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A review by darklydivine
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fucking experience this was. It's been on my tbr for a long time now when I read the first four sentences and got hooked.
It's a good read. The world is familiar but different. There's demigods and dreamy librarians. Lazlo, my baby. And Sarai, my darling. They better get a decent ending, I have a feeling that they will, can't imagine anything else. For Minya, the only end I can see is death or a loss of power. I don't see redemption in her arc.
Brutal ending. Saw it coming and that somehow made it worse. A thing that I really loved about this book was that I kept trying to find out what happens. It's unexpected really when you're in the middle. But the closer you get to the ending the clearer it becomes and it's kind of surreal but it was brutal and I love it.
I want to see Wraith in the next book, and learn more about the gods and angels, maybe even meet some though I doubt that's gonna happen.
This book gets a four star rating because while it held up to the expectations I had from the prologue, there was a certain lack of pristine finishing in the story. Whether it was worldbuiling and characters, I don't know but there's something there that kept me aware of the fact that it wasn't actuality. That this was fiction that I was reading. That these characters weren't actual people. And that's not a good look, especially not for a fantasy book. It was almost as if the characters were perfect, almost. Like Lazlo was dreamy and mystical and lost in his mind and kind and hardworking. And then later he's powerful, oh so powerful and stricken with grief and pleading. It's all too perfect for some reason. Like these characters behave like characters and not people. I do not know whether this is due to the author's fault or something else but it leaves a space between all the other emotion this book invokes. For the presence of that void, it gets a four star rating.
Otherwise this was a good read, not a book I immediately feel like picking up again and reading, like with Death of Vivek Oji, but it's good and that's enough.
It's a good read. The world is familiar but different. There's demigods and dreamy librarians. Lazlo, my baby. And Sarai, my darling. They better get a decent ending, I have a feeling that they will, can't imagine anything else. For Minya, the only end I can see is death or a loss of power. I don't see redemption in her arc.
Brutal ending. Saw it coming and that somehow made it worse. A thing that I really loved about this book was that I kept trying to find out what happens. It's unexpected really when you're in the middle. But the closer you get to the ending the clearer it becomes and it's kind of surreal but it was brutal and I love it.
I want to see Wraith in the next book, and learn more about the gods and angels, maybe even meet some though I doubt that's gonna happen.
This book gets a four star rating because while it held up to the expectations I had from the prologue, there was a certain lack of pristine finishing in the story. Whether it was worldbuiling and characters, I don't know but there's something there that kept me aware of the fact that it wasn't actuality. That this was fiction that I was reading. That these characters weren't actual people. And that's not a good look, especially not for a fantasy book. It was almost as if the characters were perfect, almost. Like Lazlo was dreamy and mystical and lost in his mind and kind and hardworking. And then later he's powerful, oh so powerful and stricken with grief and pleading. It's all too perfect for some reason. Like these characters behave like characters and not people. I do not know whether this is due to the author's fault or something else but it leaves a space between all the other emotion this book invokes. For the presence of that void, it gets a four star rating.
Otherwise this was a good read, not a book I immediately feel like picking up again and reading, like with Death of Vivek Oji, but it's good and that's enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts