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A review by girlgetsbook
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic friendship