Review: THE DREAM THIEVES Book Two of The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary from Goodreads:  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...

I was drawn back to The Raven Cycle by the strong friendships that were developed in the first book.  I really wanted to see where the story was going to go next, so once I saw it at the library, I didn't even hesitate to check it out.  From the cover, I knew that this book was going to be about Ronan.  His is a story that I was eager to learn more about, especially the relationships between him and his family. An underlying premise of this book deals with secrets. As Stiefvater  explains,  "There are three kinds of secrets. One is the sort everyone knows about, the sort you need at least two people for.  One to keep it.  One to never know.  The second is a harder kind of secret: one you keep from yourself.  ....And there is the third kind of secret, the most hidden kind.  A secret no one knows about.  Perhaps it was known once, but was taken to the grave.  Or maybe it is a useless mystery, arcane and lonely, unfound because no one ever looked for it...."  I love how Stiefvater takes the idea of secrets and lets it unfold through Ronan's point of view in the story.   I think he is turning into my favorite character of the Raven Boys.   Where Stiefvater would take it, I never expected, but I loved it none the less.  Sequels can sometimes be hard, but The Dream Thieves was executed very well with plenty of romance, danger, mystery and action.  From the lovely moments between Gansey and Blue and the additions of the Gray Man and Joseph Kavinsky  ratcheting up the  tension and action of the story, I absolutely loved this book and eagerly await the next in the series.