Hooray for Good Sequels!

Sequels don’t always do justice to their original books, especially in YA trilogies, and I must admit I was wary going into this one as I had just finished reading all of the “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” trilogy, three books in a row, and found that they faltered as the series went on. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the trilogy, but I was worried that I’d get the same feeling from those books of hoping that Taylor would stop adding other plot threads and focus on what I loved about the story.

My worry was misplaced, as Muse of Nightmares is an excellent build on the plots presented in Strange the Dreamer: yes, new plot threads and main characters are added, but they feel like they fit into the story naturally, their plots add important points to the narrative, and the continued world-building works well.

My fiance, who also really enjoys these books, thought this one took a little while to get interesting, but I was hooked right away because I was so invested in what would happen to Lazlo and Sarai, and was intrigued by the two new characters the book opens with. If I had any complaints, it would be that some of the ways characters are saved from terrible fates feel a bit too…what’s the opposite of “kill your darlings”? But since I didn’t want any of my favorite characters to come to a horrible fate, I can’t say I was all that upset by that.