Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Cycle book 2)




SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first book in the series, The Raven Boys, Stop! I don't want to ruin the series for you.

"If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?"

Blue Sargent is the only non-clairvoyant in a family full of psychics. Over and over, she has been told that she would kill her true love if she were to kiss him. She had also been informed that this was the year that she was going to fall in love. Blue and her aunt Neeve both saw one of the Raven Boys walking the corpse line on St. Mark's Eve. To look at Richard Campbell Gansey III now, it doesn't seem possible that he will be dead sometime in the next year. Blue doesn't think she is in love with Gansey but she really doesn't know what love feels like. She has had a vision of kissing Gansey and it was nice. He is busy looking for the legendary Welsh King; Owen Glendower whom he believes is asleep somewhere within Cabeswater along the Henrietta ley line. Legend has it that whoever finds the sleeping King will be granted one wish. Even though Gansey doesn't know his supposed fate, for his sake Blue hopes that he is the one to find it. If fate didn't have a say in anything, Blue would like to pick Adam Parrish to be her love.

Ronan Lynch has a secret that he has told. He is able to pull objects from his dreams into the world. One example is Chainsaw, his pet raven. The middle son of Niall Lynch, he was the one who found his father's body. The tire iron that was used to viciously beat Niall was still lying next to the body when Ronan woke up from a good night's sleep only yards away. That was the last night he slept well. According to Niall's will, all three of his sons were now incredibly wealthy but it all hinged on one condition; they were never to set foot back at home which they called the Barns. They were unable to disturb the house, its contents or property. That condition also included their mother. The Lynch boys were exiles. Ronan has dreamt many times of returning home. One night in his dreams, he returns with a small box from his house. Sleepless, Ronan goes to see if Gansey is awake. He is working on his model town of Henrietta. Ronan shows him the box which turns out to be a puzzle box. It translates words in English to other dead languages. One is unknown to either boy. Ronan suggests that they drive out to the Barns but Gansey isn't going to agree to do anything illegal.

Declan Lynch; Ronan's older brother was viciously attacked in his dorm room by a man who calls himself the Gray Man. He demands that Declan tell him where the Greywaren is. He threatens to kill him and then go after his brothers. Declan finally tells him that he doesn't know where it is, just that it is. The Gray Man is working for Dr. Colin Greenmantle. He is looking for the Greywaren, a relic that allows the owner to take items out of dreams. He is using various instruments to search for its energy. Greenmantle calls and tells him that he must find the relic quickly. There are others looking for it as well. The Gray Man follows the rapid beeping of his instruments to a well casing behind a farmhouse. A rose brush is planted in front of the well and its trunk and branches have so much growth that it appeared to be growing itself to death. He decides to remove the well casing to if he can see anything. Suddenly, his instruments stop beeping. He takes a photo of the rose and leaves.

Adam Parrish has next to nothing but he is on his own. Living in a tiny and cramped room above the St. Agnes rectory, he is working three part-time jobs over the summer to ease the financial burden somewhat so he could concentrate on his classes at Aglionby Academy in the fall. He wanted to go onto college. Adam was desperately attracted to Blue Sargent even though she was troubling to him. He has been ignoring a letter from St. Aglionby's for the past two days. He knows what it is not. Coming home from his job at the local garage, Blue is waiting on his doorstep. He invites her in and before too long they are in each other's arms. Just as Adam decides that he could kiss Blue, she throws the brakes on the situation. Both are hurt but Blue doesn't tell him the reason she stopped him. He goes to take a cold shower and thinks about the sacrifice he made to Cabeswater in order to wake the ley line. Seeing that nothing about him has really changed, he leaves the bathroom conflicted about whether or not he still wants Blue to be there. She is standing at the door talking to the office lady for the rectory. She has good news for Adam. He rent is based on the building's tax assessment and his rent will be dropping by $2400. a year. He thanks her and she leaves. Suspicious, Adam opens the letter from Aglionby to find that his tuition will rise by $2400. and his scholarship will be unable to cover it. His mind begins to think that Gansey has found a way to secretly help him. He becomes furious and unfortunately takes it out verbally to Blue. She lets him know that she will to stand for him to talk to her like that and will be waiting outside the door in case he calms down before she has to leave for work.

Gansey, Blue, Ronan, and Adam decide to back to Cabeswater for the first time since Adam made his sacrifice. As they crest the hill to see Cabeswater for the first time! all that is in front of them is fields; hundreds of acres of field with no sign of trees having been felled. The Camaro is quiet as Gansey checks his journal for the GPS coordinates he wrote down. Blue checks their position on her phone. They are in the right place. The four of them listen to the Camaro slowly die and stop. Adam believes that it is the alternator. Trying to decide what to do, Blue and Gansey see that there is a general store nearby. Ronan is angry and Blue asks if he has a better idea than continuing to break things. Adam feels the sting of her words as though they were directed towards him. Adam thinks about how Noah faded out at the Dollar Store, the Camaro sputtered to a stop and now Cabeswater is gone. Awakening the ley line has blown transformers around town because its energy is so strong. A lack of energy now is a complete mystery.

Why has Cabeswater disappeared? Is Ronan in possession of the Greywaren? Is the relic why he can retrieve items for his dreams? Does Blue fall in love and with whom? Is Gansey any closer in his search for Glendower? Who is The Gray Man? What did Adam sacrifice to wake the ley line? Will Adam continue to make it on his own or will he finally let Gansey help him? Will Blue or her family of psychics figure how Gansey is supposed to die? Why are the Lynch boys not allowed back home?

There are two more books in The Raven Cycle.

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