I appreciate the authors note at the start of this where the author explains that she brought to light very real history that people refuse to acknowledge regarding Manchuria and Unit 731 during WWII. 

I think the bare bones of this story was solid, but I would have liked to see more world building and less romance. I’m not sure we can even call it that because of the obvious power imbalance between the two and Ruying being gaslit by Antony on so many occasions. I do think that Chang wrote that in to prove a point, but it still very much gave me the ick (again, it could very well be intentional). 

This was a tough one to rate because there were some things I liked but the romantic relationship was unnecessary and was hard to look past after a certain point. 

Stop it rn because that epilogue had me cryyyying! 

The Victorian + gothic atmosphere, intriguing mystery, angsty romance & urban fantasy elements were on point and I loved it! The pacing was a little bit off for me in the middle & towards the end but the epilogue brought me right back and reminded me why I love this series and these characters so much. 

I can’t believe it’s over but oh boy did I absolutely adore this series 😭💙

Even though this one took me a bit longer to fully get invested, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The writing was just as lyrical as people have said and I have come to really appreciate the beauty. Laini Taylor’s brilliant storytelling shines through and always contains more layers than meets the eye.

Truthfully, I adored the feelings & similarities I saw between Strange the Dreamer and Disney’s Atlantis. The grand adventure plus a deep seated appreciation of stories & knowledge made this such an enjoyable reading experience. I look forward to seeing how the story continues and concludes in the next book! 

update: 3.5 stars

(My rating could change upon a reread but initially, I can’t give this more than a 3.5 🥹)

I’m going to have to sit on this a while longer because am confused as heck but the ending had my jaw on the floor and my only response upon finishing this was,

”WHAT THE FCK?!?”


I cried more in this than the previous books which was a shock to myself. I alsooo have a big crush on Ridoc lmaoo. I love him so much🤭

This was the haunting story of James as she returns to her hometown after the death of her twin brother, Johnny. As she grapples with grief and long buried secrets, discovering the truth behind her brother’s death leads her down a path there’s no coming back from. 

Adrienne Young has a way with writing such captivating stories that will transport you wherever her story takes place. The atmosphere always delivers and she will not fail to mesmerize readers right away! 

Although the page count is under 300, Young managed to keep me on my toes and threw in some curveballs I wasn’t expecting. I highly recommend picking this up. 

I’m sad this series is over and how this was my least favorite of the bunch. I was intrigued to see how Beau’s story played out after getting snippets of his struggles in the previous book.

Sadly it didn’t feel to me like good balance between Beau’s storyline & Bailey’s. This felt more like Bailey’s book than anything but I did like their romantic connection, even though the age gap was FELT many times through out the story. (Bailey is 22 & Beau is 35).

I still adore this series as a whole & very much look forward to the single dads next 😮‍💨

This was an eerie and atmospheric book that came to life from a terrifying real life experience of Delilah S. Dawson herself in which she goes into detail in the authors note at the very end. 

I wish this had a more satisfying end with the “bad guy” in here but as displayed here & the authors previous work— the writing was incredible!

I almost gave it an extra half star purely because I finished but what an absolute SLOG this was to get through!

It followed two very different storylines within the plot, which felt disjointed to the overall story for me. 

I just didn’t connect to this book & the way Elspeth was primarily absent throughout is wild. I enjoyed book 1, but sadly this one was a disappointment.