by Laini Taylor
55% done

For a long time, I avoided this book. The title turned me off, but that wasn’t the only reason. I also read a description of the book, and the fantasy world in which it takes place seemed a little too fantastical to me. However, I’m fascinated with Karou and the world of Daughter of Smoke and Bone. That was one of the few YA series that I actually finished and really enjoyed. 

So when I saw that Strange the Dreamer was available as an ebook from the library, I decided to give it a shot. And to be honest, it took me quite a while to get interested in it. It’s also very, very long. I feel like there’s so much world-building going on that we haven’t really gotten to any action yet, and for me to complain about a lack of action is very unusual.

I’m intrigued by the upcoming battle, because Taylor does a good job of making both sides easy to sympathize with. I don’t really want there to be a winner, because it means one side will lose. I don’t see there being a happy ending, though, so I’m not sure how she’ll pull it off. To me, so far, it seems clear that Minya is the antagonist, even though she’s a victim as well. She’d be the easy one to target as the ‘loser’ but I’m not sure what that would look like.

I’m enjoying the book, but I do wish it were shorter or that the action would pick up. I’ve been reading it for 11 days now, and for me, that’s a long time.