Book Recommendation: STRANGE THE DREAMER

Before I get to the actual book recommendation part of this post, I just want to say that I recently had the privilege to see Love, Simon a handful of months early. In case you didn’t know, this is the film adaptation of Becky Albertalli’s SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA … and GUYS, it was fantastic. Hilarious, touching, and so worth seeing—especially if you loved the book. It’s out late March, and it truly does the book an honor. ❤

And now…

This is also the first proper book recommendation I’ve done on this blog…but fingers crossed for more soon! I’m currently reading (aka catching up on) a bunch of books I’ve been eyeing for a while now.

So. If you haven’t heard of this book, here’s a quick summary from Goodreads:

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, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person 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 to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep.

Laini Taylor’s DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE series is one of my favorite series of all time. Lyrical, imaginative, and oh-so incredibly page-turning. (Talking about adaptations…oh my god, I would love to see a Laini Taylor book on screen. It would be downright beautiful!) And I can’t believe I’m even writing this, but I honestly think that STRANGE THE DREAMER was even better than DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. Somehow. I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow, somehow, Laini Taylor reaches glorious new heights with this book.

First off, I adore the cover. It’s whimsical and magical and gorgeous… Basically, it encapsulates everything the book is, with tiny little hints you might not understand until you’ve finished it. And, as you can see by the pictures, the inside font page desgins are drool-worthy as well.

This is the sort of book you read slowly. Not because it is slow—but because you want to savor it. Because you know you can only experience the full magic of it once. Every detail is meaningful. Every word is precise and carefully chosen. This is the sort of book you feel in your heart. It’s a book so wildly unique it’ll leave you quite breathless on occasion, too. Laini Taylor has always had such achingly beautiful prose. Lyrical—almost ethereal at times—and it sucked me in from the beginnning and didn’t let go until long after I’d finished. (I sort of already want to re-read it.)

But honestly, the captivatingly gorgeous writing of STRANGE THE DREAMER is just the beginning of this book. A mythic lost city, blue-skinned goddesses, ghosts, alchemy, a book-loving protagonist… I couldn’t have asked for anything more, really. The world is richly-wrought, the plot undeniably unique, intricate and engaging, and the slow-burning romance swoon-worthy, and I was enthralled from page one. I’m dying to get my hands on the sequel to uncover what happens next, because that ending. It’s hard to go into too much depth with the plot without spoiling it for others, but I will say I loved the multi-layered characters and what they each brought to the story.

This book, I think, was for the Lazlos of the world, the dreamers, the people who thrive off fairy-tales and legends and folklore, and dream of something more.

There’s really nothing more about this glorious book than to say: READ IT.

You won’t regret it—I promise.

I cannot wait until I have my hands on THE MUSE OF NIGHTMARES (and is anyone else super-excited to see what the cover will look like!?)

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Currently reading: THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS by Leigh Bardugo 

Currently listening to: “To Glory” by Two Steps from Hell. (Soooo gooood. On repeat.)