Review: Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray

Title: Lair Of Dreams (The Diviners #2)

Author: Libba Bray

Published: 26 August 2015
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Source: Allen & Unwin
Reviewed: Sapphired Dragon
Rating: **** 1/2   

My Review:

As Evie O'Neill might say, this is posi-tut-ely one the most enjoyable reads I have had this year. In fact I think I may have enjoyed this one more than book of The Diviners!

Right from the beginning we are swept in to the atmosphere and feel of the twenties, the glamour and danger and excitement of being on the cusp of the future of the 20th century.

It is a few months after Evie O'Neill was revealed as a diviner after solving the Pentacle murders and Diviner fever has hit 1927 New York with more diviners coming out of the woodwork. Evie is living her dream, with her own radio show and being known as the Sweetheart Seer and parties every other night.

However on the other side of town, a sleeping sickness has hit and is starting to worry authorities as those who catch it go to sleep and never wake up and starting to reach epidemic proportions...

One of the things that I loved about this novel was the eclectic mix of characters from all walks of New York 1920s life and the threads of their story, all different, all riveting yet somehow still connected. Ms Bray expertly weaves all these different threads so intricately and yet the result is a cohesive, multi faceted story that I couldn't put down.

This is a big book with nearly 600 pages, yet reading the story you didn't feel it, as the flow was brilliantly paced and kept me glued to the pages until I reached the conclusion and even then I wanted more.

I want to talk more about the characters as I loved them. We learned more about the ones we had already particularly Henry, Sam and Memphis and we were also introduced to a new character Ling Chan, a dream walker like Henry who has recently lost much of the use of her legs from infantile paralysis. It is through a chance meeting with these two, that it is discovered that there is in fact a paranormal aspect to the sleeping sickness epidemic that only this eclectic group of diviners can solve.

I loved that we got to delve further into the back ground of these characters and really get to know them better and I loved the way these threads intermingled with the ongoing story.

Ms Bray's wonderfully writing style really brings the 1920s to life in this, evoking sentiments of the era - both good and bad and this story flows gloriously through the different stories and threads of this tale and I for one did not want to leave.

I give this book 4 1/2 stars!


Sapphired Dragon xx

About The Book:

Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray

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 the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title 'America's Sweetheart Seer'. There's just one downside - a sham engagement to the irritatingly handsome Sam Lloyd.
But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners' abilities… and across town, a mysterious sleeping sickness is spreading through Chinatown, leaving dead dreamers in its wake.
Can the Diviners descend into the slumberland and catch a killer?

Purchase: Amazon | Allen andUnwin  | Book Depository