Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
Series: The Diviners #2
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: 25th August 2015
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Source: Publisher
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After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O'Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to "read" objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, "America's Sweetheart Seer." But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners' abilities...

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

I’ve been looking forward to Lair of Dreams ever since I read The Diviners nearly two years ago *sobs* This sequel to Libba Bray’s fantastic The Diviners (I love this book so much I would actually marry it if I could) isn’t as compelling as her first but it’s still an outstandingly good read and definitely one of my favourite books this year.

So, Lair of Dreams, as its title suggests, is a slower, more surreal novel than the first book in the series. The Diviners focuses very heavily on horror elements such as Naughty John, the gruesome murders that take place throughout the book and the heavy influence of the occult on the story. Lair of Dreams is a much sadder story in some ways – it’s about lost love, grief, and the comforting fantasies that only your subconscious can provide. That’s not to say that it’s not horrifying because there are definitely some parts which gave me goosebumps but on the whole I really enjoyed the different direction this sequel took us in. Very intrigued by Memphis and Isiah although I’m somewhat convinced that that child is actually the kid from the Omen. Creepy, creepy shit.

Also, guys, Evie has a smaller role in this book than in the first. Instead we have far more from Henry and Ling, a new character whose POV offers a different look at life in New York City. Ling is Chinese, and she, along with George, another character who BROKE MY HEART, illustrate the racism and segregation that was commonplace in America at the time. Once again gonna just point out the sheer amount of research and time that must have poured into this book; every page feels like a picture into the past. Evie’s still here but whereas the main plot involves Henry and Ling, Evie, Theta, Sam, Mabel and Jericho all occupy a much more character driven sub-plot. Sam and Evie’s relationship is developed more in this book, as is the relationship between Memphis and Theta.

This is an absolutely brilliant sequel that was well worth the wait. My only minor issues lay with Sam, because as a character he tends to annoy me rather than engage my interest. This was also why the Sam/Evie scenes started to grate on me after a while but other than that Lair of Dreams was fantastic. I really recommend this series to everybody.