A review by gilberik
Dreams of the Dying by Nicolas Lietzau

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I can't give it the 5☆ it deserves for it left me facing my humanity and my own past more violently than any book has done. 

Honestly the writing was captivating. I had to suspend my disbelief at certain moments but once you accept the characters are deeply human with their baggages and lives, seeing them go on through life altering events like buldozers at breakneck speed just makes sense, I wouldn't do any better, I understand them.

Unrelentless is a great word to describe this massive novel. The characters have agency and will, yet they are powerless and there is nothing that can be done about it. Everything is so unfair, everything is ruined, forever altered, but was it truly a bad thing? Was it truly worth it? 

I can't help but feel defeat after this ending. For certains things that will never be, for the bitterness that stays behind. Living with your regrets and could have beens. Despair and misery.

I don't regret reading it, but I will be carrying its impact a little while longer I believe.
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