Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1) in Buddy Reads

Dec 31, 2020 Bibliophile Rose rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2020

3.5/5

I didn't love it but I really enjoy it.

The plot:
Once upon a time, an orphaned boy called Lazlo Strange. He likes stories and loves collecting them, and what fascinated him more, a city called weep. But this city was a myth to his people. Whenever he brings a discussion about Weep, they laughed at him and called him Strange the Dreamer.
However, Lazlo didn't give up. he spent 7 years collecting anything related to this Unseen city. Until one day, a great Weep's warrior came to Lazlo' ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Jun 24, 2020 S.R. Harris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I will admit that I did enjoy this book, I also thought it was a little long with too much going on at times.

The story drew me in right from the beginning, the mystery of Weep or the Unseen City really intrigued me and I wanted to know the story behind what happened to the city.

I started to piece together what happened the longer I read and I will admit I didn't see that coming and that part of the story disturbed me more than I care to admit, finding out what the "Gods" were doing to the citize ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Sep 11, 2018 Jess rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Problem with Laini Taylor books is I just don't buy into the central love story. Its so overdone. Its too perfect. Too long spent on it. Too flowery. I start to skip on just to get to the action. Weirdly, I like the side love stories like Azareen and Eril-Fane and Feral and Ruby. But Lazlo and Sarai? So boring.

Other problem: her books have massive pacing and suspense issues. The beginning is always so compelling, where all these abstract concepts are slowly weaving together to create context and ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 21, 2017 Natasha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own-copy

I loved Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and was highly anticipating reading this novel. And, dear God, she did not disappoint! This is one hundred percent the best novel I've read so far this year. It was beautifully written, mystical and so vibrant, I had to read each and every word on the page (and I am known to skip, sometimes). The world was so absorbing, the way everything was so perfectly described made it feel like I had doused my head in cold water, and by closing the b I loved Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and was highly anticipating reading this novel. And, dear God, she did not disappoint! This is one hundred percent the best novel I've read so far this year. It was beautifully written, mystical and so vibrant, I had to read each and every word on the page (and I am known to skip, sometimes). The world was so absorbing, the way everything was so perfectly described made it feel like I had doused my head in cold water, and by closing the book, I had been given the chance to breathe.

Strange the Dreamer has quite a weird yet wonderful premise. I didn't really understand the summary before diving in and reading it. Although, I think that was the best option, to let yourself be immersed in the story. All that's important to know is that our protagonist Lazlo Strange, an orphan, has always been described as a dreamer and a librarian. He is obsessed with the 'Unseen City' of Weep and its myths and rumours of magic. When a man dubbed Godslayer comes to Lazlo's city seeking certain individuals to join an expedition that will help save Weep, Lazlo needs to join, despite being unqualified for the job. Everything else, of course, is spoilers.

Some might say that the pacing was quite slow, but I think that that is necessary. Otherwise, we wouldn't have such wonderful world-building. I think it's ironic that dreams play such a big part in Strange the Dreamer, considering that the novel itself felt like a blissful dream. I listened to a soundtrack from the Fantastic Beasts movie while reading it, which is highly recommended as it makes everything seem all the more magical!

The romance was so gorgeous. I could quote a whole list of things that were said or thought between Lazlo and Sarai, but then I would run out of character limit. I loved the scenes where they met each other in Lazlo's dreams. For instance, when they shopped for moons, drank tea, and watched each other be remade by the mahalath, (which was hands-down my favourite part):

"Inside a mist, inside a dream, a young man and woman were remade. But first they were unmade, their edges fading like the evanescent white bird, Wraith, as it phased through the skin of the sky. All sense of physical reality slipped away - except for one. Their hands, joined together, remained as real as bone and sinew. There was no world anymore, no riverbank or water, nothing beneath their feet - and anyway, no feet. There was only that one point of contact, and even as they let go of themselves, Lazlo and Sarai held on to each other."

And the characters! I don't think I've been so attached to characters from a book in a long while. However, I freaking loved so many characters in this novel! Lazlo was my baby and I was so happy for him when he was able to grasp the opportunity to go to Weep, a city he had always been intrigued by, along with its mysteries. Seeing him grow as a character was a delight. I liked Sarai a lot, too. How she was always so conflicted between her love for the other god-spawn - her family - despite wishing to be free in the city and to be accepted by those who were too quick to judge her for her skin, heritage, and gift. Ruby, Feral, and Sparrow were also lovely, and I appreciated how we got a few scenes in their point of view too. I'm usually not too fond of love triangles but this one was done well. Minya, however, I felt a mix of hatred and pity for. I can understand why she is the way she is, though. It makes all the more sense that she is stuck in the body of a six-year-old child, considering how she had witnessed such horrors at that age.

The ending, though....why. I never expected that to happen. I predicted a couple of things, for example, I guessed who Lazlo really was, but I didn't expect things to come to such a grinding, unexpected halt, despite the fact that this book was over 500 pages long. I felt a little bit conflicted when I first finished it, but it makes me all the more excited to know that there is more to come. I cannot begin to guess which route the story is going to take. ...more

Like · see review

Jan 11, 2020 Nicole Rathbone rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi

I really enjoyed this book! I’m only marking it down a star as for quite a lot of the book I felt like nothing was really happening and it could be quite slow and info-dumpy. All the twists and turns made up for it though!

Like · see review