Muse of Nightmare by Laini Taylor | Spoiler Free Book Review | Blogmas Day 2

Title: Muse of Nightmares
Author: Laini Taylor
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: Waterstone, Audible
Pages: 514
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Synopsis

POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR STRANGE THE DREAMER

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.

She believed she knew every horror and was beyond surprise.

She was wrong.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice—save the woman he loves, or everyone else?—while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this astonishing and heart-stopping sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer. 

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Review

Wow, what a sequel.

I’m not going to lie, there were some parts of this book that definitely had me a bit worried, as I really wasn’t sure where we were going with the plot. Though a bit slower paced than Strange, Muse did a great job filling in the lore hinted at in book one, and that last sentence has me a bit excited.

Also damn, this was an emotionally roller coaster. What a ride.

Once upon a time, a girl did the impossible, but she did it just a little too late.

—>characters<—

Muse introduced a few new characters that added so much to the lore.

Nova — Nova was such an interesting character. I had the same conflicted feelings with her as I did with Minya. There were times where I was actively rooting against her, but other times where I completely understood where she was coming from. Also, her motive was a bit heartbreaking.

Kora — Learning more about this character was…wow. I don’t want to give anything away, but I was definitely slow connecting some dots. When I did though, a lot of things began to make sense.

As for our familiar characters, talk about character growth. I really don’t want give anything away, but wow.

Wishes don’t come true. They’re only the target you paint around what you want. You still have to hit the bull’s-eye yourself.

–>plot<–

As for the plot, I’m not going to lie, I had no clue where this story was going for quite sometime. I know that was an issue many people had with Strange. I enjoyed the prose and visiting the different characters after the events of book one, and I feel like the build up was needed to fully understand the conflict in the second half.

I also really enjoyed how the gifts the Godspawn had continued to strengthen and how they were able to flourish. I hope that we do explore more gifts, and their potential.

The epilogue was super sweet as well. While some things felt a bit…too sweet, I didn’t mind because of the history of those particular characters.

Also, what was that last sentence???

“Once upon a time there was a silence that dreamed of becoming a song, and then I found you, and now everything is music.”

–>writing<–

As for the writing, I still love Laini Taylor’s lyrical prose! I can definitely see how it’s not for everybody, but I find her writing almost hypnotic. When I read her books, I feel transported to another world. I haven’t read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, but wow, I desperately need to now. I don’t think I could get enough of her writing.

“This is Weep. You can’t expect things to make sense here.”

Thyon didn’t agree. “I expect they make perfect sense,” he said. “Just under a different set of rules.” It was a matter of learning the rules, like learning a new language.”

Final Thoughts:

While this sequel didn’t beat out Strange as favorite high fantasy, this was an amazing sequel. This book did such an amazing job expanding on the mythology established in the first book and allowing the characters to grow. The new characters helped add so much to the history and secrets of Weep.

If you loved book one, do you really need me to tell you to check out book two?

Rating: