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errie's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: Self harm
aksmith92's review
- 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
She's beauty, she's grace, she's Laini Taylor. Her writing is poetic, atmospheric, gorgeous, readable, and accessible. Yes, it's young adult, leading to some dramatics, but nothing over the top, and indeed a piece of art. I loved this so much, and even more than the first one, dare I say.
The setup: We left off on a BIG plot twist in Laini Taylor's first installment of this duology, Strange the Dreamer. With Sarai's fate in question, we are left with confusion and madness in Weep, where most citizens must run out of town because the Citadel is shifting and changing. Lazlo has a pretty big plot twist (although I could see that coming in the first novel). Either way, we are left with many questions about godlings, citizens of Weep, and the infamous dead gods that must've left more of a story than many thought.
Now, the story pivots to those godlings up in the sky in the Citadel, Minya's intense vengeance, and Sarai's adaptability into a new self in more ways than one. Eril-Fane and Azareen are still big components of the story and work to shift mindsets on the ground in Weep. In addition, we still hear from the wonderfully facetious Calixte and the learning and growing Thyon Nero. Lastly, we get an entirely new story about two sisters living in what seems to be a wholly different world made of ice. You know immediately that the stories will connect somehow, but the road to get there is beautiful and intriguing, yet devastating.
Laini Taylor creates an intricate world(s!) and develops the lovely characters from book one.
What I loved: My favorite part was the unique villain arcs - here we are, 15ish years after the fall of some of the more horrible villains I've read about, and we are reading about those impacts, leading to one of the most fantastic character development novels I've read. Because this story takes place years after the deaths of the villains (not a spoiler; it was also the same in the first book!), and we don't get the why for those villains other than the typical power-thirsty monsters, we now see excellent nuances in characters like Minya being stuck in the past constantly feeling like she has to save her family. Or, Nova, whose character was phenomenal, and I won't get into it because of spoiler reasons. It was pure art to have a story embedded in the after-effects of an awful fantastical regime. I loved the characters, even the ones who took a bit of a back burner in this novel, and the world-building was quite interesting. The world aspect may not necessarily be "original," but I found it unique nonetheless. PS: I must admit, the writing around eliliths - the tattoos girls get once their bleeding begins - was actually really cool. I've grown up learning to hate that, and in this fictional world, it seems powerful and beautiful. This part of the book is obviously not big, but I wanted to mention it anyway.
What would've made this a perfect read? I rated this five stars because of how it made me feel, the writing, and the story arcs. However, I will say that if I were being ultra critical, I would mention that I did feel there was a miss in relationship development between Thyon and Lazlo, the friendship that could've been, and just a better and more exciting wrap-up relationship between the godlings and those in Weep. A LOT was going on outside of that, which was critical for the story, so I let it slide. Lastly, Lazlo and Sarai are a little bit instant-love (as a reminder, the majority of this book truly takes place in one to two days!), but I don't think it overtook the story. Oh, as much as this is wonderful writing, Lazlo learned about his mesarthium control a littleeeee bit too quickly to be believable. It's implied their powers are meant to be ingrained, but I still thought it was a bit fast. Again, I let this slide because the other parts were just so good!
I am excited to read other books by Laini Taylor when I'm in a young adult and fantasy world mood. I really enjoyed my experience with Strange the Dreamer, and I'll be sad to see it go (or, as Laini Taylor puts it at the end of this book, Muse of Nightmares, is it really the end?). Bravo to this beautiful story!
"Many a choice is made this way: by pretending it makes itself. And many a fate is decided by those who cannot decide."
"But how do you stop someone from crying? How do you lead them out of fear? Can hate be reversed? Can revenge be defused?"
There comes a certain point with a hope or a dream, when you either give it up or give up everything else. And if you choose the dream, if you keep going, then you can never quit, because it's all you are."
"The ones who know can't tell us, and the ones who tell us don't know."
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: War
There is a suicide on page (near the end) and some discussion about it throughout the book; specific to only one character. Rape & sexual violence are not written in detail, and there are no scenes where they are explicitly described, but I put them in moderate because they're regularly and frequently implied. And theb book talks about after impacts of them.tell_them_stories's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Child death, Murder, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Rape, and Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Slavery, Trafficking, and Confinement
kathrynleereads's review against another edition
- 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
With the Citadel now in Lazlo’s control but still looming over the city of Weep, Muse of Nightmares opens with a whole new level of chaos. Citizens are fleeing, Eril-Fane is trying to corral the Tizerkane warriors, and Lazlo is meeting the other Godspawn for the first time.
All of the questions presented in Strange the Dreamer were finally granted answers, but they were the answers of nightmares.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Infidelity, Abandonment, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Homophobia
laneys_library's review
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Murder, Violence, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, and Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Rape, Torture, Slavery, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
nyree42's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Racism
lilifane's review against another edition
- 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 haven't cried this much while reading for a long time. I think I didn't last a single chapter without tears.
Although I think the plot is the weakest point and the pacing is not as well done as in the first book, I still loved it a lot. Personally, I hoped we would focus on the characters and problems still present from book one and maybe a little discovering and adventuring. But it was a lot of talking instead, and then new characters were introduced who brought new problems or rather another layer of the same problems.
Still, I loved the characters with all my heart and even if we didn't see some of them as much, I was glad about every second we got. I was also impressed by how trauma and healing were discussed in the book. These were the main themes in this duology, and they were explored in a very nuanced way.
But beware of triggers. So many hard and dark and triggering topics.
Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Confinement, Violence, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Rape and Sexual content
anneroza's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Moderate: Child death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Grief, Rape, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Slavery, Death of parent, Confinement, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
doodeedoda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Confinement, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Child death, Mental illness, Trafficking, and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Self harm
sukidookie's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual content