Oh hell, it was gorgeous perfection.

I've been away for a while because I'm on vacation, but I just had to step back in and review this completely strange, utterly beautiful book. I've been waiting so long for Laini Taylor to steal my heart once more, and Strange the Dreamer does not disappoint.

It's so tempting when reviewing Taylor's books to talk about the writing style and language. Because it's stunning. I don’t know where the line between purple and beautiful prose should be drawn, but I do know that Laini Taylor stands just on the right side of it. The very sentences themselves feel magical and dreamy, creating an atmosphere that convinces you you've been transported to another world.

There's a timeless fairy tale quality to her writing, too; it’s *almost* too much, *almost* too poetic, and yet somehow it is just perfect. I also particularly loved the running theme of dreamers and dreaming here:

It was why she dared no longer dream: because in her own sleep she was like any dreamer, at the mercy of her unconscious. When she fell asleep, she was no sorceress or dark enthralled, but just a sleeping girl with no control over the terrors within her.


Okay, where was I? See what I mean? You can get all caught up in the writing and lose your trail of thought. But my point was that while it's tempting to go on and on about Taylor's writing, it does a disservice to the fantastic storytelling underneath. Because, personally, you can wax poetic until you're blue in the face, but if I'm not interested in the characters and underlying story/conflicts, I'll be left feeling cold.

No need to worry about that here.

Strange the Dreamer opens with the orphaned Lazlo. Though a big dreamer, he is a junior librarian and, let's face it, probably never going to turn his dreams into anything more than just that. Ah, but no! Because this orphan is about to have his life turned upside down when his biggest, wildest dream comes closer than ever before.

You see, when Lazlo was young, the name of the lost, mythical city was stolen from everyone's minds. He knows he once knew the Unseen City's real name, but the word left in its place is Weep. No matter how he struggles to remember, all he hears his the same old "Weep". Obsessed with discovering what happened, he spends his adolescence researching the city, trying desperately to find anything about it, longing to one day visit the city himself.

And, of course, like all bold dreamers of fantasy, he will get a chance to go on a magical journey and maybe, just maybe, make his dreams come true. I won't give away any more than that. This is a fairly long book and many things happen, but it's best to discover them for yourself and on the author's terms.

Strange the Dreamer is so unique in its rich world-building, its wonderfully-conceived story of gods, goddesses, ghosts, magic, romance, secrets and guilt, but there is an old tale lurking beneath - that of the orphaned underdog who wanted to be so much more. And whether it is an unloved boy with a scar, stuck in a closet beneath the stairs, who gets to be a powerful wizard, or a nerdy photographer who gets bitten by a spider and learns to be a hero, this is a story that never ceases to appeal to me.

How nice it is to be reminded that magic and dreams can come true. With some darkness, nightmares and bloodshed along the way, of course.

Oh. My. God. You know when all you’ve seen about a book is hype, hype and more hype, and you just think it can’t be as good as everyone says it is, so you’re a little wary of actually reading it? That’s kind of how I felt about finally getting the chance to read Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. It couldn’t really be as good as the hype was suggesting, could it? Well, yes. Yes it could. I adored this book from the very first page and now that I’ve finished it, I’m not really sure what to do with myself!

The writing in Strange the Dreamer is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever read. It’s incredibly evocative, and I could imagine everything about the world in vivid technicolour. It’s like reading a fairy tale for grown ups, which given the themes of the story, I can only imagine was deliberate. It works as a concept so well that I’m a little in awe of Taylor.

I fell in love with Lazlo almost immediately. We first meet him as a five year old orphan, unable to resist the temptation to continue playing in his imaginary version of the ‘Unseen City’ (he doesn’t like calling it Weep), even though he knows the monks who look after him will punish him. He grows up into a junior librarian who always has his nose stuck in a book – until he is given an opportunity he never expected in a million years, and he embarks on an adventure of a lifetime. Twenty year old Lazlo is like an alternative version of myself, which is possibly why I like him so much. *g* But he’s also loyal and generous and just wants to do the right thing, even if he knows it won’t necessarily be good for him, and I almost cheered when he joined the expedition to Weep because he deserved to be a part of it.

I don’t really want to talk about the plot, because I think it’s much better for everyone to go into this book almost blind, but the world-building is breathtaking and the characterisation of the whole cast is on point. There are characters who have been through some terrible things, and their PTSD (though it’s obviously not called that) is palpable in every scene.

Strange the Dreamer has catapulted right to the top of my best books of 2017 list (and I’ve read some truly amazing books already this year). It’s going to take some doing to dislodge it in the next nine months too. If you’re a fan of fantasy, or just gorgeous world-building and prose, you NEED to put this book on your TBR.

Oh my gosh.
This book!

I don't even know what to say.

It was everything I was hoping for and so much more!

It has everything:
Orphans, libraries, magical cities, grand adventures, mysteries, danger, dreams, impossible feats, alchemy, vengeance, love, gods and monsters.

And the characters!
THE CHARACTERS!!!

They were all so perfect and flawed and even more perfect because of those flaws!
Sometimes I hated the heroes.
At other times I felt sympathy for the nasty ones.

No one was evil without cause and reason.
No one was a hero without suffering.

Some characters were both hero and villain.
It was perfect.

Can we take a second to talk about Lazlo?
Lazlo is a <b>DREAM</b>.
He is perfect and I want to hug him forever and listen to him tell me magical stories from far off lands.
I'll bake him cakes and we can be BFF's.

And Sarai was so heartbreakingly lovely.
And damaged.
And kind.
And confused.
And brave.

Even the romance was perfect.
And coming from me that's a pretty big deal because I normally hate pretty much all romance in books.
(I'm a heartless reader apparently)
But not with this book!
Oh no!
This was beautiful, moving, achingly lovely.

I actually had no idea this was part of a series until I reached the end.
I thought it was a stand-alone novel.
When I realised there will be more I <u>screamed</u>

More of Weep and magic and Gods and dreams and mystery and hope and fear and adventure.

I can't wait!

Laini does it again with this exquisite fantasy adventure of Weep, blue-skinned Gods and the dreamer, Lazlo. It had me hooked from the very beginning, Laini's writing is nothing short of supernatural, enchanting emotion from even the simplest of passages. I cannot wait to discover more of this world, the next book can truly not come soon enough.