Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Muse of Nightmares

We continue our wonderful journey in Weep, starting where we left off at the end of Strange the Dreamer. The storyline in this book moved more consistently than the previous book - I found Strange the Dreamer had a bit of a lull in the middle of the book, whereas this book did not.

It was a bit odd, though, how

we spent the first half of the book thinking Minya was going to be our villain, and then the real villain literally punches a hole through the sky in the last 100 pages

. Additionally, there were bits and pieces of information that were repeated almost word for word later in the story. Rather than creatively integrating it and relying on the reader to remember this tidbit of information, it was just regurgitated.

Other than those two minor grievances, I thought the story was beautifully written, the characters were lovable, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

4.75

4.8

The only thing that I didn’t like was how Lazlo was just kinda pushed to the side, having ‘fulfilled his purpose’, and kinda turned into someone whose only personality trait is simping for Sarai.

Other than that this was phenomenal. The times I gasped and was shocked are way too many to count and I thoroughly enjoyed this :)

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lis98's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I have mixed feelings about this one. Overall it was an excellent book.

Pros:
The exploration of past trauma and how it affects us in the present is done masterfully. Especially concerning the circle of revenge and violence Laini Taylor handled the topic in a way I’ve never seen before. This book is a truly unique piece of art.
The characters felt so real and believable. Except for Skathis there’s no real evil people in this book. Every person has such rich emotions and motivations that you can’t help but feel for them even when they do the most horrendous things. Which gives the book quite a sad undertone throughout the whole story, I suppose.
Contrary to the opinions I’ve seen on the internet so far I really enjoyed Nova’s story line a lot, especially in the beginning of the book.

As tragic as it was, I felt the completion of her story with her committing suicide quite fitting since it was hinted at from the start.

Cons:
This time around, since the general tone of the book was heavier than the last I sometimes felt as if the poetic writing was kinda out of place. At times it would also feel a bit corny.
I personally didn’t like the turn the plot took. The expansion of the scale of the story felt too grand for me, I didn’t like the idea of the different worlds.
The pacing in the beginning was extremely slow. I think that some of the scenes we spent with Sarai and Lazlo could have been cut as much (as I adore the two together) while we could have spent a little more time in the end which felt a bit rushed at times.

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chantellimus's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

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hasmazlom13's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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thewordsdevourer's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

*dreamy, wonder-filled sigh* this book is a gift; one of depraved darkness, oppression, hatred, but also of love and imagination and redemption and a world - worlds - of possibilities if we hope for it.

still have never read anything so wondrously, boundlessly imaginative, and the eretz easter eggs are a bonus too. muse is a languid yet tension-filled story, but its plot still contains surprises. the writing is absolutely exquisite; laini can make you ache, amazed, or devastated with just a phrase or even a single word. despite having already read this once before, i was still riveted.

i wish every single person read this book; god(s) knows the world would be so much better for it.

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linaisverytired's review against another edition

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adventurous dark

5.0

I loved this a lot more than I loved strange the dreamer. It was beautifully written and I loved kora and nova's story

It was a tough read because the characters go through so much.

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kfergey's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great sequel sand did a good job wrapping things up. <Plus, I love a happy ending>. Only thing keeping it from a 5* review is that I felt it got a bit too complicated, tried to do too much. Maybe this should have been a trilogy? The stories felt a bit rushed, especially after how long the first book took to get going.

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