Laini Taylor's novel Strange the Dreamer is imaginative and transformative in a manner that is completely out of this world. Strange the Dreamer is a Printz Award winner and #1 in my heart (lol.)
5/5 Stars
"The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around--and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the form of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever. What happened in Weep two hundred years ago? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo's dreams? The answers await in Weep."
"I think you're a fairy tale. I think you're magical, and brave, and exquisite. And I hope you'll let me be in your story." - Laini Taylor
So I've read some of Laini Taylor's work before and it was good, but I wasn't really motivated to pick up the second book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. However, I would GLADLY read a sequel to Strange the Dreamer! Wow, I was absolutely blown away by Laini's writing, it was pure poetry and her imagination is epic, like on a scale from one to ten it's about a 50. I would for sure recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy!
As previously mentioned, the words that comes to mind regarding Taylor's writing style, is pure poetry. Her mastery of the english language left me in complete awe. Usually, I'm not one to mark up books, but there were so many beautiful phrases that I just had to note them with sticky notes so that I could read them later and bask in the awesomeness that is Laini Taylor. You could tell her words and phrases were crafted with such care and that there was a lot of thought put into how her characters were portrayed. Overall, top notch writing that clearly shows why Taylor is a #1 NYT best selling author and Printz Award winner.
Sweet, sweet Lazlo. What can I say about the young librarian, except that he has become one of my new favorite male characters, right behind Rhysand from the ACOTAR trilogy. There's just something so loving and comforting about Lazlo, he's a bit naive in such an endearing way and you can just tell that he has such a good heart. He's honest and his desire to be apart of something greater than himself, makes him very relatable to readers. And he's a book junkie! A man after my own heart 😍😂. He and Sarai are such a cute couple and they complement each other so perfectly.
"He read while he walked. He read while he ate. The other librarians suspected he somehow read while he slept, or perhaps didn't sleep at all. " - Laini Taylor
This book is one of my top five favorite books of all time! I highly recommend it.
Click to purchase Strange the Dreamer and Pre-order the sequel The Muse of Nightmares
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Author of Strange the Dreamer
Laini Taylor is the author of the National Book Award Finalist Lips Touch: Three Times, as well as the novels Blackbringer and Silksinger. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, illustrator Jim Di Bartolo, and their daughter.