Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
✨ Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor — Godspawn, Ghosts, and a Giant Angel-Shaped Citadel
Genre: YA Fantasy / Romance / Mystery
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)
Spoiler Alert: 🛑 Yep, spoilers ahead. Consider yourself warned.
Read if you like: lyrical writing, brooding orphans, secret cities, and books that start off slow but end with a bang (literally).
🧠 I’m Not a Fantasy Girlie, But This One Got Me
I'll be honest—this one didn’t immediately sweep me off my feet. The beginning felt like one of those dreamy, slow burns that leans a little too hard on the dreaminess. I kept asking myself: Is anything going to happen? But somewhere around the halfway mark, I realized… oh wait, I care. Like, really care. The plot thickens. The emotions rise. The metaphors stop trying to outshine the story. I was hooked.
By the end, I was actually impressed. And that’s coming from someone who doesn’t typically dabble in fantasy unless someone is holding a sword, there’s a scandalous royal affair, or a murder mystery is involved. (Check, check, and check-ish.)
🏛 What’s the Book About?
This is the story of a dreamy orphan librarian named Lazlo Strange, who becomes obsessed with the lost city of Weep. That’s literally what it’s called. Not a weep. Just Weep. Like if Gotham City had a nervous breakdown.
Lazlo is a total cinnamon roll of a character who gets nicknamed Strange the Dreamer because he lives in books and fairy tales. Meanwhile, Thyon Nero, a pompous alchemist with Olympic-level ego, is off doing alchemy things and taking credit for other people’s brilliance.
But this isn’t just a story about dusty libraries and lost cities.
Floating above Weep (as one does) is a giant citadel made of magic metal—and inside are five blue-skinned “godspawn” children who’ve been hiding there for years. They're the leftover kids from a time when actual gods came to Weep, enslaved and tormented its citizens, and were eventually slaughtered in what’s known as The Carnage. Casual.
👻 Meet Sarai: Dream Moths and Daddy Issues
Among the godspawn is Sarai, who releases glowing moths that let her enter human dreams. Yes, that’s her power. Yes, it’s weirdly beautiful. Yes, I’d pay money to never be visited by a dream moth, thank you.
Her foster-sister and fellow godspawn, Minya, remembers the horrors of the past and is not here to forgive or forget. She’s basically 6 years old in appearance, 80 years old in bitterness, and has the power to trap souls in ghost-form. You know, typical babysitter material.
Minya wants revenge. Sarai… not so much. Through her dream-moth-spying, Sarai enters Lazlo’s dreams and discovers he’s not like the others. Instead of hatred, he greets her with wonder. (And let’s be real: if a glowing blue girl invaded my dreams, I’d move.)
They fall in love in the way only fantasy characters can—fast, epically, and with glowing everything.
🔥 Plot Twist Central
Back in Weep, the humans (called The Delegates) want to blow up the citadel. Minor problem: the godspawn kids are still living inside.
But Lazlo—who’s just a librarian, remember—suddenly develops the ability to control the citadel, which is made from a magic metal. This discovery reveals his true identity: he’s a godspawn too. (I gasped. I also suspected it. But I gasped.)
Oh, and Eril-Fane, the tragic hero who led the rebellion against the gods? He’s Sarai’s dad. Plot twist number 29. He was deeply ashamed when Sarai was born blue because… well, generational trauma and god hatred run deep in Weep.
⚰️ Yes, There’s a Death. But Also a Ghost.
So just when Lazlo is mastering his powers, trying to be a hero, and falling deeply in love with Sarai, tragedy strikes.
Sarai dies. She falls off the citadel and is impaled on a fence. The same moment that opens the book finally catches up with us. RIP my heart.
But wait… there’s ghostly hope. Lazlo begs Minya to use her creepy ghost powers to save Sarai’s soul. She agrees, but only if Lazlo will do whatever she says. Basically: Puppeteer hostage situation, ghost edition. The book ends with Sarai now a ghost, Lazlo now blue, and Minya very much holding the puppet strings.
And just like that… TO BE CONTINUED. (Cue me scrambling to look up book two.)
📚 Final Thoughts: Fantasy Skeptic Approved
This book surprised me.
Yes, the beginning was slow. Yes, the world-building is elaborate (and sometimes a little indulgent). But the payoff is there. The themes of generational trauma, identity, grief, and redemption land beautifully. The romance felt epic and earned. And the twisty, haunted, god-haunted vibe? Weirdly captivating.
Would I recommend it to everyone? No. But if you like lyrical writing, imaginative world-building, and a story that unpacks trauma with moths and magic… Strange the Dreamer might just dream its way into your favorites list too.
👀 Thinking of Picking It Up?
🛍 Amazon
✨ If You Liked This, Try:
-
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor – the direct sequel
-
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – dreamlike magic, dual POVs, and slow-burn storytelling
-
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – for lovers of lyrical writing and labyrinthine plots
-
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas – fantasy + romance with more spice and swords
Have you read Strange the Dreamer? Were you team “this is genius” or team “wait, what’s happening”? Let me know in the comments—or just drop your favorite book with a tragic romance and secret god-child reveal. Because clearly, that’s my new thing.
Comments
Post a Comment