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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
After reading all the 4 and 5 stars reviews I feel like I read a different book than everyone else. I was enjoying it for the first half getting to know this interesting and different world that was created but then after 300 pages it quickly fell off. To me it was way too long and had way too much teenage angst. And omg the kissing. Add in the sexual slavery and I was completely turned off.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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:
No
I just can't be enchanted by the story and the writing style bores me.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
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:
Complicated
4.5? I may upgrade to 5 when I'm feeling less stricken.
"Beautiful and full of monsters" indeed.
Laini Taylor is a gorgeous writer. There's so much magic and wonder and then even the horrors are written so beautifully. She's a true talent. I'll have to give her other series another chance.. I remember thinking her first book was great but there was something I must not have liked and I didn't read the sequels... I think maybe I was just over that whole fallen angel thing at the time. Anyway. This was stunning.
SPOILERS??
I AM SO UPSET. And that's the only reason this doesn't have 5 stars just yet. So beautiful but so so horribly tragic. The 2nd one had better remedy this situation.
MORE SPOILERS??
So Minya. I've never felt so much pity and so much hatred simultaneously for the same character in all my life. Laini Taylor is a truly marvelous writer.
"Beautiful and full of monsters" indeed.
Laini Taylor is a gorgeous writer. There's so much magic and wonder and then even the horrors are written so beautifully. She's a true talent. I'll have to give her other series another chance.. I remember thinking her first book was great but there was something I must not have liked and I didn't read the sequels... I think maybe I was just over that whole fallen angel thing at the time. Anyway. This was stunning.
SPOILERS??
I AM SO UPSET. And that's the only reason this doesn't have 5 stars just yet. So beautiful but so so horribly tragic. The 2nd one had better remedy this situation.
MORE SPOILERS??
So Minya. I've never felt so much pity and so much hatred simultaneously for the same character in all my life. Laini Taylor is a truly marvelous writer.
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ugh! I’m so conflicted with how I feel about this book! The writing is beyond stunning and was honestly my biggest motivator for continuing on and the story was intriguing enough but the romance? I saw the threads coming together and it diminished my enjoyment as it became the centre of the story and slowed the pace down exponentially and keep in mind this book is already slow-paced, in my opinion. I just wanted to know more of the other characters so badly. I wanted to go exploring around Weep. I understand WHY they feel the way they do and I get why it’s written to be that way also (trying to be vague haha). I definitely found some of the moments sweet, don’t get me wrong but I’m just.. not a fan. I’m all for forbidden types of relationships between otherworldly x humans and I love dreams, it’s one of the topics I’m most passionate about so this book had so many promising things in order to satisfy me but my gosh! PLEASE CAN WE MOVE ON! 😭
Also I took so long to get through this. When I reached 70% I champed through the rest with an audiobook (thankfully on Spotify) while I played Stardew Valley and that increased my enjoyment a bit because of how the writing is, it felt nice and dare I say, dreamlike having it read it to me by a British fella all while my in game farmer gets completely insulted by Shane, who I’m trying to romance to get blue chickens from.. hey.. perhaps I’ll call one of said chickens after one of the blue gods from this book.
I enjoyed that the characters had a connection that intimate, it almost felt like it transcended romance if that makes sense but they.. don’t know one another and for me connections are built overtime and from a shared history - that’s what’s important for me in a romance and how I couldn’t take any of it seriously. HOWEVER it was still so beautifully written which is why I’m so upset about not liking it!! I so wish I did!! If they had those intimate moments without understanding their own feelings, I would have preferred that more and oddly enough found that more romantic and sincere.. perhaps then I would root for them. Is that Strange? (Ha funny pun).
Overall: promising beginning, intriguing plot, fascinating worldbuilding and characters, writing that’s so good it made me wish I were annotating but bogged down by the romance that I would have liked to have been a slower burn, if anything. However, it’s such a worthwhile read and I think anyone who is even remotely interested in the premise would get some sort of enjoyment out of this one. Plus the ending is absolutely incredible and sets up a sequel nicely but I’m undecided whether to continue on or not.
Also I took so long to get through this. When I reached 70% I champed through the rest with an audiobook (thankfully on Spotify) while I played Stardew Valley and that increased my enjoyment a bit because of how the writing is, it felt nice and dare I say, dreamlike having it read it to me by a British fella all while my in game farmer gets completely insulted by Shane, who I’m trying to romance to get blue chickens from.. hey.. perhaps I’ll call one of said chickens after one of the blue gods from this book.
I enjoyed that the characters had a connection that intimate, it almost felt like it transcended romance if that makes sense but they.. don’t know one another and for me connections are built overtime and from a shared history - that’s what’s important for me in a romance and how I couldn’t take any of it seriously. HOWEVER it was still so beautifully written which is why I’m so upset about not liking it!! I so wish I did!! If they had those intimate moments without understanding their own feelings, I would have preferred that more and oddly enough found that more romantic and sincere.. perhaps then I would root for them. Is that Strange? (Ha funny pun).
Overall: promising beginning, intriguing plot, fascinating worldbuilding and characters, writing that’s so good it made me wish I were annotating but bogged down by the romance that I would have liked to have been a slower burn, if anything. However, it’s such a worthwhile read and I think anyone who is even remotely interested in the premise would get some sort of enjoyment out of this one. Plus the ending is absolutely incredible and sets up a sequel nicely but I’m undecided whether to continue on or not.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Strange the Dreamer” is an absolute treat of a novel, full of surprises, of breathtaking imagery, and of complex and lovely mythology. Lazlo Strange is an orphaned junior librarian with an all-consuming scholarly obsession, spending his days reading about the long-forgotten city of Weep until a miraculous opportunity places him at the centre of a decades-long mystery. Perfectly paced revelations eventually unfurl, and the story becomes even larger than we’d once thought, incorporating abandoned children of gods, vengeful ghosts, and the aching intimacy of first love. Taylor excels at gorgeous descriptive language and ominous foreshadowing, creating tragic characters and beautifully hopeful dreams. I’m in awe of the sheer brilliance of this book, and I’m in denial about the ending so I’ll be getting my hands on the sequel immediately!