Lair of Dreams

“Every city is a ghost.

New buildings rise upon the bones of the old so that each shiny steel bean, each tower of brick carries within it the memories of what has gone before, an architectural haunting. Sometimes you can catch a glimpse of these former incarnations in the awkward angle of a street or filigreed gate, an old oak door peeking out from a new facade, the plaque commemorating the spot that was once a battleground, which became a saloon and is now a park.”

4.5 STARS

I think Libba Bray may have sold her soul to some magical writing god to be able to write such beautiful settings and such believable worlds. This book was nothing short of spectacular, though I prefer the first installment, but only slightly. Bray has had my heart (and my wallet) since I was in middle school reading the Gemma Doyle series, and she hasn't disappointed me yet. This book picks up around two months after the other one left off, though we don't have much of a breather before New York devolves yet again into chaos, this time ruptured from the very folds of our minds. As a deadly sleeping sickness curls its way into the homes of Chinatown, the gang slowly comes back together after the events of Naughty John, some worse off than others. We get to delve further into more characters this time, particularly Ling Chan and Henry Dubois the Fourth, both of whom will forever have my heart and appreciation. Overall, the story progressed similarly to that of the first novel, though I found myself wandering a bit more in this than the former, possibly because I couldn't get past wanting to climb into the book and shake Evie to her senses. But, with that whole conundrum, there was an interesting coping method, something that we see in society today, but disregard and disrespect the same then as now. No one was as close to the demon as her, yet the other characters don't allow her to speak to them, nor does she approach them fully, preferring to speak to her troubles behind the rim of a glass of gin. Bray's writing and imagination never cease to amaze, especially the descriptions of this dream world. The possibilities of it are endless, quite literally, but I want to further explore them, and I hope we will in the next book. Was Wai-Mae's land what supported Ling and Henry's dreams? Could they move beyond the tunnel? Could they learn to carry over things, like the burn, to reality with enough practice? So many questions... As the subplots delve deeper, Project Buffalo, Will's involvement, and the Shadow Men just to name a few, the book becomes richer and richer. I need to know what the hell was going on in the last few pages of the book, but I'm betting we won't get the next installment till the end of the next century if we're lucky. The characters were fantastic, the writing immaculate, the story enthralling, and the novel just all around phenomenal. Though I have a thousand more questions, I can't wait to discuss them and see how they add up to the next book. Share your thoughts!