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chloelai12's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
arlaubscher'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
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
kathrynleereads'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? It's complicated
4.75
Other than the gods themselves, there were no characters that I didn’t like.
The only two who came close were Minya and Thyon, but even the two of them weren’t evil, they just lacked compassion.
And the dreams.
Laini Taylor’s writing truly encompasses and deserves the word “art.”
I have long wished that I could dive into the worlds I read about, and then there I was, reading about a world I wanted to dive into, and within that world they were doing the same thing.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, and Blood
Minor: Homophobia
nyree42's review against another edition
4.0
On the negative side:
Note that the adult/minor relationship tag refers to a 20-year-old in a romantic relationship with a 17-year-old, which I personally think is close enough in age to be acceptable in the world of this story, although other readers may not agree, as in our real world it seems rather sus for a 3rd year college student to be dating an 11th grader in high school.
There are also descriptions of a sexually active 15-year-old with their teenage lover, plus mentions of another young couple who are sleeping together. All the teenage sex, despite not being graphically described but only alluded to artistically, was rather off-putting because an adult writer should not be encouraging her adolescent readers to engage in sex - it leads to consequences like STDs/STIs, unwanted pregnancies, and emotions that are too complicated for most young people to understand.
This inevitably results in broken hearts and emotional trauma in the majority of cases, which then leads to some (or many) people having difficulty finding love as adults because their teen romances ripped a hole in their heart they've not been able to repair so far. For real, I know people in their 50s who still haven't recovered from their adolescent entanglements and that's why they are single today... and that's why their would-be partner is also single. These are consequences that resulted in the unhappiness of two people (much like Eril-Fane and Azareen in this book, although in their case they had no choice in the matter).
So if you're a teenager reading this review - don't be inspired by the exploits of the young lovers in this book, and instead wait until you're older to chase... "that." You'll have more of a chance to mature and develop so that you also meet somebody mature who can give you the true love you'll want to receive and give in return.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual harassment, and War
panickedhonking'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
traceyanderson'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
5.0
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
li_bbrary'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? No
5.0
Reading Strange the Dreamer was a completely immersive experience. Over the few days it took me to read it, every page sucked me further into the Unseen City. Taylor’s writing was descriptive without being flowery, it was creative, it was SMART. Everything about it was thought out to the letter, to the comma. The characters’ voices were so clear it was like I could hear them in my head. Lazlo and Sarai were absolutely incredible. Their whirlwind, tragic romance was absolutely gut wrenching.
This whole book was something I wish I could review and review well. But all I can say is that to understand, you need to read it. You need to read about the boy with his head in the clouds and the girl who lived in them.
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Murder
maeverose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
The story was fun. The writing is super pretty and atmospheric. So many quotes i wanted to highlight. It was very easy for me to imagine what was being described, and i loved that. I like Lazlo a lot as a character. I like anything to do with dreams so I loved that that was a big part of the story.
Things I didn’t like:
Sarai’s chapters/the citadel chapters felt super repetitive, at least in the beginning. I was often pretty bored during those chapters. As much as I love the writing, it is overwritten at times. I think this book should’ve been about 100 pages shorter, the pacing is very slow for most of it. Also the reveals were pretty predictable but I guess that’s not super surprising for YA. It’s also very instalove. Very mild spoilers for this next part (it doesn’t have to do with the main romance, just side characters): I didn’t like the non consensual kiss played off as funny because it was a girl doing it to a guy. If the roles were reversed I don’t think it would’ve gone down the same… It’s still sexual assault no matter who’s doing it. And then when it happens again later it was still very dubious consent at first. Idk it made me feel gross.
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
There was frequent mention of female fertility and ‘becoming a woman’ once you bleed. Personally it made me uncomfortable, as an afab non binary person with zero desire to ever get pregnant.hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
happilyeverengwis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Minor: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Rape, and Murder