The Dream Thief by S. Abé

The Dream ThiefThis review is really hard for me to write, because I so wanted to like The Dream Thief by Shana Abé. When I first read it, I was left feeling like I had only skimmed the surface of what could have been a great novel.  The Dream Thief wasn’t exactly lacking anything, it was just one of those cases where the sequel just couldn’t surpass the first one.

In the remote hills of northern England lives a powerful clan with a centuries-old secret. They are the drákon, shape-shifters who possess the ability to Turn—changing from human to smoke to dragon. And from the very stones of the earth, they hear hypnotic songs of beauty and wonder. But there is one stone they fear….

Buried deep within the bowels of the Carpathian Mountains lies the legendary dreaming diamond known as Draumr, the only gem with the power to enslave the drákon. Since childhood, Lady Amalia Langford, daughter of the clan’s Alpha, has heard its haunting ballad but kept it secret, along with another rare Gift….

Lia can hear the future, much in the way she hears the call of Draumr. And in that future, she realizes that the diamond—along with the fate of the drákon—rests in the hands of a human man, one who straddles two worlds.

Ruthlessly clever, Zane has risen through London’s criminal underworld to become its ruler. Once a street urchin saved by Lia’s mother, Zane is also privy to the secrets of the clan—and is the only human they trust to bring them Draumr. But he does nothing selflessly.

Zane’s hunt for the gem takes him to Hungary, where he is shocked to encounter a bold, beautiful young noblewoman: Lia. She has broken every rule of the drákon to join him, driven by the urgent song of Draumr—and her visions of Zane. In one future, he is her ally. In another, her overlord. In both, he is her lover. Now, to protect her tribe, Lia must tie her fate to Zane’s, to the one man capable of stealing her future—and destroying her heart….

The Dream Thief centered around Lia, Rue and Kit’s youngest daughter, and Zane, the young boy that Rue saved years ago, all grown up. Unfortunately, neither character had any sense of depth unlike Lia’s parents who were so real they practically flew off the pages. Lia was meek, hiding in the shadows, refusing to take action against the future she continually dreamt about with her psychic ability. Zane surly attitude never truly dissipated despite his growth as a character. Their chemistry, while it didn’t feel forced, it didn’t feel right – more like soggy puzzle pieces being forced together. In other words, perfect for each other, but yet not. There needed to be more to the story.

In one of her rare showings of her backbone, Lia forced Zane to let her accompany him on his quest, set by her parents, to find the diamond known as Draumr. Most of the quest consisted of them simply traveling through the countryside and over the mountains, while Lia was sequestered in the carriage and Zane sat next to the driver. But to spice it up, accidents sometimes occurred when they stopped to rest. Like the building suddenly catching on fire while nearly everyone was asleep.

Overall, I don’t really know what to say about The Dream Thief. When I read it, I liked it well enough. Abé used the same lyrical tone that swept me away in The Smoke Thief. But thinking back on The Dream Thief, I can see plot holes, not to mention the lacking plot and characters that needed more time for growth. Like I said before, this review was really hard for me to write because I can’t definitively decide if I liked The Dream Thief or not.

Read Order:
The Smoke Thief
The Dream Thief
Queen of Dragons
The Treasure Keeper
The Time Weaver

Also reviewed by: Dr. J’s Book Place, Wicked Readings by Tawania and Dear Author

About Casey 203 Articles
Casey is the founder of Heart Full of Ink, Director at Reading Until Dawn Con, and a full time cheese addict. She's been ranting and reviewing for Literary Escapism since 2010, and is part of the trio #3Bloggers1Series podcast. When she's not reading, looking for new books, or stalking authors online (waiting for more books), she can be found binge watching Netflix. But really, her life is all about DEM BOOKS!

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