Book Review | The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Boys #2)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
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Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Number: 439

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Publication Date: September 17, 2013

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?

Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps form others. Some he keeps from himself.

One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.

And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things.

Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.

Of The Raven Boys, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Maggie Stiefvater's can't-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two." Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, dark romance, and heart-stopping twists that only Maggie Stiefvater can conjure.

 Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

My Review:
This review will be pretty short, because this is the second installment in a series and I don't want to spoil anything.
I loved The Raven Boys. Let me just.

I wasn't one of those people who adored Ronan in The Raven Boys. To be honest, he was a bad boy, but he was a bit too much of a bad boy. He was like, insane. No offense. I preferred the classy Gansey, if you know what I mean.

But I picked up The Dream Thieves. And now I admire Maggie Stiefvater even more. 

The Dream Thieves focused on Ronan's past, and it was really interesting, and now I just love Ronan just as much as Gansey. 

Remember I said I liked Adam? WELL NOW.

Adam: *says something annoying*

Me: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

Adam: *says something not annoying*

Me: URGHHHHHH SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP.

Dude, I don't even know, but that thing at the end of the first book ;) made me reconsider if I actually liked Adam. EVERY SINGLE THING HE SAID, I just wanted to yell at him to shut up.

But. 
I used to either love a character for an entire series, or hate a character.
Maggie Stiefvater changed that. 
The plot was just as mysterious and entertaining, and I loved all of it. Heart warming, discovering, amazing, incredible, wow. 
Go read this series, now. Please?

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice

Book Review | Miss Peregine's Home for Pecuilar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #1)

Author: Ransom Riggs
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Publisher: Quirk

Page Number: 352

Genre: Paranormal
Publication Date: June 7, 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography.

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My Review:
This book. Is very strange. But unique. And I did enjoy it. Somewhat.

I think the thing I liked the most about this book was the vintage photography, mainly because it scared the hell out of my friends, much to my amusement. All the pictures were really cool, as they displayed their powers in a mysterious, but beautiful way. 

HOWEVER.

This book didn't live up to my expectations. Jesse from Jessethereader loved this book, so I thought I'd love it too, because we usually have similar taste, but no.

I hated all the characters, and you all know that the characters are usually my favorite part in books. 

The characters were all so bland and cliche and boring and stupid. I didn't connect to any of them, at all. Especially Emma. I just don't get her. 
This book wasn't scary at all. It felt like a children's book. Yes, the photographs were creepy, but no, the story wasn't very horrifying or terrifying. 

This book had one of the things I DESPISE when not done well: insta-love. *shudder*. The two main characters fell in love out of NO WHERE, because of his grandfather? No. Please. No. I felt no bond between the two, no purpose in the romance, other than to add another 50 pages of them kissing. 

The writing was BORING. I didn't like it at all. It didn't flow much, and felt weird. 

The story was sort of boring at times as well. I didn't need to know about how he walked on a beach for about two pages. Put some action. Betrayal. Something to spice it up.  

However, I did love the photography a lot, which probably bumped it up another snowflake or something. It really did add to the boringness of the writing sometimes. It also was really interesting and help me infer somethings, which made the mysteries in this book a little more interesting. 

Final conclusion: Forget the hype. As with all YA books these days, this book was overhyped, and I'm glad I read it after the hype, it's not that good.

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice

Book Review | The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievfater

The Raven Boys (The Raven Boys #1)

Author: Maggie Stiefvater
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Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Number: 416

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Publication Date: September 18, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
“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. 

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My Review:
NOW I understand all the hype around The Raven Boys. Because I loved it. I loved it so so much.
So, basically, The Raven Boys is about a girl named Blue (I know, right?) Sargent, who comes from a family of psychics, which is hella cool. Then she meets this crew of awesome, heartbreaking, and mysterious guys from the Aglionby Academy, The Raven Boys. And she does awesome stuff. And it's awesome. And yeah. Honestly, I knew nothing about this book. When I found out about the psychics...O.O MINDBLOWN. Well, sort of.
Let's talk characters, because they are my favorite part of a book (usually. Unless...EMBER...yeah.)
I loved each and one of The Raven Boys and Blue with a piece of my soul (well, not really....or...). The Raven Boys each have one of their own character traits that make them so unique, but as a whole, they're incredible. We have the violent sarcastic Ronan, sweet Gansey (fangirling), Adam, the smart one, and Noah Czerny, the shy one. 
Blue was such a unique character, but you'd expect that with a family of psychics. But I did have a problem with Adam. I was all like, GANSEY + BLUE OTP, right? But Adam...sigh. No spoilers.
The writing was also classic Maggie Stiefvater, very beautiful writing. It really flowed with the story and made it much more enjoyable (if it wasn't already). 
This book is mysterious, and throughly enjoyable. I highly recommend it, but don't get too deep with the spoilers. The less you know, the more surprising this book gets.

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice

Book Review | The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived (The Archived #1)

Author: Victoria Schwab
Publisher: Hyperion

Page Number: 328

Genre: Supernatural Thriller 
Publication Date: January 22, 2013

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
The dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead, called 'Histories', rest in the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper is dangerous and a constant reminder of those she lost, Da and her little brother. Mac wonders about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. Yet someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

My Review:
Holy schist. (lol dam percy jackson reference) This book is amazing. It took me a long time to get into, but that was probably 'cause I was reading other awesome stuff. The ending totally made up for it, though. I was racing through the pages. I think I might have gotten a few lot of paper cuts!

Let's talk characters. Mackenzie Bishop is an interesting main character. She's really good at lying; I wish I had her lying skills. Her loyalty is admirable, she really loves her Da and brother, Ben. It's a wonder her parents gave birth to her, as they are nothing alike. That's what makes her special. She's really curious, and wants to know stuff. LIKE ME. #twins #lolno. She's defintely one to stand up and work hard like a HUFFLEPUFF! Also, her kickbottes In French, "bottes" means boots, but it sounds like "butt" when you say it. Swaggety awesome French teacher. :)-ness is incredible. She really kicks some bottes in the ending.Yeah...I LIKE HER. GOOD MAIN CHARACTER.

Wesley, or Wes, is cool-o. He's like emo, like some sort of goth dude or what not. He's really sweet, brave, and just plain weird and awesome. I'd like to learn more about him, though... I can't go on...or spoilers will come. Guyliner though... ^^

The Archived. It was certainly interesting, with the dead souls, ya know? It was intriguing, and mysterious, and I'm definitely checking out her other books if they share the same qualities. The dead souls explanation was a bit confusing, but I enjoyed it! I definitely enjoyed it!

Victoria Roth. Victoria SCHWAB ...I really liked her writing style, for some strange reason. It was mysterious, with sneak peeks from Mac's past with Ben and Da, which I really liked. She has this really smooth and descriptive writing style...that I feel like is missing these days. So that's good. 

FINALLY HER FREAKING PLOT TWISTS. MY HAIR WAS MESSER AFTER READING THIS THEN WAKING UP IN THIS MORNING. When I get so distressed, I start pulling hair. Don't judge me. You probably already are.  ANYWAYS. Yeah. Be prepared for plot twists

Final Rating: 

❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄

~Beatrice