Sigh. I was just not feeling this one. I can't fault Stiefvater, since the writing is similar in quality and style to The Raven Boys. My least favorite elements of the first one included the plot about the search for the Welsh King Glendower, and the supernatural points in general. I love Blue and her family of psychics, but they weren't featured as prominently in this story.
The main character in this one is Ronan Lynch. We hear more about his life, relationships with his brothers, and family history of procuring items from dreams and bringing them forth to real life upon awakening. Nice premise, but felt confused during most of the disjointed dream sequences. I realized there would be an explanation, but still couldn't make myself care in the moment. It was the type of confusion where my attention wasn't piqued enough to fly through the pages and figure out what happened. I just became annoyed at my lack of interest, and subsequently forced my way through it.
The addition of the Kavinsky character and the car racing/Molotov cocktail throwing bravado wasn't my cup of tea either. "The inside of the old Camaro smelled like asphalt and desire, gasoline and dreams." Eh, maybe the appeal is there for some, I just found some of these scenes humorous, when I'm sure that was not the intention. The physical descriptions of characters and tough-guy personas seemed overwrought. "And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war." Okey dokey. I was also a little uninspired by the Gray Man being named the Gray Man, because, well, he wore Gray.
As I've repeatedly stated, I just had a hard time. I feel extra guilty since I have the third book and really wanted to pre-order the final book for it's release in late March. This goes to prove that I need to buy books in a series one at a time! If you usually enjoy Young Adult paranormal and bad boy characters, this might be in your wheelhouse.
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