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seforana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Blood, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
kathlyn's review against another edition
4.5
This book was a really good surprise. I was totally swept away in the world of blue gods and a lost city. The story and world felt so different than many of the other fantasy books. In a lot of ways, it was just weird and I mean that in a good way. It was so beautifully written and felt like reading an awesome dream. I wanted to enter the world so badly the whole time.
Something to note is that this book is really on the cusp between young adult and adult. It’s published as YA but I feel like a lot of it’s content and themes are dark enough to push into adult territory. I think it’s fine for 16+ but younger young adult readers (12-14) might be too young.
This book lost half a star because Lazlo’s character often felt shallow to me. He was a little too perfect, especially compared to some of the other characters’ complexity. I’m hoping we get more depth and conflict from him in the next book.
Something to note is that this book is really on the cusp between young adult and adult. It’s published as YA but I feel like a lot of it’s content and themes are dark enough to push into adult territory. I think it’s fine for 16+ but younger young adult readers (12-14) might be too young.
This book lost half a star because Lazlo’s character often felt shallow to me. He was a little too perfect, especially compared to some of the other characters’ complexity. I’m hoping we get more depth and conflict from him in the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence
lilifane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
NO! What do you mean "To be continued"!?!?!
I knew there was a sequel, but I was not expecting the first book to end on a CLIFFHANGER!
At least it's already written and published... But I didn't plan to read Muse of Nightmares this month, or even this year? Guess I need to squeeze it in somewhere in April.
Because this was SO good. Much longer than I had expected tbh, but I also couldn't put it down.
I loved the writing and world building, they are phenomenal. I also loved the plot, but this is definitely more of a "the journey is the reward" kind of story (only without the reward because it ends on a cliffhanger!!!). Yes, I want the plot to progress and all the mysteries and questions to be answered. No, I don't mind reading hundreds of pages of dream descriptions and fairy tales while I'm waiting. This is truly a love letter to reading and dreaming and story telling and magic. And it's such an interesting world with many interesting and complex characters and character dynamics and a heartbreaking conflict. It actually gets pretty dark and there is a lot of trauma. So much trauma. I have so many feelings for the characters and what they went through/are still going through, the decisions they made. It physically hurts. And I don't know how, but there better be some kind of happy ending.
I knew there was a sequel, but I was not expecting the first book to end on a CLIFFHANGER!
At least it's already written and published... But I didn't plan to read Muse of Nightmares this month, or even this year? Guess I need to squeeze it in somewhere in April.
Because this was SO good. Much longer than I had expected tbh, but I also couldn't put it down.
I loved the writing and world building, they are phenomenal. I also loved the plot, but this is definitely more of a "the journey is the reward" kind of story (only without the reward because it ends on a cliffhanger!!!). Yes, I want the plot to progress and all the mysteries and questions to be answered. No, I don't mind reading hundreds of pages of dream descriptions and fairy tales while I'm waiting. This is truly a love letter to reading and dreaming and story telling and magic. And it's such an interesting world with many interesting and complex characters and character dynamics and a heartbreaking conflict. It actually gets pretty dark and there is a lot of trauma. So much trauma. I have so many feelings for the characters and what they went through/are still going through, the decisions they made. It physically hurts. And I don't know how, but there better be some kind of happy ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Genocide, and Racism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, War, Rape, and Death of parent
arfserra's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Pros: lyrical writing, worldbuilding borrowing elements from different cultures from our world with different perspectives - reminded me a bit of FFXIV.
The main characters are very lovable, and their conflicts are believable.Sarai's death is kind of inevitable if you think about the hints throughout the story, but it's still very sad. I wish we got to see more Lazlo x Thion. A good spin on the "chosen one" trope.
The main characters are very lovable, and their conflicts are believable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Child death and Sexual violence
c_serpent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am a sucker for a few things. One of them is a story about gods. But a story about a city tormented for 200 years by false gods? That then the Godslayer killed?
Please do tell me more.
I messaged my best friend at one point while reading this book (it's her favorite) and said, "I want to eat this book. Which is WEIRD but it's like it has a flavor." The voice in this novel is a gift. It is funny, moving, poetic, and taught me some new words. Ya girl was a former ~*~ gifted child ~*~ reader and still rates shamefully high on vocabulary quizzes, and I learned words, bruh. That takes some work.
Lazlo is a gift. Sarai is a gift. I would do terrible things in the name of love for Ruza. I want to be Calixte's best friend. I want to kick Thyon in the teeth and if I had words for how much I hate Minya, my mother wouldn't let me use them.
It's hard to find a novel written in poetic voice that doesn't overdo it or make things needlessly obscure. Nothing was needlessly obscure here, and the prose sang. Moreover, I don't trust many people to do omniscient third person, but Taylor pulls it off. It never felt weird or contrived to me. I think I was about 50% of the way through the book before I even realised it was third person omniscient. The twists weren't completely unforeseeable but nor were they so obvious that everything was boring. And I appreciate that kind of foreshadowing.
This book deals with heavy issues (as in literal sex trafficking and the murder of babies), but it does so bearably. This book could have been completely grimdark, and it wasn't, and I love it for that. It is laced through with hope. And even though it ended on a cliff-hanger that made me yell, I know everything will be okay, and that is, I think, one of the most endearing qualities a novel can have.
Two stars have been awarded for the poetic voice, a star has been awarded for Sarai's brave little pacifist soul, a star has been awarded for Eril-Fane's tears, and a star has been awarded to Lazlo and Ruza's banter about mushrooms. Then I took all the stars away and gave them all to Ruza, because wow. What a guy.
Total score: 5/5 stars
Please do tell me more.
I messaged my best friend at one point while reading this book (it's her favorite) and said, "I want to eat this book. Which is WEIRD but it's like it has a flavor." The voice in this novel is a gift. It is funny, moving, poetic, and taught me some new words. Ya girl was a former ~*~ gifted child ~*~ reader and still rates shamefully high on vocabulary quizzes, and I learned words, bruh. That takes some work.
Lazlo is a gift. Sarai is a gift. I would do terrible things in the name of love for Ruza. I want to be Calixte's best friend. I want to kick Thyon in the teeth and if I had words for how much I hate Minya, my mother wouldn't let me use them.
It's hard to find a novel written in poetic voice that doesn't overdo it or make things needlessly obscure. Nothing was needlessly obscure here, and the prose sang. Moreover, I don't trust many people to do omniscient third person, but Taylor pulls it off. It never felt weird or contrived to me. I think I was about 50% of the way through the book before I even realised it was third person omniscient. The twists weren't completely unforeseeable but nor were they so obvious that everything was boring. And I appreciate that kind of foreshadowing.
This book deals with heavy issues (as in literal sex trafficking and the murder of babies), but it does so bearably. This book could have been completely grimdark, and it wasn't, and I love it for that. It is laced through with hope. And even though it ended on a cliff-hanger that made me yell, I know everything will be okay, and that is, I think, one of the most endearing qualities a novel can have.
Two stars have been awarded for the poetic voice, a star has been awarded for Sarai's brave little pacifist soul, a star has been awarded for Eril-Fane's tears, and a star has been awarded to Lazlo and Ruza's banter about mushrooms. Then I took all the stars away and gave them all to Ruza, because wow. What a guy.
Total score: 5/5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual assault, and Slavery
Moderate: Pregnancy and Confinement
vagrantheather's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
World building is thorough and lovely. Writing is moderate to nice. Plot driven - can't really say the characters go through much development - book is formatted around want thing > get to place > try to accomplish thing > thing done. It's a nice book, but missing the tension that would make me curious what happens next. I mean the characters have their goals, and we know there'll be a face off between humans and godspawn, but . . . I am not sure what it lacks, maybe it's the perspective of the writing. Other reviewers call out issues with pacing and perhaps that's it.
I loved the bits in Lazlo's dreams. The whole book does have a dreamy, timeless quality.
"Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It's just that when they do them, they call it justice."
I loved the bits in Lazlo's dreams. The whole book does have a dreamy, timeless quality.
"Good people do all the things bad people do, Lazlo. It's just that when they do them, they call it justice."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Genocide
laneyts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, and Death
midnightverde's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This fantasy novel is beautifully written. There are clues throughout the story to the mysteries of the lost city of Weep, yet there are still so many questions. The characters are full of depth and it’s easy to fall in love with many of them (and passionately hate others). There is a cliffhanger at the end of the book and I have to go put the final book of the duology on hold now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
panickedhonking's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Incest, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Death, and Emotional abuse
sukidookie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The writing style of this book was visually enriching and seriously drew me in. It was easy to relate to a main character who is always reading books and has his head in the clouds. It was fascinating watching him grow from a peasant into a mysterious God, and I'm already itching to read the next book in the series. The characters had consistent personalities and were uniquely different from each other. I was invested in the lore and the fantastical mythology because it was directly related to both the main character and the setting. I thought the discussion on racism and trauma was well done, and I desperately want to see Weep become something like the city Lazlo dreamed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, and Violence