Reviewed by Liz: Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray.

Product details:
Publisher: Atom.
Paperback, 613 pages.
Release date: August 25th 2015.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: 14+
Series: The Diviners #2.
Other Books in Series: The Diviners.
Source: Received from publisher for review.
Reviewed by: Liz from Planet Print.

 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?

 For so long, Diviners had kept themselves away from the public eye, hiding their abilities and pretending there was nothing different about them. Evie O’Neill changed all that by revealing herself to the world, and now she’s one of the most known faces in the city, with her own radio show and dedicated fans that hang on to her every word. While Evie may be enjoying the limelight, the other Diviners are not so impressed with the way things have changed. Henry DuBois just wants to find the boy he loves the most, and Ling Chan feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere, except perhaps in her own dream world. As a terrible sickness infects the city, the two are forced to work together due to their similar abilities. At night, Henry and Ling traverse their dreams, searching for answers and lost things they may never find.

I actually enjoyed Lair of Dreams more than The Diviners, which is quite rare for me, since I have a tendency to always favour the first books in a series the most. Lair of Dreams, however, got me really invested in the characters, and I am very much looking forward to finding out what happens next!

The opening chapter of Lair of Dreams was very creepy, but I loved it. And while there were a lot of point of view switches in this book, something that I’m not usually a fan of, I actually didn’t mind too much. I obviously had my favourites (and least favourites *coughJerichocough*) but overall, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Ling was definitely one of my favourite characters, and I really enjoyed all of her chapters. Her dreamwalking ability was fascinating, especially in the way it differed slightly from Henry’s. I am probably most invested in her character and am very intrigued to find out what happens to her next. I’m curious about Henry too, because the way things ended for him…well. It’ll be interesting to see what he plans to do in book three. 

I liked Evie a lot more in this book, she really grew on me. I think her sense of humour came across a bit better, and while she was still kind of bratty and obsessed with fame, I felt a lot more connected to her character. I LOVED her storyline with Sam and their whole “fake” relationship for the sake of the press. I’ve been shipping these two from book one anyway, so this only made me more determined to see them actually together! One of my favourite scenes in the book was when they were both explaining how they first met - oh my God, it was so hilarious. I cracked up. Sam, that guy! He was so funny and sweet and I just don’t understand why Evie preferred Jericho (you may be able to tell that I really don’t like Jericho) over him! Jericho was so serious and boring and not even nice to make up for it. He literally had no redeeming qualities, and anything from his point of view was an ordeal to get through. I am most definitely Team Sam and I have a feeling Evie will see sense in book three (at least I hope she does because I don’t think I could take it if not).

Plot-wise, some things were easy to guess, such as certain aspects of Ling and Henry’s storyline, but there was a lot of stuff that surprised me too! I also really loved the writing and the atmosphere of the book - Libba Bray really knows how to make things creepy and disturbing. One of the things I appreciated most about this book, though, was how all the characters came together and how the storylines joined up. In book one, all the POVs seemed to be very separate and unrelated and I felt a bit distanced from some of the characters because I didn’t get how they related to the main story. That was solved in Lair of Dreams and while some parts were a bit slow, it was great to see how everything was connected and I really am excited to continue the story in the third book. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another three years, because I don’t know if I’ll last!

Overall, if you liked The Diviners, definitely pick up this sequel. The wait was long, but I assure you, it was worth it.

--Liz.