Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (2017)

In the dull world of being an orphan among the monks, Lazlo’s only joy was when he dreamt himself away in the mysterious world of Weep. Except, the world isn’t really called “Weep”, but everyone, overnight, forgot the name of the actual mythical city. Fast forward to now: Lazlo’s a librarian and no one even bothers talking about Weep. For Sarai, not only is Weep real, but she lives in it. Or rather above it was the handful of Godspawn that escaped the Godslayer’s wrath when he slayed every God that had done Weep harm. The Godslayer has one last task to ride Weep of any Gods or Goddesses and will travel far and wide to get help to do so, which is how Strange lands himself in the middle of Weep, his dream come true. But all dreams must come to an end, and to save Weep he must harm others, including Sarai.

I don’t know what drew me to this book except the feeling that I had to read it. Laini Taylor and I are basically neighbors and maybe it was a pull to read a book from a fellow Oregonian. However, just because Laini and I are homegirls doesn’t mean I liked the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. I did read the whole trilogy and left pretty unsatisfied. Strange the Dreamer, on the other hand, blew me away.

With every Laini Taylor book, you have to accept that there will be some level of confusion at all times in order to enjoy the book. In some ways, the confusion is what makes her books so magical in the first place. Constantly, things are going on that are breaking the unsaid rules of the world and switching up the things that can be real even for a fantasy book. I could see that when readers refuse to accept this and need ties to reality, they fail to see the beauty of Strange the Dreamer. For the most part, I felt like I genuinely understood most of the concepts of the book. The only thing that I really struggled with was the terminology. There are a handful of words that are original to Laini Taylor, meaning there are no ways to look the word up online for its meaning. For that, it would’ve been nice if there was some sort of terminology guide in the back of the book.

Strange the Dreamer was utterly magical and whole-heartedly unique. Even in the sea of Young Adult fantasy, it seems as if original plot lines are hard to come by. It’s not necessarily that authors are “copying” other people’s ideas, but that it seems that every story has already been written. I can say with certainty that I’ve never read a book like this one. Now, usually with hardcore fantasy books I have a hard time going through them, but I flew through Strange the Dreamer. Every time I left the book, I couldn’t wait until I could be back in the story.

One thing I wasn’t expecting coming into this book was having two main characters, specifically because the description on the book only talks about Lazlo Strange (which the book is named after). I absolutely loved Lazlo. Never have I read a more delicate, beautiful, peaceful character. I loved the concentration and thought he put in all of his words and his wonderment toward the world. About 100 pages into the book the reader is introduced to the other main character, Sarai. While I was frustrated at the sudden change at first, I soon became just as enchanted with her world as I was Lazlo’s. Not only are we introduced to Sarai, but her whole family of Godspawn that were survivors of the Godslayer. Each one had their own mystical powers and nicknames, Sarai being the Muse of Nightmares. Sarai was able to travel through dreams of the citizens of Weep, which is how she met, and eventually fell in love with, Lazlo.

The love in this book was on another level. Usually, I get annoyed with romances in books, finding them to be cheesy and setting up unrealistic expectations. Not in Strange the Dreamer. Lazlo and Sarai’s love was so pure, so special, so, well, magical. They fell in love in a matter of days, which, again, would normally bother me, but not this time. It also only helped that Laini Taylor’s writing is absolutely lyrical.

I am sad to say that for everyone that enjoyed this book as me, it’ll be a while before we hear from Lazlo and Sarai again, being as the sequel doesn’t even have a release date. Nevertheless, Laini Taylor automatically won a Best Author ribbon from me and I might try Daughter of Smoke and Bone again with a new outlook.

5 Stars