Strange the Dreamer AND Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor | Spoiler-Free Review

"The dream chooses the dreamer." - Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor 

Hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

Well, I've finally done it! It's taken me four years but I have finally read the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor. I've had these two books on my physical shelves ever since they were published, and I kept saying "I'll read them soon, I promise!" I am a big, fat liar. Mayor of Liarsville. It got to a point where I was so intimidated by these books that I almost considered just unhauling them and calling it a day. 

Boy, I am so glad I didn't do that. 

Let's talk synopsis: Strange the Dreamer follows an orphan boy, Lazlo Strange, and his quest to discover the mysteries of a long forgotten city called Weep. Except, it isn't really called Weep. When Lazlo was a child, it had a different name, it's true name, and then one day that name was ripped out of existence and everywhere it was mentioned, the word "Weep" took its place. Lazlo might have never seen magic, but he knew that's what this thievery was. When a caravan from Weep comes to his kingdom in search of people with certain skillsets to come and help the city, Lazlo jumps at the opportunity. 

We also follow a girl named Sarai. She has blue skin, and the power to slip into people's nightmares. And that's all I'll say about her. 

I truly did know I was going to love these books. Laini Taylor's other series, the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, is one of my favorites, so why wouldn't I like her other books? Especially as I'd heard before that they were, in a way, connected. They became the ultimate mashed potato books for me. 

(In case you're confused as to what a mashed potato book is, I'll include a link to one of my previous reading updates that explains it here.)

What prompted me to finally pick them up was the fact that they were the last YA books on my physical TBR. The rest of the unread books on my shelves are all adult, and I was feeling burnt out with adult fiction. I wanted easy, fluffy, old-fashioned YA, and Strange the Dreamer was the only option available. 

Well, naturally I flew through it. The only reason it took me three days to finish is because I was reading it before I fell asleep, which gave me a natural break. But last night, I stayed up and binge-read the final 300 pages, and I cried. I cried! Mainly in frustration that it took me so freaking long to read it, but also because of what happened. 

So now, I'm on the sequel, Muse of Nightmares. It picks up right where Strange the Dreamer left off, but we are getting a lot more answers to all the questions we had from the first book. Like, what are the Mesarthim, and where did they come from? I have a feeling that the answer is going to be spectacular. 

I would recommend this series to those who love purple prose, a unique fantasy world, and a little romance sprinkled in with everything.

I gave Strange the Dreamer a 9.14 on CAWPILE, which translates to, of course, a five out of five stars. I'm still reading Muse of Nightmares, but I don't have any doubts that it'll get the same star rating.

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I know this is a slightly different format from my other book reviews, but I didn't really know how to go about this. I hope you find it okay. Give me any feedback you have either in the comments or tweet at me @AllyEmReads. 

Thanks for reading, and until next time!