Review: Strange the Dreamer

Title: Strange the Dreamer

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: 28 March 2017 by Hachette Australia

Pages: 432 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: fantasy, paranormal, romance

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

A new epic fantasy by National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Laini Taylor of the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

‘The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around’ and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance to lose his dream forever.What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries--including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? and if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage. Welcome to Weep.

My Thoughts

‘Once upon a time, survival had seemed like an end unto itself. But now . . . it began to feel like an expedient with no object. Survive for what?’

If you are a fan of Laini Taylor, stop reading and go get this book. NOW.

I read Laini’s ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ trilogy and LOVED it. So it was with trepidation that I delved into her latest offering. How could it be as good?

It is.

‘He wasn’t an alchemist, or a hero. He was a librarian, and a dreamer. He was a reader, and the unsung expert on a long-lost city no one cared a thing about.’

If you are familiar with this genre at all, then it is safe to say that Laini Taylor is a master. She could choose any topic I believe and make it iconic. Her style of writing is breathtaking as she makes a world (a mind blowing one by the way) so far removed yet so near to all you know. Her language is so inspiring that it creates an atmosphere of magic, real and inferred. This story is unusual yet beautiful, full of love and hate, hope and fear. Delve into the hidden meaning and you will find it’s a story of those who were underestimated and learnt to forgive and reveal their true potential. The array of emotions you will feel during this read is wide.

‘Vengeance ought to be spoken through gritted teeth, spittle flying, the cords of one’s soul so entangled in it that you can’t let it go, even if you try.’

I don’t want to say too much, as the reader needs to go in unprepared and journey through this very moving tale. You may find the first three quarters of the book steady, but hold on, the end will leave you breathless. Her imagination is ridiculous - a story that is compelling, with characters that are so authentic, as their layers are slowly unfurled - you will find it difficult to put the book down. There will be times when your breath will be taken away (I audibly gasped on several occasions) and you will pause to fully comprehend what just happened and then exclaim at the consequences.

‘Sometimes a moment is so remarkable that it carves out a space in time and spins there, while the world rushes on around it.’

The last quarter of the book is riveting, thrilling, jam packed with action and plot twists you will not believe! On turning the last page you will be frantically searching for when the sequel comes out!

‘A blaze of connection—or collision, as though they had long been wandering in the same labyrinth and had finally rounded the corner that would bring them face-to-face.’

Thank you Laini Taylor for creating this world, for sweeping me away with your lyrical prose on this amazing journey. I loved everything about this book and it still sits so strongly with me, events and people lingering on long in my mind. I can’t wait for the magical and epic conclusion to this marvelous tale.

'He had a trio of fears that sat in his gut like swallowed teeth, and when he was too quiet with his own thoughts, they’d grind together to gnaw at him from within. This was the first: that he would never see further proof of magic. The second: that he would never find out what had happened in Weep. The third: that he would always be as alone as he was now.'

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release