This is a review of the whole Raven Cycle tetralogy:

This is a young adult, urban fantasy story, about a group of private school boys who are obsessed about searching for a medieval Welsh king who is supposed to be buried in Virginia, somewhere along a mystical "ley line", and about a town girl from a close-knit family of seers who befriends them.

The quality of the writing is high, the characterization compelling and the fantasy elements are imaginative and vivid. This is no Twilight, and Stiefvater can create a magical atmosphere and make the story compulsively readable.

The plot was not as accomplished as the setting and characters. I felt that the story did not need to be stretched over four books, and in each installment new adversaries had to be introduced, to play roles similar to those of enemies that had already been dealt with.

All in all, a rather enjoyable read. ( )

(4 1/2 stars) books that actually reshape your brain forever at thirteen ( )

Meh, meh, a resounding meh. I'm giving it two because I don't care enough to give it one.

I don't care about any of the characters, and the plot doesn't have a lot to recommend it---the whole thing is very character-driven and interpersonal. Why does Kavinsky kill himself? It's a real cop-out as far as having to address conflict to advance the plot. Is it because we care about him? (I don't.) Because we care about Ronan caring about him? (I don't.) Is he going to come back from the dead? Probably. Are we being set up for a Ronan/Adam thing? Probably, and that should be a trainwreck and a half. Do they even talk to each other? Have they ever had a conversation longer than a sentence where one deliberately provokes the other? I honestly don't recall.

I like every other character more than I like Gansey, though. His motivations are bullshit. (Rich boy wants something (unspecified) from his quest that money can't buy? IDK.) His personal struggles to be accountable for his class privilege in relationships are uninteresting to me in the absence of a larger political vision motivating it. But at least he's an emotionally mature sensitive teen heartthrob, which is an improvement over most male love interests in YA lit.

The bits I got most engaged in were the tarot bits, and only because of my outside interest---I had fun trying to interpret the cards before turning the page to see how the characters interpreted them.

ETA 4 August 2017:

I think the problem with these books is that I would read the heck out of a version that was centered around Blue and her family, where Blue gets a bigger share of the interests and motivations that are currently allocated to Gansey, and where all the boys are secondary characters and love interests. Blue has a lot more obvious motivation to be interested in the Raven King than Gansey does: she's surrounded by magic but not magical herself, so a magical quest that requires her to do lots of research into myth and history and paranormal science and come up with ways for standard scientific equipment to detect magic would be tempting. It's plausible as "the reason all the other kids at school think I'm a weirdo," which could be a great source of tension---along with, "why do you spend so much time hanging out with the ultra-wealthy assholes from the private school?" and "ugh, Adam, that kid thinks he's too good for us." And Blue investigating the nature of her own curse/fate? Awesome. ( )

Ladri di sogni è un bellissimo libro sul diventare grandi, quello che sogna di essere la maggior parte degli YA con risultati assai discutibili. Come Raven Boys si era concentrato sul farci conoscere Gansey e la sua ricerca di Glendower, Ladri di sogni sposta l’attenzione su Ronan e la sua capacità di materializzare cose e esseri viventi dai suoi sogni.

Lungi dall’essere il semplice orpello sovrannaturale alla trama, Stiefvater usa questa capacità di Ronan per parlarci di come, crescendo, possiamo trovarci ad affrontare situazioni che non sappiamo come gestire e finire per avere a che fare con gente dalla moralità discutibile. E come si fa a saperlo prima? Qual è la moralità giusta?

Ronan inizia il suo percorso come una mina vagante, incapace di capire e accettare parti di sé. Non ci vuole molto prima che incontri un’altra mina vagante come lui, Kavinsky, con il quale condivide la stessa capacità paranormale. Solo che Kavinsky è molto più avanti di Ronan nella discesa verso la rovina e non si farà troppi scrupoli nell’insegnargli ad approfittarsi del suo dono.

Approfittarsi, però, non è il verbo preferito di Ronan, che è tipo capace di far mentire una suora sul tuo affitto per permetterti di continuare a perseguire il percorso che hai scelto di fare, a differenza di Gansey, che preferirebbe semplicemente pagarti tutto perché può. Ronan, invece, è abbastanza coraggioso da sopportare il peso della libertà, sia della sua, sia quella altrui.

Insomma, Stiefvater ha scritto un magnifico libro sul consenso e sul fatto che avere il potere di fare qualcosa non ti autorizza a farla, soprattutto senza tenere conto delle conseguenze. Fate leggere questa saga a qualunque adolescente vi capiti a fagiolo. ( )

Just like the first book, the ending of this one intrigued me enough to want to read the next, so I guess that's a good thing? Overall I think I liked the first book better, but this was still a solid contender in the series. It was nice to learn so much about Ronan and his family and his history and I'm looking forward to seeing where Blue lily, lily blue leaves off. I would recommend this book. 4 out of 5 stars. ( )