Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #2
Publisher: Scholastic
Date Published: September 17th 2013
Buy: Amazon | BookDepository

Goodreads Summary

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...

“He danced on the knife’s edge between awareness and sleep. When he dreamt like this, he was a king. The world was his to bend. His to burn.” 

It took me about a week to finally gather my wits about and write a review for this book. Believe me it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s just so hard to sum everything this book did to me in just a couple hundred words but it’s not just that, how do I even describe what this book put me through, how it made me feel?

This book was actually completely different from what I expected. I was also scared out of my mind when I went into it because what if it didn’t live up to the first book? What if it didn’t make my heart soar the way the first one had? What if I only came out with a heavy heart because this book didn’t live up to my extremely high expectations?

The funny thing is even as I say that, I know this book didn’t live up to my expectations. That is not to say I was disappointed, I just expected so much more (if that makes any sense). There was this (seemingly) big chunk in the middle where I just never wanted to open the book again because I was so frustrated by what was going on. It made me want to scream on top of my lungs. But I (wo)manned up and continued reading (after I took a break for a couple of days, I am not THAT brave).

If you’re reading this you’ve (hopefully) read at least one book by Maggie and you know the magic she is capable of working. It was there in this book too. She just writes in such a way that you get goosebumps and she knows just how to tug at your heartstrings. In fact I just opened my copy of Dream Thieves and read a certain scene that has my heart pounding.

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them. Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness. Her raven boys.” 

I wasn’t a huge fan of Adam in the first book and throughout most of this book I still ‘disliked’ him but by the end of it, Maggie changed my mind. I have no idea how she does it, how she can manipulate my feelings so easily. Adam, as we know, sacrificed himself at the end of the last book and you can really see how that has changed him, he is so angry for most of the book and a lot of the frustration I felt was because of what he did, which is why I was so happy when he finally came to his senses.

In the last book we didn’t get a lot of insight into who Ronan really was but this book, this book was his. And I grew to love him and his complexity. You wish you could give him a bear hug and make it all go away but you know he’d hate you for it.

Sadly there wasn’t nearly enough of Noah in this book to make me happy. He is one of my favorite characters and I really felt his absence. Hopefully the next book in the series will remedy that.

Gansey, the center of the puzzle, the glue to everything else. He has a special place in my heart as some of you might know. This book only reinforced everything I felt for him. He was just so lonely in this book that it broke my heart, Ronan was busy messing around with Kavinsky, Adam was busy being a prideful jerk and Noah was basically flickering in and out. I still think that won’t change in the next book. Gansey is so busy holding everything together and taking care of everyone that I don’t think anyone realizes that someone needs to be there for Gansey as well.  

Blue showed a lot of character development but honestly I don’t even know what to say about her. We all know she is a strong and awesome female lead. Plus I paid a lot more attention to the Raven Boys then I did to her (guilty).  I have to say though, I never get tired of reading about her family. They are just such a weird and fun bunch.

The only anomaly I felt was with The Grey Man. I know most people loved him but I didn’t. I really hated how Maggie portrayed him; as a hit man with a troubled past who with love could become a good person. Haven’t I read about too many tortured 'bad boys'? The fact that Maura gets involved with him bothered me even more. I, like Blue, seem to feel a certain protectiveness (I don’t think that was the word she used but I cannot remember which one she DID use so don't mind) for Butternut and I have my theories about who he could be. If they pan out, I wouldn’t want her to be with The Grey Man. Plus there are some stories that just need a bad guy. Everyone cannot be good.

The plot of this book isn’t actually that great. All the different POVs make it feel like it’s all over the place. Like with the Raven Boys it is initially slow and then speeds up but unlike the Raven Boys even though the plot was initially slow, it didn’t bother me because there was so much exploration going on into their characters.

While I wouldn’t say this book suffers from the middle book syndrome, this was definitely a bridge, a good one at that, but one nevertheless. This one was more about the players then about what they were seeking.

It all works to make us anticipate the next book even more because the way this one ended and it sucks that I have to wait another torturous year. 

Review: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Raven Cycle #1
Publisher: Scholastic
Date Published: September 18th 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Blue has spent the majority of her sixteen years being told that if she kisses her true love, he will die. When Blue meets Gansey’s spirit on the corpse road she knows there is only one reason why – either he is her true love or she has killed him.

Determined to find out the truth, Blue becomes involved with the Raven Boys, four boys from the local private school (lead by Gansey) who are on a quest to discover Glendower – a lost ancient Welsh King who is buried somewhere along the Virginia ley line. Whoever finds him will be granted a supernatural favour.

Never before has Blue felt such magic around her. But is Gansey her true love? She can’t imagine a time she would feel like that, and she is adamant not to be the reason for his death. Where will fate lead them?

Note: This is an old review I wrote ages ago, I am posting this now because I am going to post the review to the sequel pretty soon.

I am guilty of reading this book because of the pretty cover. It took me a while to get to this though because at first I was really excited and then I kept on reading the synopsis again and again until I wasn’t sure whether I should read it or not. I hadn’t read any books by Maggie before this and well although people said Shiver was great, it didn’t sound like my kind of book (I went on to read it later and loved it). So I went into this book really hoping it would be good.

I think it’s the kind of books that captivates you at the beginning and then slowly becomes more interesting. The prologue and the first chapter were both amazing but then after that things became a little slow. In most books I would have given up, but somehow Maggie kept me interested.

She slowly revealed its and bits about what was going on and she built on everything. I loved how she focused on the characters, building on their relationships. I loved every single one. I loved Blue’s relationship with her aunts and with her mother. I loved the friendship between the boys and how they opened up to Blue slowly. I also loved how Maggie explored each individual character. Some may say that Ronan wasn’t explored enough but I think she did that on purpose. It shows the mysteriousness of his character. He is the dark brooding boy and I loved Maggie’s approach on this kind of character. Ronan is so different from the cliche brooding guys and that’s why I love him.

Then we also have Gansey. I wish there were more guys like Gansey in modern YA because I loved his determination. I loved how he messed up and he wasn’t always sure how to act around people (like with Blue in the beginning) but he always cared about his friends.
Adam. Adam was a rather interesting character because even though most people say he is a sweet boy. He isn’t. I love how Maggie makes him seem more real because no one can be completely nice. Everyone has a dark side and so does Adam.

Noah the last boy in their group is one of my favorites. I find him cute. How he is always petting Blue’s hair because it is always messed up. I wish we would get to know a little bit more about him.
Now for our female lead Blue, I like her. From the summary you would think that all she did is swoon over the guys. It’s actually the last thing she does. She is pretty involved in the whole research and even though there is something going on between her and Adam, it isn’t focused on because there is something a lot bigger going on. I liked Blue’s character as well, she was determined and stubborn.

I really cannot wait for the next book because even though this book is concluded rather well there are a lot of questions hanging around and I haven’t even talked about some of the other things going on in this book because well I could go on and on about it. This book is pretty complex and I know that quite a few people have trouble with the “slowness” of the book but hold on because it is worth it.

Teaser Tuesday #8

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week Paulina is rather busy so she won't be posting teasers. I for that matter am going to post quotes from The Raven Boys. I just finished re-reading it and am planning to start The Dream Thieves soon. So I thought I'd share my love for this series by sharing 2 of my favorite quotes (which is one of the hardest things I've ever done).

Teaser 1

“You are being self-pitying."
"I'm nearly done. You don't have much more of this to bear."
"I like you better this way."
"Crushed and broken," Gansey said. "Just the way women like 'em.” 

Teaser 2

“I found it."
"People find pennies," Gansey replied. "Or car keys. Or four-leaf clovers."
"And ravens," Ronan said. "You're just jealous 'cause" - at this point, he had to stop to regroup his beer-sluggish thoughts - "you didn't find one, too.” 

If you haven't read this book GO READ IT!!!! It's full of awesomness and Gansey (who I happen to be in love with).

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: August 1, 2009
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I’d seen this book a couple times and each time I saw it I really didn’t want to read it. It sounded like it would have the weird kind of romance where people are all over each other. I finally read this after I read The Raven Boys and fell in love with it.

So usually I am not one for books that are mostly concerned with the romance but I found this book different. I liked the fact that this isn’t a book about people running around trying to save the world. It’s more like a book about how it’s like to be a werewolf. People always assume that werewolves have hectic lives etc. etc. but this explores it like realistic fiction/chic lit explores the life of a normal teen. That’s the appeal and to add to that the whole concept of a werewolf is so unique. I was surprised by it. Because in this book we get to see the hardships of that life.

The romance was so beautiful it gave me goose bumps. It was the kind of romance where you knew the love was real, not lust. That’s probably why I always felt so sad.. it was the sad kind of happy where you are so happy you are sad, it’s because it was just that sweet. I think it’s also the individual characters that they are that made me love the romance. You see she brings in a new kind of tortured boy. Normally in YA tortured hero’s are jack asses but this IS what actually happens to people with childhoods like this. They don’t close themselves off. They lose confident in themselves! People say Sam is a girly guy and that disgusts me because first of all listen to yourselves! That sounds sexist because you have decided what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a guy.So for people who are supposed feminists and say that Sam is girly. You are hypocrites. I get that Sam is a little emotional and that puts people off but what his parents did to him became the foundation of how he is today. He has a low self esteem because of it. Parents are supposed to love you, not try to kill you. Okay so I make it sound like Sam is no fun but he has his own sense of humor and he is ABSOLUTELY CUTE!

On the other hand you have Grace, she is always hurting because her parents don’t give her the attention she wants. Don’t get me wrong, they love her but they are so busy with themselves that they forget that they have a daughter to care about. Grace is the kind of girl that makes ME proud. She is strong and fights for what she believes. She doesn’t cower from the problem but does anything to find the solution and I love that about her. She doesn’t let her own fears distract her.

I guess people are prone to their opinions but I am super glad I read this book because it gave me hope for YA romances and I LOVED IT.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Forever

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: July 13th 2011

Goodreads summary: 

Sam has always loved Grace. As a wolf, he watched her from afar. As a boy, he held her in his arms.
Now facing the possibility of a life without her, he will do anything to keep her safe. Even if it means facing his demons. Even if it risks everything he has.
Anything, as long as their love can survive...

I can’t believe that here I am, puffy red eyes and mascara down my face saying goodbye to this wonderful world that I have grown to love and adore. It just feels so surreal to be actually saying these words. The only reason I didn’t want to read this book was because I couldn’t face the fact that it will eventually end.

From the first time I laid my eyes on the first page of Shiver I knew that it was true love I could feel how the book wanted me and how I wanted it. And now it’s like saying goodbye to a good friend.

Believe it or not I’m not actually crazy…

It’s pretty much impossible to find something that I didn’t like about this book. Walk on the moon- hell yeah, walk on water- I’m sure if I tried hard enough I would succeed. But for me to find something about this book that wasn’t how it should have been? Or I didn’t like? Impossible.

I mean what’s there not to love? The storyline and how it was written was mind blowing, and don’t even get me started on the characters. I do wish that the very last chapter was longer, like oh I don’t know 500 pages longer. But I guess I will have to do with this.

What an amazing way to end a series, it was sad as hell but amazing nevertheless. I have never ever cried so much because of one book!! And that is saying something!  

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger 

Author: Maggie Stiefvater 
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: July 20th 2010
Order: Amazon

Goodreads Summary: 

Grace and Sam must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ...and figuring out a way to survive the future.But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

I cried my eyes out, this is one of the saddest love stories I’ve read and why oh why did it have to end? Why do good things always have to end? I cried at the end of this book, of Shiver and I am more than positive I’m going to cry in Forever.

The story wasn’t focused so much on Grace and Sam, and it was also told in new characters, at first I wanted to scream but soon enough I fell in love with it. So without even reading the first page I knew it was going to be amazing ( and if I was wrong about it I think I would start crying and having a big tantrum on the floor about it ) so thank god this book was as I hope it was if not better. I don’t like to admit it but I am a hopeless romantic, I love a good love story the sloppier the better I say. I loved the crosscutting between Sam, Grace and then Isabel and Cole, I don’t really know why I loved it but I did it just worked. Everything about this book worked for me even the ending. About half way through the book I was crying rivers mostly because I knew it was going to end and mostly because I was just waiting for the buckets of tears to come at the very end and oh boy they did. It’s so hard to explain how this book makes me feel, I think the closest I’ll get is this being my drug and me getting my fix.

Many people were saying the plot doesn't have much going on. So what? It still made my heart race and ache whenever I wasn’t curled up on the sofa reading it.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date Published: August 1, 2009
Pages: 392 pages (Hardcover)
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Omg omg omggggggg!!!!!

I wasn’t sure about this book, I don’t really read about wolves, but something made me read it and as soon as I opened the first page and as soon as I started to read the first page I was hooked on it I needed to know more, I would stay up really late just to catch up when I didn’t have time during the day. Whenever I looked at the clock and thought right this is my last chapter and then I have to go to sleep or be a walking zombie the next day, a little devil on my shoulder would argue that sleep isn’t important I should read just one more chapter; it won’t hurt. And by the end of it I would have read about 5 chapters after promising myself just one and sure enough I would be a zombie the next morning.

This book was mostly based on Grace’s and Sam’s love unlike most of the books I’ve read where they either have to hide their love and deal with other people and secrets, but no this book was just a story of the two of them fighting to be together forever and having this image of them not being able to as soon as winter comes, and that’s why this book was sooo amazing the thrill of action didn’t keep you reading on but their love did, and how the book was written, having both Grace and Sam narrate it was genius.

 All of the characters are so different and they have their own issues and past lives and that’s what I love about this book, Maggie Stiefvater didn’t just focus on the two main characters but gave profile and life to the others that I think some authors forget to do a lot.

This book made me laugh out loud, hold my breath in, get really excited, think about it nonstop and also cry. I would do anything to have my own yellowed eye wolf, and the love they share. Heck I would give anything to have Graces life.

The only thing I regret is not buying and reading this sooner, but also for not saying to hell with the work I’m supposed to do during the day and just sit and read it. 

Get ready to be jealous because I met Maggie Stiefvatar!

SOOOOOOO!!!! On March the 24th 2013 I was lucky enough to meet Maggie Stiefvatar! One of my favorite authors! She is so great and so so lovely and funny. Ah I still can't get over the fact that I met her!
Anywayyyy here is a terrible picture of me because it looks like I'm really fat which makes me sad but I don't care because Maggie is in the picture. I will also post pictures of my books being singed and all of that after I take pictures of them! :D:D:D

Here is her facebook http://www.facebook.com/MaggieStiefvaterAuthorPage where I found out that she was doing the signing :D