Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – Book Review

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: Ya, Fantasy

First published: 2017

Author: Laini Taylor

Synopsis: 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 or 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?

Book Depository | Goodreads

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I had high expectations of this book and it sadly disappointed me. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.

My main issue with it was the romance. I didn’t really enjoy it. I din’t care about it much, it felt insta-lovey and I know that Daughter of Smoke and Bone is also kind of insta-lovey, but it just works in that one I guess. And there was quite a lot of focus on the romance. There was again that theme that I guess Laini Taylor loves of love bringing peace between two peoples, or at least trying. Which I really enjoyed in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but not so much here.

Other than that, I really have nothing to complain about. The writing was beautiful as always, the world was vibrant and magical and very creative and very Laini Taylor and I loved it. I loved the initial premise of the story, of the mystery of Weep. Actually, that’s another thing I was a little bit disappointed with. Just the explanation for what happened to Weep. And more specifically, the explanation about the name of the city. That’s all I will say.

I enjoyed the characters, although I would personally have loved a bit more time spent on developing them and a little less time spent on the romance. Still, overall I liked the characters, but I didn’t actually love any of them. I didn’t really care deeply about them, but they’re good characters.

The story is so creative, I just wonder how Laini Taylor comes up with these things. Particularly the back-story of Weep, because the ‘present day’ narrative unfortunately spends way too much time focused on the romance, but I loved hearing the backstories of all the characters. So creative, so… aesthetic. Laini Taylor gives her book this dream-like, magical quality that I love, I am here for it. It’s a joy to read her books even if only for the atmosphere. There could be absolutely nothing happening and I’d still probably give the book 3 stars just for delighting me with it’s aesthetic.

I will say that even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance plot, I’m quite curious how it’ll play out after the ending. I will definitely be continuing with the series and hopefully I’ll come to love the characters more in the next ones.