I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to read this book as an e-arc from netgalley. Although I have not read Thakrar's first book, Star Daughter, I can definitely see that she is an author that I will read from, hopefully, many times in the future.
I really loved the character development of the two protagonists, Tanvi and Venkat, as well as the predictable romance because Thakrar did such an amazing job with a slow burn between the characters throughout the story. I knew they were headed there and Thakrar made it such a pleasure to watch their journey progress.
My hesitations came from two primary areas. One, if I had not already read the Aru Shah series, I would not have much if any familiarity with the mythology that forms the basis of this novel. Since I did have this background, I picked up on a lot in the book much easier. Two, I may have missed the explanation but I struggled to understand why dreams held such importance in Nagalok. Some parts of made sense, but I never ended up getting a good grip on the whole story regarding the dreams.
Even with those hesitations, I still really enjoyed my read and would definitely pick up further books from Thakrar.

The Dream Runners has a fantastic and wholly original premise, but fails to reach its owns potential. The book starts off incredibly slow and I struggled to get hooked into this world or these characters. As the story progresses, the pace does pick up and I found myself engrossed in the story more. But I was still wished it had dived deeper into character and provided more nuanced development.

This was a solid sophomore novel from Shveta Thakrar! I enjoyed The Dream Runners slightly more than I did Star Daughter, which I read last year. One of my biggest critiques of Star Daughter was that the plot felt slow compared to how lush and detailed the magic system and world was. I feel like the same applied here to The Dream Runners, so perhaps this is just the style of Shveta Thakrar's storytelling. The world of Nagalok was so interesting to read about, and I feel like it could have been expanded upon and explored more. Instead, the contents of the book felt a little repetitive, where the characters repeatedly had the same thoughts in their inner monologues, made the same choices without learning from their past actions, and more. I also wasn't a huge fan of how Tanvi was kind of portrayed as a quiet, helpless girl, especially in Venkat's eyes. She demonstrates her capability and strength towards the end of the novel, but the chapters before this moment were a little eye-roll worthy.

Some of my favorite aspects of the novel is the romance, which is definitely a sweet slow burn full of build-up and tension. I also adored the South Asian influences in the book. The descriptions of the clothes and food within Nagalok, plus the cultural and religious aspects of the festivities at Navratri were so well written. I felt like I was fully being immersed into the world of this book. I'm excited to see what Shveta Thakrar writes next, and I definitely recommend this to South Asian fantasy fans, especially ones of Star Daughter!

What drew me in immediately to this book was the gorgeous cover illustration. It immediately convinced me I needed to read it. That and the plot. I've never read a book with this concept before. I enjoyed that we got to see the culture radiate off the story. The author did a great job at setting up the picture for the reader. The book started off slow but surely and quickly picked up. The writing was excellent and I thought the characters were a lot of fun. An incredible South Asian fantasy!

an ember in the ashes meets this woven kingdom in this book and i absolutely loved every single second of it

This book started out realllllllly slow for me. Thankfully, the pace did eventually pick up. It was an interesting story and I really enjoyed how culturally rich it was. The cover is gorgeous and really drew me in too! 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Good story and plot, the character was a bit unrelatable for me and that was the only drawback. It might be different for other readers. Writing and prose is amazing though.

Ahh it was such a beautiful and fast paced story that I really loved and enjoyed. The plot was intriguing and engaging since the very beginning and the characters were pure fun. So, it was definitely a perfect 5 stars read for me.

An absolutely wonderful story! I was so intrigued by the characters and the storyline went along at a perfect pace. Highly captivating and beautifully told, I can't wait to recommend this book.