The Dream Thieves is darker and in your face with the awful things in store for our young friends. But somehow you just know they will find a way to manage. 
 Sometimes, some rare times, a secret stays undiscovered because it is something too big for the mind to hold. It is too strange, too vast, too terrifying to contemplate. - pg 1 / pg 435 
 With a brisker pace as compared to The Raven Boys I found I enjoyed The Dream Thieves much more. There was no end of things going on and events to keep you rushing from page to page. Adam is suffering from the ramifications of waking the ley line, Ronan is able to pull things from his dreams, Gansey is trying to keep it together, and Noah can't seem to keep himself together - while all the while Blue is still finding her place among them and wrestling with her feelings. 
 What I love most about this series are these characters. They feel so absolutely real to me. Their faults and hangups are part of what make them so great. So what, Ronan is a prick and says some of the most insensitive things and Adam is a muley stubborn headed bit of an arse - but they both have their good qualities as well. My one sad point here about this ragtag group is that the perspective shifts to all of them except Noah. What the heck is up with that? I want to read from Noah's perspective. 
 The character observations in The Dream Thieves absolutely delight me. This one was one of my particular favorites where Blue is sizing up Mr. Gray. 
 Second of all, he was polite in a way that was unlike anything Blue had encountered before. Gansey was polite in a way that squashed the other party smaller. Adam was polite to reassure. And this man was polite in a keen, questioning sort of way. He was polite like tentacles were polite, testing the surface carefully, checking to see how it reacted to his presence. - pg 204 
 There is still that prediction looming over Blue's head that her true love will die if she kisses him. But Noah at least helps her put it into perspective somewhat. It is also my favorite scene in the entire book and the part immediately following this gave me the best belly laugh ever! THAT is good writing folks, if the author can move you from utter delight to ...I dwell in darkness. 
 "Like, if you kiss your true love, he'll die," he said, "or is it when you kiss your true love, he'll die? One's your fault. The other one, you just happen to be there when it happens. Like, when you kiss him, POW, he gets hit by a bear. Totally not your fault. You shouldn't feel bad about that. It's not your bear." - pg 242 
 I did not know where things were going and thankfully didn't have the ending guessed by the halfway point. The Dream Thieves is an excellent second showing with the promise of better yet to come. 
 P.S that half point was only because I felt Noah wasn't given a perspective.. 
 * An advanced uncorrected copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review. Quotes come from an advanced uncorrected proof edition and may not be the same in the published version. All opinions expressed are my own.