Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #2)
By Laini Taylor
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended for: Ages 16+ and readers who are craving new, imaginative types of magic

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

 

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice—save the woman he loves, or everyone else?—while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

 

The Gist:
This story picks up immediately after the ending of Strange the Dreamer, and right away the reader is introduced to the tension of the new reality. The new situation our main characters find themselves in allows us to see the depth of Minya’s hatred and darkness. This sequel did an excellent job of delving deeper into each character. While at times the view point got a little muddled for me and I wasn’t sure who was feeling what, I do think I got to see each person’s personalities shine through a little more. The imagination this book possesses blows me away and at the end of the book I was left in awe of the fantastic world Taylor has created.

 

What I Liked:
I can think of very few other books that have possessed the imagination Laini Taylor has painted in this series. From the beginning of this story, I was again drawn in by the intricate world Taylor has weaved. This book has some of the most unique magical powers I’ve ever read about. And the personalities of the characters are rich in imagination as well.

Laini is a master world-builder in this duology. I feel like I’m in Weep, or in the Citadel with them. Not only that, she keeps the setting and world fresh in this book by describing it through Lazlo’s eyes now that he’s with the godspawn.

Lots of interesting themes are brought up in this story, the main one being what makes someone a villain and what makes them a hero? I thought Taylor expertly navigated the many facets of this theme and had me seeing the idea of hero vs villain in a whole new light.

Muse of Nightmares is just a chock full of tension as Strange the Dreamer, but it’s a different type of tension that takes the reader to a whole new level. More than ever, we see the stressed relationships between people supposedly on the same side. Not only between characters, but individual people deal with their own inner turmoil that adds a whole other layer to what they do and what happens around them in the story.

New favorite character alert: Minya. Holy cow that girl is COMPLEX! I loved peeling back all the layers of her character in this book. Now she is a dynamic personality if ever I read one. Learning more about who she is and her background story seriously made this book so intriguing to me.

 

What I Didn’t Like:
I’m not sure what Point of View this story is written in, though my guess is omniscient. Either that or third person limited but constantly switching perspectives. Maybe I’m not used to reading books in omniscient point of view, but I found myself exerting extra effort throughout trying to figure out who was feeling what and that got a bit annoying after a while.

The side stories were underwhelming to me. Their redeeming quality was that they were semi character building, but other than that they severely detracted from what I considered the more exciting parts of the story. There were just too much of them for me.

The ending seemed to wrap up very quickly and very neatly. I like warm-fuzzy endings. But I don’t like when it seems like it was nothing to get there. It kind of felt like “Oh hey! Surprise! Here’s the big huge threat at the very end and look at that, now it’s all figured out.”

My last thought is that some parts, especially the beginning arguments with Minya, felt a tad long winded. I would have liked the pace to move a little faster through those sections.

 

LunasLuckyRating: 4/5 Lunas