#jonsainspired

Ridolfo, illustrated by Joseph C. Leyendecker

And if your Jonsa nose isn't already twitching, it should be.

This is less than ten pages in, y'all.

And having flipped through the book, we can confirm that the relationship between these Northern cousins becomes romantic down the line.

The similarities are too specific and too many to be a coincidence. Surely...?

We also happened to find one or two other...familiar sounding references:

(Please note that we are in no way suggesting the author is plagiarizing GRRM. It has been established many times in the past that some concepts and tropes are fairly common in the fantasy genre, and Ms. Bruno's series, from what we can tell, has an entirely different world, mythology, and magic system from those found in GRRM's books.

But we do know that Cat Bruno is a self-proclaimed fan of the ASoIaF books and TV series...

...and while there's no way to know for sure, based on the evidence we think the author herself may be

Art by Tara Spruit

Jon x Sansa as Lazlo x Sarai in Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer

It's hard to adequately explain the parallels without spoiling this book for those who haven't read it, but at the very least, picture this - a lonely (dark-haired, gray-eyed) orphan boy who goes on an adventure to a mystical land beset by some otherwordly menace. A soft-hearted (redheaded, blue-eyed) princess goddess in a tower with a tragic past. They fall for each other, but of course, their love is not without its share of obstacles.

Is that Jonsa enough for you? No?

Truthfully, there's more than a touch of Samwell Tarly in the male protagonist (he's a librarian, after all), but there's quite a bit of Jon in Lazlo's character as well:

Sarai, much like Sansa, was born of privilege, but trapped in a seemingly hopeless situation:

When they meet, sparks fly, and it's a beautiful thing.

As for the Jonsa of it all:

Jonsa reunion hug, anybody?

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Bonus: You know how Sansa taught Jon how to compliment a girl by telling her her name was pretty? Lazlo doesn't say so out loud, but he does Jon one better...

What a line! 😍

Similarities to Jonsa or no, Strange the Dreamer is a lovely, evocative book with sympathetic, well-written characters, a unique mythology, rich worldbuilding, and a compelling story.

Highly recommend.

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