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

Hey book lovers! I read Lair of Dreams, the second book in The Diviners series, for the read-along hosted by chelseadolling reads, Novel Ink, It’s JaneLindsey, and Meltotheany. This is a BIG, slow-burn, atmospheric book with an extremely diverse cast.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
If you haven’t read the first book of The Diviners series then there will be spoilers below!

About The Book 📚

Published 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Suggested Reader Age: 15+

Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, Fantasy (paranormal), Mystery

My Review

“Every city is a ghost.”

› New York City 1927
Lair of Dreams begins from the perspective of an Irish immigrant who is not a main character. A group of men finds a female skeleton in an abandoned section of the NYC underground train system. They leave her bones behind and end up being tormented by nightmares that night.

“Unspeakable nightmares surround the men now. They would scream if they could. It’s no use. The dream has them, and it will not relinquish its hold. Ever. Back in their beds on Mott Street. the men’s bodies go limp. But behind their closed lids, their eyes move frantically as, one by one, they are pulled deeper and deeper into a nightmare from which they will never, ever wake.”

Ling Chan is a new main character. She’s seventeen-years-old, daughter of a restaurant owner, intelligent, well-read, disabled (wears leg braces) and she’s a diviner. Like Henry, she’s a dream walker – except Ling can also speak to the dead.

In the dream world she meets Wai-Mae. Wai-Mae says she’s on a boat to America for an arranged marriage. She shows Ling how they can change dreams.

“It isn’t safe.”

A “sleeping sickness” is sweeping through the city. Forcing people to stay asleep and eventually die.

Evie O’Neill is now known as the “Sweetheart Seer”. She’s using her ability to “read” objects as a talent act and is now a popular radio show personality. Evie has strong feelings for Jericho, but has been completely ignoring him. Sarah Snow is also a radio show personality, but she’s not a diviner. Her parents were killed when she was 13. She married at 21, then her husband died two years later. Sarah’s now twenty-five-years-old, extremely religious and claims diviners are un-American.

Sam Lloyd, a Jewish Ukrainian born in America, is still using his “Jedi mind tricks” to sneak around, making himself invisible and picking pockets. He’s working at Dr. Will’s “Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult” with Jericho, trying to uncover more information about Project Buffalo. He’s convinced his mother isn’t dead and that Project Buffalo has something to do with it. Jericho is broken-hearted and confused. He has no idea that the reason Evie doesn’t want a relationship with him is because her best friend, Mabel, likes him. Mabel is trying to get up the courage to tell Jericho how she feels.

“Inside everyone was the chance to change the world. It sat like a seed eager to grow into greatness.”

Songwriter and dream walker, Henry, can change people’s dreams. He’s regularly dream walking, trying to find his true love, Louis. Henry is still living with his best friend, Theta, who’s in love with Memphis. Memphis has recently discovered his healing ability is returning. His brother, Isaiah is a clairvoyant but too young to understand the implications of his power. Blind Bill Jackson is a mean old man who’s also a diviner. He can read minds and can sense the power of other diviners. He’s now living with Memphis and Isaiah, hoping that once Memphis’s powers are back he’ll be able to have his sight restored.

Evie and Sam are spotted together and rumours fly. Evie’s boss at WGI network loves the attention their “relationship” has produced and insists they go out together more often. Sam agrees he’ll pretend to be Evie’s fiancé for a few weeks and in return, she will “read” the objects he finds to discover more about Project Buffalo.

Henry, Ling, Wai-Mae, Evie, Sam, Jericho, Mabel, Theta, and Memphis have to work together to cure the “sleeping sickness” as the creepy man in the top hat (The King of Crows) is building a ghost army.

“The land is old, the land is vast
He has no future, he has no past
His coat is sown with many woes
He’ll wake the dead, the King of Crows.”

› Likes
• I loved everything. I love the writing style, the characters, the plot, the ending.
• Diverse characters! Black, Irish-Chinese, disabled, gay, Jewish.
• The banter between Theta and Evie is perfection, and I just love how she puts Evie in her place.
• Sam and Evie’s “pretend” relationship is so much fun.

“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.”

› Final Thoughts
• Lair of Dreams is a mature young adult novel that tackles BIG topics like bigotry, identity, morality, truth, love, and hope. It teaches us that actions have consequences. Highly recommend this to all readers over fifteen-years-old!