Review: Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Welcome to Weep.”

My rating:

☆☆☆☆☆

If there was ever a book worthy of a five star rating, it’s Strange The Dreamer. The story starts with a blue girl falling from the sky and being impaled, as her ghost slides out of her body, looking forlornly up at the starry night sky. 
The story then moves to a young Lazlo, an orphan of the Mesarthim war taken in by Monks from a monastery. During his childhood, his head was filled with wonderful stories of a beautiful city, by one of the elder monks, until the night it was stolen from the world. Lazlo, who later becomes a librarian after delivering papers to the library and never returns to the monastery, studies every book on Weep he can find, seeking answers he’s sought for years..

Lazlo, along with a group of people of various talents and skills are recruited and are the first insiders allowed inside the city of Weep, though they have no idea why they were recruited prior to their arrival. 
Their job is to find a way to destroy the citadel which has been blocking the sun from the city since the war that saw the end of the gods and god spawn.

Then we meet Sarai, the Muse of Nightmares, one of the last surviving godspawn who remain hidden  up in the Citadel with Sparrow, Feral, Ruby, Minya and her ghosts.

Laini has you from the start, you find yourself just as interested in the intrigue and mystery surrounding Weep as Lazlo, desperate to find out what happened, does the city even exist anymore, what happened to it’s name? 

This is the first Laini Taylor book I’ve read and I was sold from the start. First off: The cover, by far one of the most gorgeous book covers ever. The storytelling and Laini’s style of writing is beautifully crafted, you’re lured in and lost in her world from the first page to the last, you can’t help but fall in love with the world and characters inside. I wanted to throw all the stars at it straight away! I especially enjoyed Lazlo’s character development, I won’t say much because of spoilers.

Minya is a brilliantly written character, I can’t figure out whether I love or hate her, or both. She’s fascinating and creepy in equal measure. Minya is definitely a favourite!

Now…

That ending! I asked Laini at the London tour stop if we find out more about the blue girl who fell from the sky, the answer being yes. I desperately looked for clues throughout, thought I had it and BAM! I was so wrong!, it was so cleverly done… Mindblown!

Strange The Dreamer is already one of my books of the year, I couldn’t get enough of it and didn’t want it to end! Add it to your TBR’s, you won’t be disappointed! I can’t wait for the second instalment.

Strange The Dreamer is published March 28 by Hodder & Stoughton (UK)