here on. And I'm glad they're taking it slow.
- Adam slowly eroding my heart with the way he treats those who care about him. I'm glad he got a character development in the end cuz I don't think I could've continued reading with him staying that way. It's worse because I completely understand where he is coming from, but I wish it didn't have to be that way
- Mr. Gray?? Where did he even come from? Why the sudden change in character after years of being a hitman. Him and Maura getting that close that fast? I hope we get to see more of him in the next one cuz I need answers
- Considering I didn't care much for Glendower, I really like the plot of this book hehehe
- Kavinsky?? He got such an abrupt conclusion, I don't know what to make of him, but ok. He was interesting at the very least ig
- This book could've done well with some diversity but I'm not really complaining
- Except the internalised misogyny in the Orla scene made me so uncomfortable. Blue, all she's doing is wearing a bikini on a boat, is that so wrong? I understand why the boys were acting that way but Blue?? The feminist Blue who takes no shits from anyone?? The one that wears shredded t-shirts and has an unevenly chopped hair just to stand out??
- NOT ENOUGH NOAH. GIVE ME MORE NOAH
- Seriously though, I really wish Noah could be a solid part of the Raven squad now. Hopefully that is the case from the next book onwards. Since the ley line is fixed, there is absolutely no reason for Noah to stay out of all this

Overall, this book had fantastic characters and a fantastic plot. It might even rival with Crooked Kingdom on being my all time favourite book, and that's saying a lot!

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emohell's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

incredible. fantastic. amazing. holy fucking shit what a book.

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cowardlyteaman's review

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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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radwretched's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

i am definitely biased towards this book because it’s always been my favorite in the series. i reread it recently and this remained true. i love finally getting to see into ronan’s head (literally) after getting little to no insight on him in book one. i love how this lets us see the depth of his relationship with gansey more. i love adam’s character/arc in this, and in general, how trc does not shy away from portraying realistic characters and the relationships between these characters. life is complicated—

adam could (and maybe should) take gansey’s help, but he needs to know that he can survive on his own if gansey’s ever not there

there’s no way they can let go of ronan, but maura is on the cusp of a relationship for the first time since blue’s father disappeared

. i tend to cringe at stiefvater’s writing a good amount, but this book has more strong moments for me than it does weak ones. (and i have my grievances w the book, but i won’t go essay mode in this little storygraph review box rn.) the pacing is directly reminiscent of gansey’s anxieties that his search for glendower has gone on for an unnecessarily long time—in many ways, this book is about how life tends to get in the way of our true desires.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

THE DREAM THIEVES delves into Ronan's nightmares as the raven boys (and Blue) adjust to the changes in Cabeswater after their previous adventures. Secrets can kill. Some already have.

The characters are broken and messy, trying to help each other in their various pursuits but not always getting it right. I like the shift in focus from the first book. I especially like getting a lot more of Ronan, in a lot of important ways this is his book just like THE RAVEN BOYS was Gansey’s book.

One thing this series does very well and this book continues is portraying antagonists in a way that makes them at the very least understandable, if not outright sympathetic. I came away with a much more nuanced dislike of a particular villain, and I’m really liking a different one who thus far seems to be pulling off a heel-face turn.

The world-building is a bit lopsided, it's very focused on the characters and the way that the magic affects them but it leaves even more unexplained. It makes up for it by delving into their inner lives in a very intimate way, exploring the nuances of them as people both individually and with each other. It takes seriously the idea that people are a bit different around various combinations of other people, and uses that to heighten and dissipate tension throughout the story. The Raven Boys are the Raven Boys, Blue is Blue, while everything and everyone else matter only as much as they intersects with their lives. No more, and no less. It has a feeling of extreme focus, like nothing else in the world matters to them and their story, with all its complications and obsessions, is all there is.

This wraps up a very major thing left hanging from the first book. Its main storyline was teased earlier but a secondary plot begins here and wasn't present previously. Several major things are introduced and resolved in this book. It left some things hanging to be resolved later. There's a mix of returning and new narrators, and their voices are very distinct from each other and from different narrators in the first book. Some of the plot would make sense without having read the first book, but as a whole this definitely needs the first book and couldn't stand alone if someone read it at random.

I have a couple quibbles related to characterization, but given that the overall arc of this series is that people start out mixed up and confused and bumping against each other‘s hurt edges and then gradually try to get better, it makes it hard to know whether a couple of my sticking points are on purpose or if they are artifacts of unintentional bigotry. Something that was briefly in THE RAVEN BOYS but returns here is the idea that a particular character is beautiful... except for her large nose. Since the book does go out of its way to make a point of addressing stereotypes that lie adjacent to this one and calling them out as harmful, I don’t know what to think about this moment, but it made me uneasy.

Overall I loved this as a continuation of the series but it's definitely a middle-of-the-series book (and it shows). The plot manages to be almost self-contained in its scope but utterly reliant on the first book for its foundation and backstory to sustain its emotional core. The growth and change that happens here is so wonderful because the first book had something else, something harsher, ill-fitting, and tense running through it. The release of that tension and exploration of the characters is fantastic because of how they were before, while also being utterly consistent with them as people. It's progression rather than revision, and done wonderfully.

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gothicmoon's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Same writing quality and better characterisation for Ronan, Noah (in the beginning), and further explorations of Gansey, Blue, and Adam. However, between Kavinsky's constant (and purposeful) misogynistic comments and Blue's own misogynistic thoughts at Orla... it takes away from the book. Also, the plot doesn't quite hold up, either. <spoiler)I don't understand how Ronan could've been meant to dream something to solve a problem he didn't know he had? The puzzle box ends up being more of a mcguffin than anything else. Also Ronans entire problem is simply because his dad is an ass and never thought him how to dream.

Another downfall is that I simply do not enjoy Gray Man pov.

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