The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

* * * * 1/2


Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

Review:

Gansey is trying to not question Adam about waking the ley line and how it has affected him.  Gansey is also trying to not be disappointed by the fact that not only was it not him that woke the ley line but Cabeswater seems to have disappeared.

Adam is confused by his new attachment to Cabeswater.  He’s also confused by his relationship with Blue.  Is she his girlfriend?  Is she not?  How is he supposed to know for sure when she flat out refuses to kiss him but still holds his hand.  And it doesn’t help that he only knows how to express his confusion through anger.  A not so lovely trait he picked up from his crappy dad.

Noah is still smudgy.

Blue is trying to figure out what her feelings for Adam.  Does she really love him?  If not, maybe she COULD kiss him.  Then there’s Gansey, who both still alternately annoys and impresses her.

And then there is Ronan.  And his dreams.  Ronan brought Chainsaw back from his dreams.  What other things can he bring.  What other secrets about himself has he yet to learn?

Just as in The Raven Boys, Stiefvater gives a little attention to Blue and each of her friends as they continue on their search for Cabeswater and the old king, Glendower.  But this story is mainly Ronan's and secondly, Adam’s.  We learn the secrets of Ronan’s dreams.  Why he has them, where they transport him to and who powers them.  And we see Adam struggle as he comes to term with the sacrifice he made when waking the ley line.

The Dream Thieves was just as good if not better than The Raven Boys.  This is another story full of intrigue, magic and adventure and I wait anxiously for the next installment in the story.

Nat

Waiting on Wednesday (69)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

By Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date:  September 17, 2013

The second installment in the all-new series from the masterful, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater!

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after...

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

* * * * 1/2

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.


Review:

Blue is the only non-seer in a house full of psychics.  A house full of psychics that all agree on one thing – Blue will kill her one true love.  The one thing lacking from their prediction is the who, when and where.  But one thing Blue knows for sure is that the who could never be one of the pretentious and spoiled Aglionby Raven boys.

Gansey has one obsession.  And that is to find the body of the old king Glendower.  Gansey, a natural leader, has won the loyalty of three Aglionby classmates – Ronan, Adam and Noah.  With the help of his friends, the quest for the ley lines that lead to Glendower’s resting place eventually drops them at Blue’s house for a psychic reading.

Blue never in a million years would have believed she would befriend one, let alone four, Aglionby boys.  But after a chance meeting and a psychic reading that poses offers up more questions than answers, Blue can’t help but join Gansey’s misfit crew in their quest.

As we all know, I adore Maggie Stiefvater.  She is my girl crush.  Don’t believe me?  Even she agrees….

But I don’t think I am being partial (at least not too much) when I say that this story is wonderful.  The characters are ALL engaging and described in such a way that they just pop right off the page.  Besides the purposely quirky Blue, there is the confident yet sometimes self-doubting Gansey and his friends – “elegant” Adam, “sulky” Ronan and “smudgy” Noah.  Stiefvater leaves no room for doubt as to who these kids are inside and out.

When I was a kid I would hide in the back of my long dark and old closet and close my eyes while I imagined that the back wall would open into Narnia.  With the imagery that breathes life into every page, I felt like I was living their magical quest.  I am not ashamed to admit that after reading this I found myself doing the modern version of what I did as a kid - imagining the places I could go while I went on my own search for ley lines and old kings.  As you may have guessed, The Raven Boys is a book full of adventure that I would recommend to pretty much everyone.



Nat

A Peek In The BiblioBin #64

Welcome to our Stacking the Shelves post! Stacking the Shelves (or as we like to call it, A Peek in the BiblioBin) has been created by the lovely ladies at Tynga's Reviews.

Stacking the Shelves is a way for bloggers to share what books they have won, received for review, bought from the bookstore, borrowed from the library or friend, etc.  
What's in your BiblioBin?


This week Shel is cozying up with one of her favorite authors Josephone Angelini, Bel has cleared her schedule for the new Jessica Sorensen book out this Tuesday and Nat is rediscovering her author crush in Maggie Stiefvater. We've also scored a freebie, I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler which is a #BookoftheWeek. Get yourself a free copy courtesy of our friends at Sourcebooks until May 27. Click on the link below to learn more. 

Oh yeah - it's been a very nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend indeed!

Goddess (Starcrossed #3) by Josephine Angelini

The Forever Of Ella And Micha (The Secret #2) by Jessica Sorensen

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler