10.8k reviews for:

Strange the Dreamer

Laini Taylor

4.3 AVERAGE

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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: No

Laini Taylor is magic! I have enjoyed other books by her so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! 

The characters, the story, the relationships, and world - I loved all of it. Cannot wait to continue reading. 

Highly recommend. 
inspiring tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

"How does it happen, that the events of a day, or a night—or a life—are translated into story? There is a gap in between, where awe has carved a space that words have yet to fill."

And that's exactly how I'm at awe about this book and have no words to describe it.
This might have been one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. This books is like a dream come true.
 It starts out dreamy, but later becomes an epic fantasy story. The tension and foreshadowing is out of this world. The writing is evocative and all characters are like living beings in my mind. The romance feels a bit like star-crossed lovers, but is only one part of the many dreams of the MCs. The story unfolds slowly, but magically.

Read this book if you want to be transported into a world of dreams, into a story
“Beautiful and full of monsters?” “All the best stories are.”
adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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: Yes
adventurous emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
funny mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No

this book is all about dreams an dreaming and hoping for the impossible because no matter how impossible it might seem or how long those odds look, your dream might just come true. 

therefore, it is SO funny that it ends with the main character begging at the antagonists feet to put his dead lover's soul into the torture nexus forever. "what, you thought you should hope for better? you thought you should have dreams? wrong move, loser." looks like the head librarian was dead on the money when he told lazlo he should try to be happy with the life he was dealt.

it's good until the first ghost attack, and after that any pretense of pacing going right out the fucking window. in that scene we learn:

there is an army of ghosts in the citadel
...which means the danger the experts were promised is gone is actually anything but
there are still people living in the citadel
...these people are godlings, who were thought to be extinct
...one of which is big boy's child, who he thought he killed

what happens in the next scene? lazlo and serai sit down to tea and talk about cake. or i guess pretending to do that, because they do it in a dream. he doesn't ask her anything about ANY of the events that just unfolded, or about the ghosts that just tried to kill him. instead we get an extended internal monologue about him thinking about the best way to pour tea because he doesn't want to spill it. then they dick about in a market (or i guess pretend to dick about in a market, because dream). all the while serai is basically in ghost prison and her life is in danger.

things also stop making so much sense. other than lazlo dicking around with his dream-bae: none of the experts care about the army of ghosts about their head, half the experts never do anything, everyone decides the anchors are keeping the giant tower from floating away into the sky (rather than like, resisting the effects of gravity?). at one point the plot advances purely because the supposed "explosives expert" decides to accidentally blow himself up with explosives. calixty just vanishes from the plot at one point, never to return. she doesn't even attempt to climb the citadel to win the bet that the book spends ages setting up.

then at the end of our tale, in a twist the plot thinks it foreshadowed but actually didn't, it turns out that the main character isn't special because of the decisions he's made, or the struggles he's overcome. he's special purely because of his blood. and serai hasn't found a human who can look past her blue-ness, because lazlo isn't a human, so yeah i guess minya is right about all humans hating them.

no, there being a sequel to _possibly_ resolve some of the outstanding questions isn't an excuse. "will calixty climb a tower" is not a meaningful sequel hook. however more importantly, NONE of the problems set up are resolved by the end. serai is still stuck in the citadel. the citadel is still in place. minya is still in-charge. the other godlings are still spineless wretches. there is still an army of tortured undead. the humans still hate the godlings.

it's honestly a decent book up until mission-ghost-strike, but the wheels seriously fall off after that point.

3.5. I liked the second half a lot more. It was recommended by someone in our Emma M Lion community. I didn’t understand the world at first and it felt slow. But once things came together it reminded me a lot of a Middle Eastern fantasy epic, a la City of Brass by S. Chalkraborty. The book ended on a cliffhanger with huge reveals, so i had to read the second book. A good, fun, creative fantasy, so if that’s your vibe, try it out.

review du 30/03/2019

À quoi je pensais pour mettre à ce livre uniquement 4/5 ?

Je crois que j'ai encore plus adoré la relecture que la lecture. Le Faiseur de Rêves est un de ces livres magiques qui dévoile un peu plus de ses secrets à chaque lecture. Si vous pensiez avoir tout compris à la première lecture, méfiez-vous ! J'ai clairement sous-estimé son potentiel.

Premièrement, j'adore l'univers qu'a créé Laini Taylor. Le principe de la ville magique, au nom mystérieusement oublié, et qui renoue avec ses voisins des années plus tard n'est pas très original, mais il est très efficace. On découvre la ville de Désolation à travers des livres de contes, dont raffole le personnage principal, Lazlo, avant de la voir de nos propres yeux par la suite. Et rien ne vaut la réalité.

Ensuite, il y a les personnages, et plus particulièrement Sarai et Lazlo. Ils sont fantastiques, tout simplement. Lazlo est très différent des personnages masculins que l'on trouve généralement dans les livres fantastiques. Il est rêveur, doux, poli et animé des meilleures intentions qu'il soit. Il ne se prétend pas être un guerrier, et s'il souhaite être un sauveur, ce n'est pas pour le gain, uniquement pour le plaisir de sauver la ville et ses habitants. Sarai est son parfait penchant. Détestée de tous pour ce qu'elle est, elle est pleine d'amertume et d'espoirs noyés dans l’œuf. Mais elle a gardé sa compassion, et c'est ce qui la différencie de sa sœur, Minya (j'y reviendrai plus tard). L'histoire de Sarai et Lazlo, si elle est prévisible, n'en est pas moins belle et touchante.

Minya, qui peut être considérée comme un antagoniste (je suis certaine qu'elle sera le principal adversaire dans le second tome, on verra bien), est très réaliste. Elle n'était qu'une enfant de six ans quand le Tueur des Dieux a éliminé les dieux, mais également leurs enfants, qui n'étaient que des nourrissons. Elle a réussi à en sauver quatre, qu'elle a par la suite élevés dans la citadelle avec l'aide des fantômes qu'elle crée. Ce massacre auquel elle a assisté, quand elle n'était qu'une enfant, l'a profondément marquée, au point qu'elle n'a pas vieilli en plus de quinze ans. Elle est pleine de colère, de haine, envers les humains, et ne rêve que de les détruire. C'est ce qui la rend réaliste et poignante. Oui, je l'ai détestée, autant que Sarai a pu la détester. Mais je la comprends. Et c'est pour cela que c'est un bon personnage, à défaut d'être une bonne personne.

Enfin, même s'il s'agit d'un personnage secondaire, j'ai franchement adoré Thyon Nero. Le filleule doré, préféré de la reine sa marraine et grand alchimiste, cache certains secrets. Il a grandi dans un environnement étouffé, dénué d'amour, avec de plus en plus d'attentes sur des épaules. Il donnera tout pour percer le mystère de Désolation, allant jusqu'à donner son propre esprit, en vain. Sa relation avec Lazlo était également complexe, si bien que j'aurais aimé en savoir plus sur lui. J'espère que le second tome apportera des réponses à mes questions.
adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense 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

This book feels like you are living in the most beautiful dream. I can't recommend this book enough!

I wanted to like it so much. The first part was amazing, I was so excited but the second was just so boring I pushed myself to endure it and finish it.