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oxian_d'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
4.25
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Death of parent
amberacks12'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
4.75
There are a few things keeping me from giving this a perfect five stars. They are nitpicky and not a big deal, but worth trying to explain I think.
The first is that for some reason much of the storyline in this book felt superfluous. It felt almost as if the first and second books could possibly have been condensed into one. Maybe that’s because not a lot actually happened in Muse of Nightmares.
The second is that I felt very stressed the whole time I was reading this. I think maybe because of the state of one of the characters made it feel as if there couldn’t possibly be a happy way to end it.
Third is the side characters weren’t developed enough. We spent a lot more time with them in the first book, and I wish they’d gotten more screen time in this one.
And finally I think despite how terrible some of the things a couple of the characters went through, it seemed they “got over” their issues rather quickly, and everything got resolved in ways that felt too easy.
Despite these criticisms I did really love this book and I’m glad I’ve finally worked up the courage to read it.
Enjoyment: 4.75
Emotional impact: 5
Educational value: n/a
=4.8
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
lizardinabigwizardhat's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
paintedgiraffe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it takes place in the same universe as the Smoke and Bone trilogy.
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Trafficking, and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape
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 abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
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.takarakei'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
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Colonisation
Kinda spicy for a YA novel 😅 like I’m fine with it, but I was surprisederrie's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Self harm
bethfern04'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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
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: Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking
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: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment