Meeghan's Updates en-US Sun, 13 Apr 2025 02:14:46 -0700 60 Meeghan's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review2032914269 Sun, 13 Apr 2025 02:14:46 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'The Dream Thieves']]> /review/show/2032914269 The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Meeghan gave 5 stars to The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
bookshelves: currently-reading
Second read through review:
I changed my rating to 5 stars. This series makes me so happy. That is all.

**

There is absolutely something about these books that I can’t get out of my head. In the first one, there was a hesitant reluctance to finish it because I dreaded the ending. In the second one, I tore though it in the hope that the end game may change, but it only drew it closer. To be honest, I am scared for the third book.

As I mentioned in my review of book one, Stiefvater’s writing is poetic, and I can’t say it any better than I did last time. It has this musical cadence to it that is soothing, yet illuminatingly descriptive. I absolutely believe that this is not for every reader, and I think it’s part of the reason that people can be so divided about this series, and also the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. Writing is a third of the book � and it’s hard to stay with it if you don’t like it.

The characters changed in this story. Not in a bad way � they grew in that character development way, but it was dramatic and maybe a little bit abrupt. Where the first story was a generic background and some secondary characters, this became a deep dive into some mains and also some secondary character’s motivations and backgrounds. Where The Raven Boys featured who they were as a contextual piece of the story, The Dream Thieves abrasively attacked how and why they were, particularly Ronan and Adam. Of course this then dragged Persephone, Calla and Maura further into the spotlight, as well as Ronan’s brothers.

While all this turmoil is occurring though, you can see that it is inevitably drawing Blue and Gansey together � which is both exciting and terrifying at once.

The overarching plot is also going in places I had not expected. Or more to the point, I was expecting it to go down a specific path (see previous paragraph regarding Blue and Gansey), and while it is heading there, I was not anticipating that there would be additional snags along the way. Between the corpse road, Cabeswater, Greywaren, the Grey Man, and the scrying, I had no idea where this story was going. However, I find it all leading back to the same point, much like fate or destiny or coincidence. What I had thought were distracting tangents, appear only to become stronger bows with which to draw the arrows.

While intriguing, I did feel that I was left wanting more from this story, in particular chapter fifty-one. I have this dreading hesitance to finish these books � I can only imagine the pain and hurt I will feel after falling further in love with these characters and then to anticipate the end that I do � however, I also desperately want to read to the end to find my anticipated ending is wrong. And I can't decide if the series would be better or worse for the ending it portrays from the beginning (please keep in mind that I kind of love when they kill off characters, because you never understand your love for a fictional character until you mourn for them).

So, with great reluctance and optimistic hope I will move onto book three, and pray for more teen anguish between Blue and Gansey, less inner turmoil for Ronan, more storyline for Noah, Calla and Persephone, and less pages for Adam (sorry, but he annoys me).

� � � � � � � � - 8/10 hearts ]]> ReadStatus9296117970 Fri, 11 Apr 2025 03:07:16 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan is currently reading 'Hopeless']]> /review/show/7479789526 Hopeless by Elsie Silver Meeghan is currently reading Hopeless by Elsie Silver
]]> Review1958634108 Sun, 06 Apr 2025 03:11:57 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'The Raven Boys']]> /review/show/1958634108 The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Meeghan gave 5 stars to The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Second read through edit:
Now that I know how the story ends, I wasn't reading hesitantly. I was able to savour the imagery and the characters, making this read through longer, but more exquisite. Stiefvater is definitely a magical writer, and there's something other-worldly about this series (apart from the story itself). This book is definitely going on my extraordinary shelf, so I'm changing my rating to 10/10.

***

Normally when I write a book review I wait until I have read the entire book before I start, but there was something about this book that I had to start putting my thoughts down around a third of the way in.

Stiefvater’s writing is magical. It has this lilting prose feeling about it that sweeps you away into the story, but at the same time you find yourself admiring the gust of wind that you’ve been carried away on. It’s the melody of a instrumental Scottish folk tune, with such mournful, gut-wrenching sadness heard through the bagpipes, become words on a page. It’s a soothing lullaby that while giving you a feeling of warmth and comfort, make the hairs on your arms standing on end. It’s like reading modern-day tragic Shakepeare, but if he was also handing you a pinch of fairy dust and asking you to just believe and follow him towards the second star on the right, straight on ’til morning.

The story itself is wrapped in magic, wonder and mythology, but it holds a promise of so much more. A mesmerising tale full of ‘what ifs�, ripe with possibilities, yet beholden to that sharp-edged teenage drama that leaves you wanting to shake the characters because they didn’t say things out loud when they should have. Psychic energy mixed with star-crossed lovers, ley lines and jealousy, foretold death and the promise of something more.

The characters are complex, each with their own distinct voice, which makes this a particularly pleasant read. There is no particular point of view that the story is told from, but rather as if there was a narrator who could see into each of their souls and was relaying their journey to the reader. Blue, Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah seem to be caught in the spider web of circumstance and fate, test each of them are pulling entirely different strings that seem to not be connected at all. Each of them are reeling from something so completely seperate from each other that it’s hard to see how they are interwoven at all. And yet they all end up at the same place, as if there is nothing more than fate leading them down different paths to the one point where everything coincides.

Due to the way the story has been written, you find yourself knowing how it will end, waiting for the unthinkable to occur, but holding your breath and hoping that it won’t. It gives you this unmistakable feeling of hesitance to continue reading. The best analogy I can think of is that you’re stuck in traffic because there has been a terrible car accident ahead. You know that it is bad and that someone has been killed, and yet as you slowly arrive at the scene and make your way past it, you can’t help but stare even though you hope against hope that you don't see anything. That’s the feeling that I had while the end of the book was approaching. That unsinkable feeling of knowing destruction is right around the corner, but hoping that is doesn’t arrive yet.

I think this is going to be one of those books that I consider for a long time, and the longer I consider it, the more likely it will make its way onto that extra-ordinary shelf I keep reserved for those particular one off books.

� � � � � � � � � - 9/10 hearts ]]> ReadStatus9276267863 Sat, 05 Apr 2025 22:27:38 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan is currently reading 'Foxglove']]> /review/show/7466105754 Foxglove by Adalyn Grace Meeghan is currently reading Foxglove by Adalyn Grace
]]> Review7462787880 Sat, 05 Apr 2025 22:23:17 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'Shattered Truths']]> /review/show/7462787880 Shattered Truths by H. Hunting Meeghan gave 3 stars to Shattered Truths (Lies, Hearts and Truths, #3) by H. Hunting
]]> Review7432779384 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 04:58:04 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'The Serpent and the Wings of Night']]> /review/show/7432779384 The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent Meeghan gave 4 stars to The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1) by Carissa Broadbent
bookshelves: beat-the-backlist-2025
]]> Review7423450122 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 21:28:11 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'Unveil']]> /review/show/7423450122 Unveil by Elodie Hart Meeghan gave 3 stars to Unveil (Alchemy, #3) by Elodie Hart
]]> Comment288353352 Sun, 16 Mar 2025 01:18:22 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan made a comment on Aimee’s status]]> /user_status/show/1027596759 Meeghan made a comment on Aimee’s status

Yaaaaaassss Aimee!! 💕 ]]> Rating836602883 Sun, 16 Mar 2025 01:18:10 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan liked a userstatus]]> /
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Aimee is 70% done with The Cruel Prince: Finallllly I’m getting some more of cardan
]]> Review3017195467 Sun, 16 Mar 2025 01:18:05 -0700 <![CDATA[Meeghan added 'Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow']]> /review/show/3017195467 Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend Meeghan gave 5 stars to Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #3) by Jessica Townsend
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