3.5 Stars 
 "Reality's what other people dream for you." 
 In a way, this is the most interesting and compelling of all the books in the series. The prose remains lyrical (flecked with largely effective metaphors), the pacing is a bit faster, and the plot more eventful overall. Its appeal is largely a result of the fact that it centers heavily on Ronan Lynch. Ronan is perhaps the most fascinating and complex character, and his capabilities feature prominently as he stumbles into himself. 
 On the surface, Ronan comes across as a basic bad-boy archetype. But even in the first book, readers would have suspected the front he puts up is more protective facade than reality. His shady-dealing father was murdered, and the terms of his will destroyed all remaining normalcy in the domestic lives of his three sons. And with the catatonic incapacitation of his mother after his father's death, Ronan is effectively an orphan. He is bitterly hostile toward his older brother, while doggedly devoted to his younger brother and his posse in Henrietta. 
 He's sympathetic in spite of the jagged edges and because of them. 
 "He was brother to a liar and brother to an angel, son of a dream and son of a dreamer." 
 My only complaint about the presentation of Ronan would be the portrayal of the Catholic angle. I could buy that he had a lot more depth than he let on outwardly, but his supposed reverence for church felt more like an ironic quirk than an authentic piece of his identity. True, plenty of church-goers (of all types) view faith through a more strictly ritualistic/traditional lens than they do a personal spiritual experience. But no part of his alleged spiritual exposure seems to occur to Ronan internally at any point--despite the fact that his family had been faithful mass-goers his whole life. Not in prayer, perspective, or even passing metaphor. 
 As for the other characters who developed on the sidelines this go around... 
 -My patience with Blue waned considerably compared with the first book. Her wishy-washy indirectness with Adam was tiring and irksome--with little justification to coat the already hard-to-swallow pill of her attitude. She seemed to stubbornly want to have a more-than-friends relationship with Adam, if only to prove that Gansey wasn't doomed to be her true love. (Or just plain doomed?) Yet, she was never curious about Adam--never asked him personal questions, or did any of the things that would help a sensible person get to know another. As a result, she was oblivious as to the domestic abuse Adam had been suffering his whole life, and didn't have much of an empathy response when it did come to light. 
 -And while Adam himself is certainly deserving of pity, he also proves frustratingly passive, bland, and relationally implosive. It's hard to root for someone who won't root for themselves. Also, whatever he did in the first book when he made a "deal" with cabeswater seemed to fall by the wayside. I'm still not clear on what that's supposed to entail, in terms of the worldbuilding. 
 -Gansey's gradually forming affinity toward Blue was a refreshingly slow burn potential for romance, which valiantly strives not to turn itself into a stereotypical love triangle. Gansey continues to be a noble, refreshingly nice-guy character--if not benignly obsessive and woe-is-me affluent. 
 -Noah is, hands down, my favorite dead MC. He's kind of like the adorable mascot of the Raven Boys. 
 -Kavinsky. As crazed psychopaths go, he didn't really do anything for me. 
 -The Gray Man. As near-sociopaths go, I'm intrigued. Not sold on the love-interest twist, however. 
 Side Note: I'm starting to wonder and hope this color-related naming thing is going somewhere: Blue, Graywaren, Greenmantle, Gray Man... 
 I'm still happily rounding up on my star rating because the dream-retrieval aspect was so original and enthrallingly laid out. I have to give Steifvater props--I've never seen this before, and I liked the ethereal way in which she portrayed it.