Let’s try something different in this review.  Let’s just talk about what I love about this book and this series (now that I have finished Lair of Dreams!!!)

1. Evie O’Neill is the Elephants Eyebrows, which I assume in 20’s slang for the Bees Knees.  She’s joyful, funny, sarcastic, brave and yes a bit spoiled but at her core she wants to help and make difference. If that happens to get her name in the papers so be it.

2. All of the female characters are awesome.  Mabel, Evie and Theta are all completely different.  I mean seriously, I don’t think you could find different girls.  Well, you probably could but as different as they are they compliment each other.  Yes, they fight, yes they have their falling outs but when it matters, they are there for each other.

3. The guys are not bad either.  Sam, Jericho, Henry and Memphis all have book boyfriend potential.  You have bad boy Sam with a heart of gold.  Studious Jericho who is more then he appears to be and mysterious Memphis with a poets heart and brother’s loyalty.  Henry is the class clown.

4. Libba Bray does a great job of setting a tone of 20’s optimism with darkness and foreboding of something big that is about to happening.

5. You can tell that a lot of research went in to writing of this novel.  Everything from the tone, to the slang to the description of clothes and city to the politics and social issues that really brings you into the time and truly makes for a lush reading.

6. I sorta can’t believe that I’ve made it this far without mentioning their super powers! The story revolves around a group of 17-18 years old who start to discover they have strange powers.  Like, walking in dreams, reading objects for a person’s past, seeing into the future or healing the sick.  It’s like an X-Men origin story!

7.The big bad is truly terrifying but nothing is truly terrifying to me then someone who truly believes that what they are doing is for good even though it is bat shit crazy!

8.Speakeasies, night clubs, Follies and so much more of the Roaring 20’s.

9.For all the optimism of the 20’s, Bray is not afraid to touch on the less happy things from the era, like racism, the Chinese immigration laws, religious fervor and eugenics movement.

10. The diversity of characters.  Memphis is black and Henry is gay.  Not to mention it’s filled with characters from all spectrums of life in smaller roles as well and more of those characters to come in the sequel.