Oh. My. God. You know when all you’ve seen about a book is hype, hype and more hype, and you just think it can’t be as good as everyone says it is, so you’re a little wary of actually reading it? That’s kind of how I felt about finally getting the chance to read Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. It couldn’t really be as good as the hype was suggesting, could it? Well, yes. Yes it could. I adored this book from the very first page and now that I’ve finished it, I’m not really sure what to do with myself!

The writing in Strange the Dreamer is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever read. It’s incredibly evocative, and I could imagine everything about the world in vivid technicolour. It’s like reading a fairy tale for grown ups, which given the themes of the story, I can only imagine was deliberate. It works as a concept so well that I’m a little in awe of Taylor.

I fell in love with Lazlo almost immediately. We first meet him as a five year old orphan, unable to resist the temptation to continue playing in his imaginary version of the ‘Unseen City’ (he doesn’t like calling it Weep), even though he knows the monks who look after him will punish him. He grows up into a junior librarian who always has his nose stuck in a book – until he is given an opportunity he never expected in a million years, and he embarks on an adventure of a lifetime. Twenty year old Lazlo is like an alternative version of myself, which is possibly why I like him so much. *g* But he’s also loyal and generous and just wants to do the right thing, even if he knows it won’t necessarily be good for him, and I almost cheered when he joined the expedition to Weep because he deserved to be a part of it.

I don’t really want to talk about the plot, because I think it’s much better for everyone to go into this book almost blind, but the world-building is breathtaking and the characterisation of the whole cast is on point. There are characters who have been through some terrible things, and their PTSD (though it’s obviously not called that) is palpable in every scene.

Strange the Dreamer has catapulted right to the top of my best books of 2017 list (and I’ve read some truly amazing books already this year). It’s going to take some doing to dislodge it in the next nine months too. If you’re a fan of fantasy, or just gorgeous world-building and prose, you NEED to put this book on your TBR.

Oh my gosh.
This book!

I don't even know what to say.

It was everything I was hoping for and so much more!

It has everything:
Orphans, libraries, magical cities, grand adventures, mysteries, danger, dreams, impossible feats, alchemy, vengeance, love, gods and monsters.

And the characters!
THE CHARACTERS!!!

They were all so perfect and flawed and even more perfect because of those flaws!
Sometimes I hated the heroes.
At other times I felt sympathy for the nasty ones.

No one was evil without cause and reason.
No one was a hero without suffering.

Some characters were both hero and villain.
It was perfect.

Can we take a second to talk about Lazlo?
Lazlo is a <b>DREAM</b>.
He is perfect and I want to hug him forever and listen to him tell me magical stories from far off lands.
I'll bake him cakes and we can be BFF's.

And Sarai was so heartbreakingly lovely.
And damaged.
And kind.
And confused.
And brave.

Even the romance was perfect.
And coming from me that's a pretty big deal because I normally hate pretty much all romance in books.
(I'm a heartless reader apparently)
But not with this book!
Oh no!
This was beautiful, moving, achingly lovely.

I actually had no idea this was part of a series until I reached the end.
I thought it was a stand-alone novel.
When I realised there will be more I <u>screamed</u>

More of Weep and magic and Gods and dreams and mystery and hope and fear and adventure.

I can't wait!

Laini does it again with this exquisite fantasy adventure of Weep, blue-skinned Gods and the dreamer, Lazlo. It had me hooked from the very beginning, Laini's writing is nothing short of supernatural, enchanting emotion from even the simplest of passages. I cannot wait to discover more of this world, the next book can truly not come soon enough.