Strange the Dreamer Duology by Laini Taylor

Hey everybody!

Welcome back to my blog, I am so excited to be back with another book review. 

This one is for the Strange the Dreamer duology. 

I received Muse of Nightmares from Hachette Canada in exchange for an honest review. 

I’m so sorry this review took so long to get out, I definitely didn’t expect it to take so long to read these novels but you’ll all find out more about that in my review below!

Let’s jump into it!

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I found myself struggling to get into this series for quite some time. I don’t know if it’s because I was not in the mood for the books or if they just weren’t my cup of tea, but it was quite frustrating to have to keep taking breaks from the novel. 

Overall, I enjoyed the novels. There were points in the novel that definitely brought the experience up for me, but unfortunately there were also moments in which I desperately wanted to put the books down. 

I am an avid Fantasy reader and I think that had a big part to do with why I had such a hard time picking these books up all the time and wanting to read them. Being a fantasy reader means that a lot of the books I read are very fast paced and have a lot of action, so that has resulted in me constantly wanting my books to reflect those characteristics. 

Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares were written incredibly well, and if there’s anything to take from my review, it’s that I honestly agree with that. Laini Taylor’s writing is lyrical and magical and fit this world and these characters incredibly well. The only thing that influenced my reading was the progression of the plot. 

The plot of these novels is very interesting, it’s a nice concept that really makes you want to know what happens, my only problem was that it moved so incredibly slowly. There were moments in these novels where I felt like nothing was happening at all. Things moved so slowly and it was really hard for me to keep myself interested enough to want to continue reading. 

That is where my one and only problem lies with these books, other than that, I loved them!

I absolutely loved the setting of this novel. It was definitely a magical feeling being in Weep and the citadel. Weep is everything you want and more, and when you get to experience Weep from Laslo’s dreams, it becomes all the more magical. Laini Taylor does an amazing job describing this world and the setting. She makes you feel as though you could be there if you just closed your eyes, and I definitely found myself wishing to dream of Weep once or twice. 

The characters in this story were so amazing and well developed. We got to see them grow throughout the two books and they definitely had their ups and downs throughout the story but it was such an enjoyable experience as a reader to see them change and develop with the story. I loved Laslo and Sarai’s relationship, it was definitely a weird beginning but to see them so in love and willing to do anything for each other was heartwarming. We got to meet so many different characters throughout these two novels but I did’t feel as though I was missing out on any information about them. Laini Taylor did a great job introducing new characters in a way that shared enough information without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary information. 

I have to say that Muse of Nightmares was definitely my favourite of the two. The progression of the story in this novel was so well done and I felt myself really falling in love with the characters and the world so much more. Minya really was one of my favourite characters in Muse, and it was really fun to see her character growth in this story. 

All in all, I don’t know if I would pick these two novels up again any time soon. I think eventually I’d like to give them another go and see if I like them more then, but for now once is enough. 

I would definitely recommend this book to any fantasy reader, but even more so to the readers out there that like atmospheric novels that have a slower progression. This series is one that you need to savour, so if you’re a reader that does so, definitely look into picking this series up. 

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That concludes my review for the Strange the Dreamer duology. 

I hope you enjoyed, please don’t forget to follow my blog as well as my other social media sites linked below. 

Until next time, 

Rimpy Toor