Muse of Nightmares

Parents need to know that Muse of Nightmares is the sequel to the absorbing best-selling fantasy Strange the Dreamer. As with the first book, this mature story is best for high school readers ready for difficult subject matter. Trauma over past rapes and murders dominates Muse of Nightmares, and some characters are so overcome with trauma that they seek out vengeful violence. They attempt to destroy whole towns and teams of soldiers with an army of ghosts and magical powers. One bloody scene shows two characters impaled over and over again. Characters are imprisoned and nearly choked to death, two others are drowned, and a character jumps to death out of grief. A woman remembers being hit and verbally abused by her stepmother and then sold by her father to an old man when she was just a teen. Readers of Strange the Dreamer already know that, less than two decades before that story began, girls had been taken from their homes, raped, forced have children, and then sent home again with their minds wiped of their memories. They also know about the babies murdered in the nursery. One character relives this scene over and over again in her nightmares. Sexual content is also mature: Main characters share beds naked, with descriptions of touching and talk of doing more intimate things in dreams. Older characters have sex, but it's not described. The main character, Sarai, tries to help characters grapple with their trauma. She finds there is no easy path back to a sense of peace.