Reverie is a tale about a young man named Kane who is struggling with his identity at the same time he uncovers a sorceress. At its core Reverie felt like a fantasy novel that covered tough topics such as identity and acceptance of oneself and dreams. I wasn't sure to be fair if I would enjoy this book but I actually came out of it pleasantly surprised and refreshed. Definitely be on the lookout for this author he is incredible at vivid description writing and world building.

**thanks to netgalley and the publishers for providing an e-arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
I received a print and a digital copy of this work.
I read most of this book on a plane while traveling-when my kindle stopped working I was so glad I had a print version at home because I was more than 2/3's into this YA LGBTQ fantasy novel and I needed to find out WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
The novel starts slowly, we meet Kane, a gay teenage boy who was arrested due to him ramming his car into an old historic mill, that then burned down-something he has absolutely no memory of-it is just a huge hole. Rumors and whispers abound about him around town. When he goes back to be interviewed by the police, instead he is greeted by a drag queen named Posey, who offers to help him with a unique treatment. Kane soon sees shadows and realizes that more is going on than he knows.

This was a fun fantasy book set in a realistic world. Memory loss has been done a million times, but overall this one makes sense and fits with the later plot points (no spoilers). The characters and teens that Kane re-meets without his memory are fun and have good backstories. I liked the pacing, I liked the ending. My only real critique is that there could have been even more Posey (who was featured well).
Great read for my teens, and especially my rabid LGBTQ readers.

“That’s the thing about a big imagination. It’s hard to belong anywhere when you can always imagine something better.”

I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reverie is a book about many things – but primarily, it’s about magic, dreams, friendship, family, and evil drag queen and a huge sprinkling of glitter to top it all off. It’s a very busy book, and a wild ride from beginning to end with very few dull moments. That being said, I found it hard to connect with the story and I felt like I never truly became immersed in this world – after a stellar first chapter, I found myself beginning to struggle as the book went on and I never really regained my footing.

Firstly, I want to say that the writing in this book is gorgeous. It’s atmospheric and manages to weave an incredible, visceral picture of all the settings and dreamscapes we encounter in the story, and there were a lot of excellent descriptors. There were lots of glimmering moments where things really came to life and it was all down to the prose.

That being said, although the writing was lovely I personally found it to be quite confusing. This is by nature a very visual story, and for me I felt as though it would have worked a lot better as a screenplay. I could imagine a lot of the clarity issues I encountered in some scenes being resolved if they played out on-screen, and the dialogue, which at times felt a bit clunky on the page, would have worked fine in a movie. This isn’t the writer’s fault at all, some things are just naturally easier to convey through a visual medium.

Unfortunately, I also that the plot kind of went over my head. Granted, I read this book in fits and starts over a period of several weeks so it’s possible that pieces just escaped me and it would have all fallen into place if I’d read it in a less choppy fashion, but having finished it I’m just not at all clear on the details.
That being said, the characters were interesting and I enjoyed getting to explore their dynamics. Poesy was a great, chilling villain, definitely unlike any other antagonist I’ve ever read about. The worldbuilding – or more accurately, worldSbuilding, plural – was great, each little reality had its own quirk that made it come to life. I think there were some flashes of brilliance in Reverie, and there were moments that I really became immersed in it, but ultimately there were too many moments of confusion for me to really get swept up in the story.

"The reverie was not just dreams and whimsy, like Kane had thought. It was a person's psychology, rendered in vivid fantasy."

A unique story about a world in people's dream worlds become real. Only a few people, a group of teens who call themselves th ed Others, remain livid and know they aren't real. How do they form, why are these teens able to unravel them and what can they do to stop them and protect themselves and the people creating them without knowing? I enjoyed the story and characters. We learn what is going on as Kane does.

What if all of those hours you spend daydreaming could destroy your world as you know it? Kane wakes up from an accident of which he remembers absolutely nothing and finds himself bombarded with a new reality - a world in which reveries exist. Reveries, defined as “worlds born from a person’s private fantasies,” may sound like fun and games, but they can become so all-consuming that they destroy the person’s life.
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I’m going to be very upfront with you. One of the main reasons I requested this title from @netgalley is because of the fact that it contains a drag queen sorceress, and you’ll find that as the main consensus in the Goodreads community as well. Does that not sound badass?! I was so hyped to read it!
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Alas, I have found myself rather disappointed. I thought I was walking into a YA Fantasy, but I felt more like I was reading a middle-grade fantasy. Though the drag queen sorceress is pretty awesome, I felt that the overall LGBTQ themes in this book held a lot of potential that went undeveloped; the surface was grazed, but nothing more. The characters themselves lacked depth, and I am walking away from this book not having resonated with a single one of them. On another note, the world building of the reveries is quite amazing. It’s vivid, beautifully horrifying, and very imaginative.
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At the end of the day, I’m glad I read Reverie, but it didn’t do too much for my tastes.

I’d like to start by saying that preteen-me would’ve LOVED this book. Present day me found it a lot harder to understand why the protagonist insisted on acting/reacting without thinking 70% of the time, but that’s a very personal problem haha! The way that the main group of teens (aka The Others) in this book are able to stay lucid within people's ‘Reveries’—ie dream states that become real for the people trapped inside them until they’ve played out or can be ‘unravelled’ by the MC—is a very cool element, and a great jumping off point for discussions about the book. It’s been a couple days now and all I’ve been thinking about is what kind of Reverie my own mind might create! Another element of this book that I really enjoyed is the villain, Dr. Posey, who is an incredibly powerful and ethereal drag queen who can manipulate realities with her charm bracelet. I loved the way that the main character understood Posey’s actions to an extent, and it really brought depth to the character as well as the overall conflict/climax of the story. Definitely a book I’ll recommend to others!

As much as I tried I simply could not finish this book. Cover was beautiful. Wished for more and had a hard time making it through.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

All Kane knows is that he was in an accident at an old mill in town. He disappeared for a couple days, crashed his dad’s car which burst into flames, and woke up in a hospital days later with several burns.

Problem is, he doesn’t remember the accident. Nor does he remember the summer. In fact, much of his life is a mystery.

He discovers pictures in his room that suggest that he is friends with a girl named Ursula who he doesn’t remember being friends with. He remembers being really cruel to her in third grade but doesn’t remember ever being her friend.

As he begins to unravel his life from his lost memories, he discovers that he is a part of a group called The Others who remain lucid when something called a Reverie becomes real. The Others help to protect those within the reverie before making sure it unravels safely.

But the reveries are becoming more dangerous. And Kane must rebuild his life, trust people he doesn’t remember, and become more than who he was before to save the world from a drag queen sorceress who may just be behind all of this madness.

I come into this review as someone who has genuine brain-processing issues with fantasy. This particular fantasy, however, will work well for people like me whose brains cannot process most on-page fantasies. Ryan La Sala created a grounded fantasy with solid world-building that allows for even someone like me to understand what’s happening throughout the story.

The idea is intriguing, and it’s done extremely well. This will appeal to all YA readers even those like me who normally cannot process fantasy.

Reverie releases January 7, 2020.

This was a darkly cool tale about the importance of dreams – and the way they can take over our lives. The writing was evocative, the plot well-paced, and the drama was just the right amount of overblown to keep pace with the magnificently horrifying world(s) on display. There are drag queens on a mission, teenagers with super (scary) powers, and more worlds-within-the-world than one book should be able to safely hold. There are secrets and lies and secret lies. And there is an overarching tale about growing up and getting out of our own way long enough to realize who we are and who we want to be.

It is, in a word, fantastic.

In this truly imaginative tale, La Sala crafts a world that is manipulative AND manipulated in equal parts. There is magic here, and much of it lies in the characters and their quirks, foibles, and hidden depths. The story includes some heartache-inducing realizations about identity, self-awareness, and self-actualization. They are well-presented in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or Hallmark-movie-of-the-week, but instead ring with a clarity that I found quite resonant. As with so much YA fiction, there’s a lot of truth feathered into the dramatic story arcs in such a way that they further the story while simultaneously providing guidance and direction. It’s a tough dance but La Sala does a masterful job with it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this creative and clever author!

I enjoyed a lot of the elements of this book, but they felt rather clumsily put together. I kept finding myself feeling like I was reading an entirely different novel as I went through the chapters. Usually it's a good thing, to feel like you know the book you're reading and then be utterly surprised when everything changes, but here it felt confusing and disorienting. I really liked the characters and the LGBT+ representation within the plot. The romance was sweet but felt rushed and undeveloped.

This sucker is WILD. Imagine if an acid trip could write a book, but got bonked on the head halfway through and couldn't remember what it had already done. That's Reverie.

I had high hopes for this one after reading the description butI found it falling a bit flat. It is such an interesting idea for a story- a secret group of teens that are able to remain lucid during dreams that border on reality and imaginings. The main character is very difficult to get to know and although the other teens in the group are supposed to be close friends with him and each other, that did not seem at all convincing. I felt confused during the first half of the book while the main character tried to regain his memories & understand what exactly his secret group was all about and where he stood in it. I didn't get to really know any of the characters like I wanted to. Hardly anything about family for either of them, not much of a backstory. The book as a whole reads more like a first draft than a complete novel. It just didn't grab my attention but possibly would be more interesting for junior high aged readers.

I had trouble getting into the writing style and character development in this book. It is a story of a young gay boy who is trying to piece back together his lost memories. The story would be great for younger readers, but maybe not a great fit for the YA category.

This was really interesting read. I thought the concept of imaginary worlds come to life. I really like the diverseness of this book. The cover is beautiful as well.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

Kane has had a terrible accident, yet he cannot remember anything. Police suspect that he deliberately crashed the car in order to commit suicide. Kane is sure that he would never had done it. When he encounters his supposedly appointed gender-fluid psychiatrist for an examination, he learns that things are even more mysterious and magical than he first thought...

This, according to the blurb, mix of Inception and the Magicians did disappoint because it wasn't half as good as either Inception or the Magicians. I think my high hopes are part of this mediocre review. I was not expecting a book for 14 yo but YA or adult fantasy. Well. Maybe I would've liked this better had I been a decade younger.

2,5 stars because it was partly entertaining

The review will be posted on Goodreads and my blog on December 7, 2019
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If the Matrix existed at a modern Hogwarts ... The Reverie is what might be written about it. I loved this book and if you enjoy YA novels about magic, friends with the added touch of an evil Drag Queen who's trying to destroy the world... well, then this is the perfect book for you.

The book opens with Kane Montgomery dealing with the aftermath of a violent incident he has no memory of. The police are still questioning him, his sister Sophie doesn't seem to trust him and Kane can't remember even the most simple things about his life. 

When Kane goes back to school, he begins to realize that everything around him isn't what it seems. There's the magnetic boy with the seafoam eyes who no one else seems to know. There's a Drag Queen Sorceress who claims to be attempting to help Kane. There are The Others who say they are Kane's friends even though he can't remember them.

It turns out that the world isn't what Kane thinks... at all. There is magic in the world and part of that manifests itself in reveries. People's subconscious minds weave together dream-like worlds that have a plot that must play out. Normal people are drawn into the reveries and become characters in elaborate stories. The problem is that reveries can be dangerous if lucid people don't go along with the plot... the reveries have to reach their natural conclusion.

Kane was part of a team that used to try and eradicate reveries by letting them play out and then using their magical skills to unravel them. Then the others tried to hurt Kane and stole his memories. Kane doesn't know who to believe, or who he trusts or what role he plays in a world full of reveries.

This is an adventure story about a world that has been touched by magic. It has a little bit of romance, a lot of heroes fighting monsters and some delightful twists and turns.

I was so bummed when I had to miss the Friday of BookExpo because I had broken my ankle the previous morning leaving our hotel. I literally have the best co-bloggers because they surprised me by snagging a copy of Reverie that is one of my anticipated reads for 2020. Ryan La Sala a debut author, did not disappoint. This book was everything I hope for it to be and more. I don't know about everyone else but I am obsessed with the cover and I think it captures the vibes of Reverie relativity well. Side Note: Ursula would have this cover with a burning passion, why you may ask? Well you'll have to read to find out. But I hope Ursula isn't too disappointed in the cover.

I'm still trying to find the correct words to describe this book, because I don't think that the words I write down will even do it an ounce of justice. Reverie is unlike any book I have read before, and I have read a lot of books. Ryan La Sala’s debut fantasy is an #OwnVoices novel about Kane, a gay teen living in Connecticut who is trying to piece his life back together after loosing most of his memories. Only, Kane loosing his memories isn't simply amnesia as everyone thinks and there are darker things at play.

"Inception meets The Magicians, except with better wigs and a maniacal drag queen sorceress attempting to unravel the reality of Connecticut (yes, the state) and replace it with something…well something better than Connecticut."


What are Reveries you ask? Reveries are basically someone's dreams, nightmare or inner fantasy that becomes a reality that sucks in the people around it. Each Reverie has its own unique plot to follow and if you don't follow them they become extremely dangerous and unstable. There is a set of rules and they must be followed, at all costs. The only way to unravel a Reverie is by resolving the conflict. But what happens what the evil maniacal drag queen sorceress gets a hold of the Reveries? Well, lets just say it isn't pleasant.

I liked Kane from the start of the novel. Part of me felt bad for him. Kane explains early on in the book that he was outed at a young age and because of that he was always distant from his peers and other people his age. Has some memories start coming back and her begins to learn new things, he finds out that the people who were suppose to have his back: Ursula, Adeline and Elliot betrayed him by wiping his memories and all but setting him up to be found at the scene of his "accident." You can imagine how much that betrayal probably hurt. Kane and his friends are part of a group called The Others and they deal with Reveries. (But that is all I am going to tell you because I don't want to spoil the book for those who plan on reading!)

I want to take a moment to say that even though Posey is the villain in this novel I LOVED her character with all my heart. Posey is the villainous drag queen that we have heard all about. Sassy, eccentric and ruthless there was part of me that couldn't hate her even though I probably should have.

I loved every moment of this book and the intricate and creative worlds Ryan was able to create. As I said earlier, this book is everything I hoped for plus more and I super eager to see what Ryan has in store for his readers next. Reverie is a not to be missed novel of 2020 and Ryan is an author who should be on your radar.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Kane's whole world is turned upside down by a mysterious accident that leaves him missing memories. Nothing is what he thinks it should be, or what it seems. Kane is a loner, who has always felt he didn't fit in. When he discovers he is actually the leader of a secret group called the Others, a group with mystical powers, what he thought he knew about reality and lucidity is forever changed. Does he trust the Others, or Poesy, the drag queen mentor? Who is Dean, and why is he so mysterious? And most of all, how is he able to navigate the Reveries?

I found this book to be a creative tour de force. Though Kane wasn't always a likeable protagonist, I enjoyed how this book is different from any other I've read before.. It challenged the mind, but moved smoothly enough to keep me interested. I wanted to know what would happen, and who Kane would trust. The descriptions were interesting and vibrant, and I felt the dialogue fit in with how teens actually talk. That's a tricky thing to do. All in all, definitely a must read!

This book had a lot of potential but I found it to be a bit tropey. The drag queen villainess also didn’t inherently sit well with me. I can’t decide if I’m bothered by that or not.

I’m the same way, I did enjoy Ryan’s characters overall, and thought the story was fun even if the writing was uneven in places. For a debut effort, this book was good, not great, but certainly good.

I’ll be interested to see what they have to offer in the future.