I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

THIS IS THE STORY OF:

A mysterious city stripped of its name.

A mythic hero with blood on his hands.

A young librarian with a singular dream.

A blue-skinned goddess every bit as perilous as she is imperilled.

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 in choosing him. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Laini Taylor’s YA fantasy romance (the first in a duology) is set in a lusciously imagined, richly detailed world that makes full use of Taylor’s usual lyrical prose but the central love story leaves the supporting players surplus to requirements (with many reduced to two dimensional plot points) and the paper thin plot builds to a twist ending obvious to all except the central characters. If you’re into YA romance then there’s a lot to enjoy in the relationship that sweetly develops between Lazlo and Sarai, each of whom is well drawn and rounded so that you understand the attraction and I particularly enjoyed the dream scenes with Taylor making full use of her astounding imagination to craft amazing creatures and worlds. However I found Sarai to be rather passive, dominated by elder sister Minya (a character who had so much potential as an antagonist given her determination, cruelty and desire for revenge but who ends up being unfortunately two dimensional) and constantly reacting to events rather than driving them (a point reinforced by the ending). I’d also had hopes for the relationship between Lazlo and Thyon, which receives a lot of attention in the first third of the book only to dwindle away as a plot device in the remainder (although Taylor does steer away from the inevitable YA love triangle). Although I’d guessed the final twist far in advance, I’m enough of a fan of Taylor’s prose to want to read the conclusion.

STRANGE THE DREAMER will be released in the United Kingdom on 28th March 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers’ arms to take their turn in the killing and dying. Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon’s secret temple and dreamed of a world that was like a jewel-box without a jewel – a paradise waiting for them to find it and fill it with their happiness.

This was not that world.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in Laini Taylor’s SMOKE AND BONE TRILOGY is another beautifully written novel with incredible imagery and displaying a stunning imagination. However, Karou and Akiva’s denseness about obvious things really irritated me and felt like padding and as with the first book, there isn’t a huge amount of plot here. The quality of the writing meant that this wasn’t obvious until I finished it and while it did disappoint me, I will read the final book.