*RE-READ April 24-26, 2020* Still as beautiful and heartbreaking as my first read. I listened to the audiobook this go around, and I highly recommend it. The voice actor does a really nice job providing distinct voices to the various characters. I don’t know that it gets much better than Laini Taylor.

*RE-READ September 30-October 4, 2018*
Well, this book is still five stars for me. I loved it even more the second time around. I'm not saying it's perfect. There are some pacing issues and I wish some of the dream sequences between Lazlo and Sarai had taken place over the course of several nights instead of just a couple, but I also don't really care. This story is beautiful and devastating and hopeful and heartbreaking.
It's funny. This was my favorite book of 2017, and one of my favorites of all time. That being said, I totally forgot a couple of the big plot points and reveals that happen near the end of this book, so it was like I was reading it for the first time. I am so glad I re-read this before jumping into Muse of Nightmares. It was absolutely worth it!


Wow. This book is beautiful. I can't believe I have to wait a year for the next book!

Things I liked:
1. The writing. Laini Taylor's writing is exquisite. It's lyrical and poetic. It's descriptive without being overly so. Her ability to paint a scene with just her prose is truly spectacular.
2. World-building. The world she has created here is stunning. From the actual places to the people and their cultures, I thought it was unique and compelling.
3. The characters. Strange the Dreamer is 100% a character-driven story, and that is 100% fine with me. I saw some reviews talking about how they felt the book was just filler and I just don't agree in the slightest. Everything in the books is driven by the characters, their decisions, their struggles, their hopes, their fears, and so on. Learning about these characters and their relationships not only with the people around them but also the world around them is vital to understanding what has informed their decisions. That is NOT filler.
Lazlo and Sarai are wonderful protagonists. All of Sarai's 'family' members are also very compelling. Even the antagonistic characters in this book are layered and complex. In their minds, they are justified, and that is so much more fascinating than a mustache-twirling, one-dimensional evil antagonist.
4. The focus on dreams. I have always had a fascination with dreams, and I love that it was a focus in this book. The ethereal quality created in Lazlo's dreams was perfection.

There are people who will probably say that there isn't much of a plot in this book. I disagree. True, there may not be an overarching EXTERNAL plot, even though there is some action. Instead, the plots running through this book are internal. Each character or group of characters have goals that they are trying to achieve that have been set forth based on their character and circumstance.

I loved Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, and I'm so happy to say that I enjoyed this even more.