Muse Of Nightmares - Review

Book Review:
Title: Muse of Nightmares
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Release date: October 2nd 2018
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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

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?


Just like I did with my Strange the Dreamer review, which you can read HERE, I am writing my Muse of Nightmares review within an hour of finishing the book. Not the greatest idea since I'm still overwhelmed with many emotions, but here we are.

Strange the Dreamer was my favourite books of 2017. It was beautiful and lyrical and everything you want in a book. I didn't think it could better, but then I got a proof of Muse and was immediately proved wrong.
Muse of Nightmares was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. And I honestly mean that. This book - this duology - now holds such a special place in my heart. It is one of the most well written and well thought out series I have ever read.

The writing in this book is phenomenal. I've said it before but Laini's words, sentences, paragraphs are just magical. Every sentence she crafts just transports you further into the world. It leaves your pulse racing. It manages to evoke raw emotion out of you. And by the end of it you find yourself so consumed by the story that you no longer want to read anything else.

I've read over 400 books in my life, yet very few have managed to make me feel as much as Muse did. I swear, I felt every emotion known to man. My feelings were thrown into a machine and spun on the highest setting available. Within the space of two chapters I went from crying to laughing out loud and then back to crying. This sequel is extremely emotionally charged, so you will definitely find yourself fighting back tears, but you will also find yourself bursting with laughter and feeling immense love, joy and hope, so suddenly all the heartache is worth it because there is always some form of silver lining.

The world expands much further in this book, but it's Laini Taylor, so of course it was done perfectly. A lot of questions were left unanswered at the end of the first book, and I honestly didn't know what direction the sequel would take (probably because I was too focussed on that evil ending) but through this expansion, we learn a lot! I don't want to get all spoilery, but we do learn more about the carnage (aka when the Godslayer killed all the gods) and some backstory about the Mesarthim. It's not info-dumped all at once, we gradually learn little titbits that slowly come together. It's a slow, but lush progression.

So what have we acknowledged so far? The writing is phenomenal. The world building is phenomenal. But you know what my favourite aspect of this duology is? The characters, also known as my precious cinnamon rolls!
The characters in this book are on a league of their own. Laini has this power of making you love every single character you meet. Someone could have the smallest page time, but they still feel just as important as a main character.
In Muse the cast of characters is quite large, yet they all have some form of development and are never overlooked. As a result, I grew to love and adore each one. When reading Strange I was too focussed on Lazlo and Sarai that I really didn't appreciate any of the others. And that's such a shame because they are all so wonderful. Minya is so complex and intriguing. Eril-Fane and Azareen just crush your heart. Thyon and the other godspawn are extremely relatable. And Calixte and Tzara are hilarious (a scene in chapter 11 had me bursting with laughter!) I could go on, but I think you get the message - these characters are everything.

I realise I've been vague and not said much about the plot or anything really, but I honestly think that since so much happens in this book anything I say could be a spoiler. You just have to trust me when I say this is one of the best books I have ever read.

I hope Laini Taylor decides to return to this world and these characters some time in the future, because I could honestly read about them for the rest of my life.

5+ Stars (ALL THE STARS)
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