Lair of Dreams (The Diviners)by Libba Bray
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
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Synopsis:
The longing of dreams draws the dead, and this city holds many dreams.
After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O’Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. With her uncanny ability to read people’s secrets, she’s become a media darling, earning the title “America’s Sweetheart Seer.” Everyone’s in love with the city’s newest It Girl…everyone except the other Diviners.
Piano-playing Henry DuBois and Chinatown resident Ling Chan are two Diviners struggling to keep their powers a secret—for they can walk in dreams. And while Evie is living the high life, victims of a mysterious sleeping sickness are turning up across New York City.
As Henry searches for a lost love and Ling strives to succeed in a world that shuns her, a malevolent force infects their dreams. And at the edges of it all lurks a man in a stovepipe hat who has plans that extend farther than anyone can guess…As the sickness spreads, can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld to save the city?
In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City.
“I’ve spent the last two hours worried that you were bleeding to death in a ditch,” Evie continued. “Now that I know you’re okay, I just want you to be bleeding to death in a ditch.”
“Aww, Lamb Chop, you missed me.”
Annnnnd the hype is officially real. It’s not often I love a book as much as I did the first, but, here, I was a goner. At the beginning I was like eh, okay, LET’S GET TO SAM AND EVIE AND JERICHO AND WHAT’S UP WITH THAT DRAMA AGHHH BRING IT ON. But then, as the story progressed, I just…I died a little. All of a sudden I didn’t want to rush through everything (well…maybe the scary-more on that later) and I cared so deeply about dear Henry and even Ling, that you couldn’t pay me to put it down.
Yes, she liked this very much. She just had to get Sam on board.
The operator broke the silence. “I’ve got that call for you, Miss O’Neill.”
Sam’s voice crackled over the line, filled with smirk. “Well, if it isn’t the future Mrs. Lloyd.
“Daaarling,” she trilled. “I’ve missed you.”
There was a brief pause on the other end, then: “Uh-oh.”
And about that love-I loved it just as much as the first…but in a different way. It’s like, you can’t compare horror to romance, can you?
(joke lost on those who haven’t seen this episode/obsessed about Friends)
Hmm. Joey thinks so. But, my point is, aside from the fact that they are BOTH terrifying (albeit in different ways), it’s so much more than the mystery, to me. It’s the characters. It’s each new challenge they face. It’s everything that’s built up to that moment and why they feel the way they do and what they do together and how they become closer and start to become best friends and crime fighters, in their own way, yet they are all so different and come from all kinds of walks of life. Their motivations? All different. But, in the end, the goal comes down to one thing, and one thing only: Saving the world and keeping everyone they love safe.
Ordinary people were capable of extraordinary bravery. That was the only magic Sam knew or trusted.
***
…things you loved deeply could be lost in a second, and then there was no filling the hole left inside you. So she lived in the moment, as if her life were one long party that never had to stop as long as she kept the good times going.
Sure, Naughty John was one bad mother F*****. But this new ghost? Ummm Like. How. IN THE HELL. Am I. Supposed. To. SLEEP?! Like…gnashing teeth. Unhinged jaws. Glows in the tunnel. Flickering lights-ghastly and ghostly creatures there one minute, crouching low to the ground with their SHARP teeth chomping, and simply gone the next. A ghostly woman in a veil coming through the mist…and out of a tunnel? Again, I implore you, how the EFF am I supposed to sleep after that?
Argh this series, guys, this series will be the END of me.
“Nothing,” Jericho said, his brows sharpening. “Where are the Mystical Mediums?”
“The Third Eyes? I left ’em to play with the tarot cards.”
“You what?” Jericho said.
“Relax, Freddy. I told ’em the tarot cards can only be read by special people with special powers. Naturally, they think that’s them. Trust me: They’re as happy as clams.”
“That’s a ridiculous analogy. As if someone could gauge the happiness of a mollusk,” Will grumbled, pawing at his messy desk till he found his cigarettes.
What’s so baffling to me is, and it’s hard to explain, the layers and the depth written into these beautiful novels. They’re terrifying not only because of what’s coming, what’s watching, whatever, but the words haunt you almost as much as the picture they’re painting. It shows each and every murder, most times in great detail-or, in this case, each loss of life through DREAMS-and you just don’t realize how much that gets under your skin…not until the end.
Each moment seems insignificant. But, as each new death/murder happens, they become more and more intense until, at the very end, our tension level is so high we might burst without even realizing we had been so pent up-and at that point? It’s too late. Each moment builds up to make the ultimate moment-and it explodes and spreads the tingling fear from head to toe, into each finger and limb, until you’re numb and scared through every pore…and yet you can’t put the book down and stop reading so you can keep your sanity-and SLEEP.
But dreams can’t be contained for long. Their natural trajectory is forward. Out. Up. Away. Past all barriers and borders. Into the world.
This is true of nightmares, too.
Have I mentioned sleep a lot? Yes. Well. I’ve lost so much sleep reading this series-through both major feels and extreme fright-that I literally feel so bad today I don’t even have the will to do human things-I’m even skipping my workout. Like…this series has consumed my life. I’m not even joking. Even now, all I want to do is curl up with the book and read under a blanket on my soft and inviting couch. I’m so tired, and yet, I put reading above sleep. Talk about a sickness that could kill you. I might have a heart attack lol. Though, I’ve never said I’m not a wussy.
“Now is the only thing you can count on, Sam. It’s all we really get,” she said quietly, and felt that it was the truest thing she’d said in a long time.
Now, moving on from that, I finally got my Sam and Evie time. As I’ve said and will say many times over, I need more Sam and Evie, and I truly don’t think I could ever get my fill (fake relationships leading to true feelings for the WIN). And yet…..that ache? That hollowness that can only be filled when I get my every wish? It’s a vast craving that keeps me coming back for more like an addict-so the author must be doing something right because, even though I’m dying for more, I don’t want it.
“May I help you, sir?” he said, letting Sam know he’d worn out his sidewalk welcome.
“Pal,” Sam said, giving Evie one last, longing look, “I really wish you could.”
THAT’S RIGHT, I SAID IT: I’m so insane that I LOVE the tortuous slow burn that this author has created and I’m a fiend for it. When we get one or two chapters from their POV, I literally…well…my life is made in those moments. And when she takes them away to talk about other characters? I die a little inside. And the pining begins again. You see, it’s a vicious cycle-a vicious cycle that works. I may think about it 24/7 (crazy crazy), but it’s because I can’t just have what I want. And even if I got what I want, what’s the point of pining? So yes, I’m crazy…but I love it. I’m here for it. I’m ready for large declarations of love that will make my heart pound and my eyes water and I am a true psychotic follower.
“Done,” Sam said. He stared up at her with big peepers and a lupine grin. “We’ll have to make the chumps believe it. Moonlight strolls. Staring into each other’s eyes. Sharing the same straw in our egg cream. Dreadful pet names.”
“Not Lamb Chop,” Evie protested. “That’s hideous.”
“You got it, Pork Chop.”
That being said, I didn’t realize how obsessively in love with this series I was until I finished book one, wanted a break, yet couldn’t concentrate on anything else. What a remarkable feeling. I haven’t felt this way for a series in FOREVER. I can’t even tell you the last time I binge-read a series in this fashion…so, here I am, exclaiming my love (a bit repetitively, but who’s keeping track?) for this scary and tremendously addicting series.
“Pos-i-tute-ly isn’t a real word,” she said.
“Why, it pos-i-tute-ly is! It’s in the dictionary, just before prob-a-lute-ly.”
“You’re doing that simply to annoy me.”
“Abso-tive-ly not.” Henry’s smile was pure innocence.
I love Henry. I love Theta. I love Jericho and Sam and Evie and Ling and Memphis and even his brother…I won’t go into it, but I HATE that dumb Uncle Bill. I want to stab him. I HATE HIM. I do NOT get his moments and I loathe manipulation in that manner.
I fear something dark is coming from his involvement and I do. Not. Like. IT. But, I digress. I love almost every character, so every chapter just seeps into my pores and I was made again as I blazed through this story.
“Theta, I’d feel a whole lot better if you stayed here,” Memphis said.
“Nothing doing. Henry’s my best friend, my only family. He’s all I got.”
“You’ve got me,” Memphis said softly.
“Poet, I didn’t mean it that way.…”
“Mabel shouldn’t go. Theta shouldn’t go. Why is no one being chival… chivaroos… how come none of you bums is looking out for me?” Evie pouted as she sprawled across her chair..
“I am,” Theta said. She yanked Evie to a sitting position, put a cup of coffee to her lips, and practically poured it down her throat.
And the banter? Again, it was off the charts hilarious. In fact, it was equal parts hilarious, sigh-inducing, eye-roll worthy, and HAWT. Depends who was bantering, haha, but every bit of it was worth your time. I am an avid fan of each person in this series and their banter makes me a permanent stalker in their lives. Yikes. I fit right in with the creepy crawlies! 😛 Oh, and, even I can’t believe it, but I had SIXTEEN ‘review highlights’ for this one!!! ‘twas agony choosing which to use *dramatic back of hand against forehead*.
Theta had been trying to figure out how to talk about this with Evie for weeks. She narrowed her eyes. “If you breathe a word of what I’m about to say, I swear I’ll hunt you for sport and wear your skin as a coat.”
Evie opened one eye. “It would have a satin lining, though. Promise me it would.”
I feel like I could go on and on and on again….but the point is-if you didn’t catch it-this series is a winner. And I know I missed some things I was going to say by rambling on like I do, but it’s how I feel and I just think everyone should give this series a shot. I even tracked down the third book and found a SIGNED copy to order. #Obsession. So read it. Don’t read it. Either way, your loss. You’re either missing out….or you’re going down a path that I can’t pull you away from…and it’s terrifying (100th use of the word in my Diviner reviews HA).
**********
Oh Gahd, guys-it’s happened. I’ve been complaining for months that, while I’ve read plenty of excellent 4 or 5 star books this year, it’s been a while since a series has consumed my soul, made my heart pound, stolen my every waking thought-and now the time has come. And, wouldn’t ya know, it’s a fucking TERRIFYING series that, as mentioned above but in different, individual ways, makes my heart pound, steals my every waking thought, and consumed my soul…with evil.
That’s right. I am an obsessed love-sick puppy that craves this series (it’s crack) when I can’t be reading it. I think about it all day until I can pick it up again. I toss and turn long after I finish because I am completely obsessed and here for Evie and Sam and mayhem and peril, but also because I am terrified of ghosts and this series is f-ing with my head. I have lost more sleep since I started this series than when I just plain have a bad week of sleep.
These books? TERRIFYING. I don’t care what people say-they are scary. They are deep. They are romantic and addicting and so much fun. They. Are. EVIL.
I cannot wait for book three, but I don’t know if I can wait for book 4 when that day comes and I don’t have another book to jump to. I keep saying, oh I’m guna read another book inbetween, or two, and save these for near Halloween, yet I find my dumb ass running to the next book, curled up on the couch with every light on, absorbing my latest hit of adrenaline before attempting sleep again.
Dumb dumb dumb girl.
RTC. Yes, MORE review. I have LOTS to say.
I really need to pick this series soon! I’m glad to hear the second book is just as amazing as the first one. I hope you enjoy the next book! Happy reading! 🙂
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