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grets_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Xenophobia, Murder, Grief, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Genocide
Minor: Pregnancy and Rape
beemailley's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
cosmicwillow's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely a fascinating world, but some of it drags for me and I think this book suffers from a bit of exoticism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery
Moderate: Sexual violence
stripedstone's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Blood, Rape, Child death, Sexual violence, Grief, Confinement, Violence, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping
barefootbeauty99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Confinement, Child death, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death
Minor: Classism
vespix's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I love Laini Taylorʼs stories, if not her focus in telling them.
There's a fairy-tale quality to Strange the Dreamer, from whimsy and rich worldbuilding to very heavy topics used with very little care. (Seriously, mind your trigger warnings.) The plot is solid and — at least to me — felt unique in the manner of its telling. The writing style is occasionally too purple for my tastes, but not to the point it would detract from my enjoyment.
The romance did all the detracting. There's so much gratuitous making out, it had me skimming (and I almost never do that) entire sections. Pages. That's how much there is, once it gets going. It messes up the pacing. It servers no purpose. There was literally an entire plot point lost in the telling because the mains had to make out instead. I suppose it would feel different for someone who likes these scenes, but for me they were a waste of a perfectly good story. So much worldbuilding waiting to dive deeper into, but it's all lips, twining threads and whatnot.
I will read Muse, though the ending of Strange doesn't give me much hope that it's going to focus back on the plot. Pity.
There's a fairy-tale quality to Strange the Dreamer, from whimsy and rich worldbuilding to very heavy topics used with very little care. (Seriously, mind your trigger warnings.) The plot is solid and — at least to me — felt unique in the manner of its telling. The writing style is occasionally too purple for my tastes, but not to the point it would detract from my enjoyment.
The romance did all the detracting. There's so much gratuitous making out, it had me skimming (and I almost never do that) entire sections. Pages. That's how much there is, once it gets going. It messes up the pacing. It servers no purpose. There was literally an entire plot point lost in the telling because the mains had to make out instead. I suppose it would feel different for someone who likes these scenes, but for me they were a waste of a perfectly good story. So much worldbuilding waiting to dive deeper into, but it's all lips, twining threads and whatnot.
I will read Muse, though the ending of Strange doesn't give me much hope that it's going to focus back on the plot. Pity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking
lejuletre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Rape, and Misogyny
amallard's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I put this down as lighthearted but you might like to check the content warnings, because I get that folks who resonate with the writing may feel differently. To be clear - I'm not dismissing or downplaying these traumas. I am dismissing the way they were done here, please don't come for me, it just elicited nothing in me.
Revision: theadult/minor relationship did elicit something in me because wtf was that, lads, wtf wtf that was not cool but it was written as Something Beautiful.
Let me splat down the good. Imagery was a happening thing. Backstory was a smoothly-delivered thing. Dialogue was a frequently-fun thing. Mystery was a suspenseful thing.
Let me splat down the bad I could take. Imagery sometimes happened too much. Tropes sometimes delivered too stereotypically. Explanation was sometimes exposition. I run low. Let's move on.
What did I ardently dislike? Unmarked spoilers from here on out.
Look away if you don't want spoilers.
Look away.
Okay.
Returning to the point made above: a guy who has been raised with four girls his whole life says that they're like sisters to him...but not quite. He then proceeds to have sex with the littlest, who is fifteen. She's fifteen. I don't care if they gave her a fake birthday so she could pretend to be sixteen - she's fifteen. Also, as someone who was raised with not-brother brothers, this whole speel is so gross to me. What, are adopted siblings not siblings? Does biology trump everything? Are platonic bonds worthless? Is that the case here? They. Shared. A. Mother.
I don't like Sarai but I'm being brave about it. Passion brings a character to life, makes me care for them. Give them an interest. Give them a hobby. Let me know how they spend their quiet minutes, their free time when they can steal it. Lazlo had a passion, Minya had a passion, Calixte had a passion, Sparrow had a passion, even the "it-might-be-love-what-we-have" paedophile had a passion.
Luckily, so did Sarai. You're gonna call me hypocritical but hers was complaining. I'm a very positive and optimistic character on the whole, with a lot going for me; I assure you that my hobby is not. If you think I'm being harsh on this book, please remind yourself of the last paragraph.
My final issue. Maybe we can kick it off with an anecdote: at one point in this book, a girl forces a man to kiss her. He's deeply uncomfortable - no, more than that. He's in a very traumatic situation and she uses him against his will.
It's played for a laugh. It made me wonder if I was being too SJW about the whole thing. But it struck me as upsetting, and a dismissal of consent. If the roles had been reversed, it would have been blatantly wrong, right?
That excuse, that the perpetrator was a girl, ties into the heternormativity that permeates this. By default, the girls only think about kissing boys, the boys only think about wanting girls. Guys are masculine and strong. Girls are pure and chaste. There's a couple of token sapphics who break the mould, plus some dweeby dudes, but it's a deeply straight book.
I’m not “obsessed with forcing diversity” or “pushing an agenda” and i am not trying to overlay stories with my own false reading of queer-coding when it doesn’t exist. But it’s funny to me when a writer writes a book with homoerotic overtones, when all the coding is blatantly THERE, and then they try to do damage control. Please please believe me when I say this story felt like it was supposed to be gay.
We get introduced to Thyon Nero and he is magnificently beautiful and desperately alone with the truth of his sins and secrets, and he’s a prince but he carries the scars of his beatings, and Lazlo’s a pauper but he knows those wounds well, and when they meet in the present day there is an immense amount of fear fluttering between them, and nerves, and history, and disappointment. And there is a smart man, with an insight that rivals Lazlo’s, that grounds where his dreams. And there is a good man buried somewhere within him. And there is an interesting journey for him to take to that stage.
Look, there are intended enemies-to-lovers which have worse setups than this. It’s so natural. It’s the story offered that has a spark.
Did Taylor miss the opportunity? Did she have too many plans for the way things already went? Not much would have been lost if Lazlo and Sarai had been friends instead; on the contrary, I think an intense platonicism would have been so beautiful. He could have carried his lifeless friend’s body and its impact would not have been lost. She could have visited her friend’s dreams and their visions together would not have been diminished.
Revision: the
Let me splat down the good. Imagery was a happening thing. Backstory was a smoothly-delivered thing. Dialogue was a frequently-fun thing. Mystery was a suspenseful thing.
Let me splat down the bad I could take. Imagery sometimes happened too much. Tropes sometimes delivered too stereotypically. Explanation was sometimes exposition. I run low. Let's move on.
What did I ardently dislike? Unmarked spoilers from here on out.
Look away if you don't want spoilers.
Look away.
Okay.
Returning to the point made above: a guy who has been raised with four girls his whole life says that they're like sisters to him...but not quite. He then proceeds to have sex with the littlest, who is fifteen. She's fifteen. I don't care if they gave her a fake birthday so she could pretend to be sixteen - she's fifteen. Also, as someone who was raised with not-brother brothers, this whole speel is so gross to me. What, are adopted siblings not siblings? Does biology trump everything? Are platonic bonds worthless? Is that the case here? They. Shared. A. Mother.
I don't like Sarai but I'm being brave about it. Passion brings a character to life, makes me care for them. Give them an interest. Give them a hobby. Let me know how they spend their quiet minutes, their free time when they can steal it. Lazlo had a passion, Minya had a passion, Calixte had a passion, Sparrow had a passion, even the "it-might-be-love-what-we-have" paedophile had a passion.
Luckily, so did Sarai. You're gonna call me hypocritical but hers was complaining. I'm a very positive and optimistic character on the whole, with a lot going for me; I assure you that my hobby is not. If you think I'm being harsh on this book, please remind yourself of the last paragraph.
My final issue. Maybe we can kick it off with an anecdote: at one point in this book, a girl forces a man to kiss her. He's deeply uncomfortable - no, more than that. He's in a very traumatic situation and she uses him against his will.
It's played for a laugh. It made me wonder if I was being too SJW about the whole thing. But it struck me as upsetting, and a dismissal of consent. If the roles had been reversed, it would have been blatantly wrong, right?
That excuse, that the perpetrator was a girl, ties into the heternormativity that permeates this. By default, the girls only think about kissing boys, the boys only think about wanting girls. Guys are masculine and strong. Girls are pure and chaste. There's a couple of token sapphics who break the mould, plus some dweeby dudes, but it's a deeply straight book.
I’m not “obsessed with forcing diversity” or “pushing an agenda” and i am not trying to overlay stories with my own false reading of queer-coding when it doesn’t exist. But it’s funny to me when a writer writes a book with homoerotic overtones, when all the coding is blatantly THERE, and then they try to do damage control. Please please believe me when I say this story felt like it was supposed to be gay.
We get introduced to Thyon Nero and he is magnificently beautiful and desperately alone with the truth of his sins and secrets, and he’s a prince but he carries the scars of his beatings, and Lazlo’s a pauper but he knows those wounds well, and when they meet in the present day there is an immense amount of fear fluttering between them, and nerves, and history, and disappointment. And there is a smart man, with an insight that rivals Lazlo’s, that grounds where his dreams. And there is a good man buried somewhere within him. And there is an interesting journey for him to take to that stage.
Look, there are intended enemies-to-lovers which have worse setups than this. It’s so natural. It’s the story offered that has a spark.
Did Taylor miss the opportunity? Did she have too many plans for the way things already went? Not much would have been lost if Lazlo and Sarai had been friends instead; on the contrary, I think an intense platonicism would have been so beautiful. He could have carried his lifeless friend’s body and its impact would not have been lost. She could have visited her friend’s dreams and their visions together would not have been diminished.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Slavery, Racism, Rape, Blood, and Sexual violence
jg93's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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: Child death, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual content
doodeedoda's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Child death, Grief, and Rape
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Blood