BooktubeSFF Awards discussion

Hi everyone, I'll be hosting the Strange the Dreamer readalong which will officially start in March. If you feel like beginning this one early that's fine too, and any late-comers are also welcome to join in and add their thoughts!

I've already read this one and was very pleasantly surprised, so I am looking forward to seeing what all of you think. It's a slow start, but there's a lot to love about it!

Let's discuss! Be sure to tag your spoilers like this (view spoiler)[[Hide spoilers with so they don't ruin anyone else's reading experience! Click on the "some html is ok" link to see how to do it. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)].

I have this since it first came out but still have not read it. So no more excuses :)

I've started Strange the Dreamer on audiobook now. I'm enjoying it a lot more as a listening experience than when I tried to read it in print last year. The narrator reminds me a bit of Neil Gaiman's voice... which certainly doesn't hurt :-)

I'm also listening to this on audio book. I really like the narrator and I think audio is helping me get into this story better than if I was reading the physical copy. So far I like the premise of magic disappearing and our main character seeking information aboit how to find it in the library stacks. I love books where a significant portion of the world I based in a library!

When I read this one I also audiobook-ed it so I definitely think that's a good way to listen. It was well done for sure and I think sometimes that brings the story more to life when I can visualise it because it's being physically described to me :)

So good to hear everyone is liking the audiobook. I have the physical copy but I want to get the audiobook with one of my credits. I'll start this tonight!

I have just started chp 8. If you have not read that far, pls do not read this.
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Ok, so I'm super upset. I can't believe everyone has played Laslow like his fascination with Weep is just child's play and now, after stealing his library, are giving this grand performance. I hope these mystical & powerful people are smart enough to see through this charade.

I did enjoy strange the dreamer but I found it hard to get into. It only really started picking up for me at about the half way mark. I think it was an interesting story and the second half made me see why everyone was loving this one so much.

Shannonsmith wrote: "I did enjoy strange the dreamer but I found it hard to get into. It only really started picking up for me at about the half way mark. I think it was an interesting story and the second half made me..."

I agree it starts off quite a lot slower than most YA reads I've tried, but I think the pay off is good, through the ending was a bit of a cliff-hanger!

So I finished the audiobook over the weekend and I'm still unsure of how I feel about it overall. The writing was really lovely, especially when read aloud. Maybe I'm struggling because the heavy romantic angle is not my thing, and the pace was glacial at points.

I really liked Lazlo and I think I'll continue reading with the next book, just to see what happens to him.

And Minya: (view spoiler)[I am absolutely furious with Minya. That is one evil little girl, especially what she does at the end with Sarai's ghost. I would have rather Sarai was definitely dead than brought back like that, but clearly that was never going to happen because Angsty Romance. (hide spoiler)]

Kaitlin wrote: "Hi everyone, I'll be hosting the Strange the Dreamer readalong which will officially start in March. If you feel like beginning this one early that's fine too, and any late-comers are also welcome ..."

I'm very excited for this one!

Maria wrote: "I have this since it first came out but still have not read it. So no more excuses :)"

Same!

I hope to start tomorrow. Off work sick - so it depends on how sick I get I guess.

I'm on chapter 19 now and the pacing is somewhat slow like Rachel mentioned. I really like Lazlo's perspective the most. The perspective of Sarai and her siblings hasn't really captured my attention yet.

FrankieReads wrote: "I'm on chapter 19 now and the pacing is somewhat slow like Rachel mentioned. I really like Lazlo's perspective the most. The perspective of Sarai and her siblings hasn't really captured my attentio..."

LOL I am starting Chapter 19 too and agree thoroughly. But then Lazlo is more human (and a booklover) so maybe it's understandable?

I agree that the this book is a sloooow burn for the first half...maybe even a little more like the first 2/3. I found the overall story concept interesting and I enjoyed most of the characters but it just felt like very little was happening. The writing is beautiful but I was pretty bored for a good portion of this book.

I really thought I was going to give this book a 3 star review BUT the last 25% of the book swung me to 4 stars. That last part was great! I'm glad I stuck with it.

I just finished it. It was very well written, but nothing happens and the characters are very one dimensional. Each of them can be described with one word. And the romance was really not my thing. Overall for me this was a very overhyped book and I am very sorry because I wanted to love it

I am on page 247 at the moment and would have to agree not a lot has happened. We have had a lot of world-building, especially about Weep. I would say that it is well done. We have gradually built up an idea of what Weep and its people are like and of its tragic history.

It just feels like this should be a 1000 page novel and not a 500 page one - to allow the story to go somewhere? Okay, I am more used to Adult Epic Fantasy than YA.

I have finished this and found the writing and world-building to be excellent.

I would have like to dig a little more into some of the Characters though. In particular Eril-Fane, Azareen and Calixte (who is missing from the last third of the book).

Also I am not a fan of Love at first sight Romance in general and YA romance in particular - so this part was always destined to be a bit cringy for me.

Still it's a four star and I will be reading the next one (view spoiler)[ if only to find out where the rest of the god spawn are (hide spoiler)]

So I'm just over half-way with the book, and I think it's ok. I don't find it amazing as so many thinks. I have a hard time connecting to the characters, and I find the pace of the book way too slow. It has picked up a little bit over the last hour or so from the audio, so hopefully I'll end up enjoying it by the end.

I started Strange the Dreamer last night. I have the physical book, but after reading everyone’s comments about how wonderful the audiobook is, I decided to go that route. Y’all were right! The audiobook is phenomenal! I’m only about 3 chapters in, but I’m already loving it!

I read this late last year in the August round of Tome Topple. It was a slow start when I was reading the physical book, but when I switched to audio I started to feel the magic.

I loved Lazlo, but I have a soft spot for misfits and societal rejects. I loved the arc his story took. (view spoiler)[[The ending really got me though. I loved Sarai, wanted her to find a way out of the trap she was in. When I finished the book, there was no publication date for the sequel so I was pretty upset. Minya can't win like that!} (hide spoiler)]

I'm about 100 pages in, and I am just not feeling this book. I may give it 50 more pages (maybe less), and then I'll return it to the library unfinished. I just don't gel with Laini Taylor's writing. I didn't really enjoy her other series, and this is turning out to be not so different. I really find her descriptions over the top and with unnecessary metaphor. Glad everyone else is enjoying it though!

Finished this up over the weekend, to very mixed feelings. I really enjoyed Lazlo and his POV till near the end. Absolutely could not stand Sarai, had I not been reading a library copy I think I would've chucked the book at the wall in a couple of points in her POV.

I wish the book had spent the time following the "crew" as they individually take on the task of solving the problem they are there for, instead we see almost none of that aspect of what's happening.

Agreed, all this character are there for their number. Why, why , why! They had a lot of potential!

Yep big build up with Calixte but little pay off. Maybe she and the rest of the crew all appear in book 2. Otherwise there was a lot of character building for no purpose?

I just started this! I've only read the first chapter, and I think the writing is really lovely. I'm interested in this whole city of Weep, and that prologue definitely caught my attention!

Starting this book today. I have high hopes that I will like but we will see.

Just finished this book overall rating is 3.75. I enjoyed Lazlo, Sarai, and even understand the hate in minya’s heart ( though I hope her character can somehow push passed it). I ultimately though the book was extremely slow and with all the other books I want to read right now (mad ship) I hate to fight to pick this one up even when switching to audiobook. I also felt like it was a lot of unnecessary info this book could have been 150 pages shorter and ended up way better.

Brandy wrote: "Just finished this book overall rating is 3.75. I enjoyed Lazlo, Sarai, and even understand the hate in minya’s heart ( though I hope her character can somehow push passed it). I ultimately though ..."

I'm not even halfway through it yet, and I have to agree that it's a bit slow. I'm enjoying it though. The Mad Ship is excellent!!! So I understand wanting to get to it. :)

Shelby Machart wrote: "Brandy wrote: "Just finished this book overall rating is 3.75. I enjoyed Lazlo, Sarai, and even understand the hate in minya’s heart ( though I hope her character can somehow push passed it). I ult..."

Now I want to read The Mad Ship - my TBR is already over 360 books - somebody help me ! LOL

Maria wrote: "Shelby Machart wrote: "Brandy wrote: "Just finished this book overall rating is 3.75. I enjoyed Lazlo, Sarai, and even understand the hate in minya’s heart ( though I hope her character can somehow..."

I've read 7 Hobb books so far, and that one has been my favorite!

Shelby Machart wrote: "Maria wrote: "Shelby Machart wrote: "Brandy wrote: "Just finished this book overall rating is 3.75. I enjoyed Lazlo, Sarai, and even understand the hate in minya’s heart ( though I hope her charact..."

:)

I read this book back in August, and it ended up being one of my favorite YA books I've read in a long time. The slow pacing that drags for some was just my cup of tea. Like, I don't need lots of action or plot in my books, just give me chapters and chapters of weird lucid dreamscapes please?

Weird lucid dreamscapes XD I'm about 2/3 through and that is exactly what this is, haha. I am enjoying it, though I have no clue what I'll rate it.

I finished it last night! I ended up going with 4 stars. I liked the romance, but got annoyed when it kept being labeled as love. I wanted even more world-building! Probably because I prefer adult fantasy, haha.

So I finished this book and I thought it was good. I found it a little slow in the beginning. Just as I was getting into Lalzo story, POV switch to Sarai and it was like starting all over. Lalzo is such a sweet character. I think him and I would be friends. I also really like Sarai, and I thought it was so sad that her world is so against her because of what others had done. I like her optimism. I dislike Minya...alot. I do wish there was more POV's then what there were. Maybe in the sequel.

AlSO I would love a novella for Eril-Fane :D

I ended up listening to the audiobook, which was probably a good thing as I didn't /love/ it. I did end up enjoying this way more than I did The Daughter of Smoke and Bone which was a nice surprise. I definitely didn't like it enough to buy the book, but I might borrow the second book when its published.

There wasn't even anything specifically wrong with it, as I do like slow books, I guess it was just more that I felt "meh" towards everything.