I love Maggie Stiefvater's writing because she can make anything poetic and whimsical even she was describing cabbage. In this book, as in before, I loved the chemistry and camaraderie between the characters, whether it's the boys, Blue and Gansey, or the three psychics. There are quite a few hilarious conversations in this book, especially the one in which Gansey is contemplating whether to jump in the water and his reaction afterwards (probably my favorite scene!). Other favorites included: Ronan calling Adam and Blue "poverty twins," Gansey and Blue's conversations, the lamp shade description of Blue, Blue calling Ronan a bastard and the mice scene, Noah and Blue's kiss scene, and the two climactic moments in the book: when we find out Ronan's mother is something that's been pulled out of a dream (my jaw definitely dropped there!), and that Blue's mom is now in Cabeswater (damn the cliffhanger...haha).
I would say the biggest issue with the book was its hyper-focus on Ronan and the build-up with the Grey Man where we don't fully understand what he is looking for till chapter 25! Also, Kravinsky was just sort of thrown in there (I really wish his and Ronan's story had been book 1.5 so we could focus more on solving the Cabeswater mystery in the sequel instead of tracking backwards since Cabeswater has fully disappeared). Also, while this did not have any bearing on my rating of the book, Adam annoyed the hell out of me and I wanted to throw him off a cliff for being an ungrateful and self-loathing wretch, but I love that Maggie can make me hate a fictional character so much!
I will definitely read the next book because it will hopefully hold more answers as opposed to adding more layers to the mystery. I don't think this book suffers from second book syndrome, but it did feel like the story was getting more complicated for complication's sake, rather than to resolve the mystery and mythos that Maggie has so beautifully crafted in the first book. If "Raven Boys" was a 97 in my book, then "The Dream Thieves" is a solid 89 or 4.5 stars (I know that doesn't add up mathematically but what's one point, right?). Definitely recommended!
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC. I honestly loved getting back into this world and can't wait for the next book!
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