It was a good book, and I loved the cover. Character development was strong, and I felt attached to the characters which is exactly what I'm looking for in a book!

Reverie by Ryan La Sala
Publication Date: December 3, 2019

I haven’t written a review in a while, and that’s probably because very few of my recent reads have wholly won me over. Thankfully, Reverie has ended that streak. It does starts off a little bumpy due to the main character, Kane, having amnesia from an experience that left him half-dead in a river. Not knowing friend from foe, Kane searches for links to his lost memories. Then he literally stumbles into another world. Well, not quite. More a dream come to tangible life. As Kane’s memories start to creep back into place, the plot picks up and the bizarrely wonderous dreamscape-jumping begins.

What I Liked:
- I thoroughly enjoyed the concept & execution of the dreamscapes, AKA the “reveries.” Each one was vibrantly strange and uniquely their own. I loved the shifting array of characters, backdrops, and dream “plot twists.” I wouldn’t have minded if they had squeezed a few more into the plot.
- Due to Kane’s amnesia, I had quite the difficult time discerning future plot events. It was a rare occurrence for me to have zero ideas about what would happen next in the book, and it was refreshing.
- I enjoyed seeing all the LGBTQ reps throughout the story. I don’t think everyone needed to be paired up by the end though.

What I Didn’t Like:
- I really liked Posey! Unfortunately, she was a bit 2-dimentional. I kept hoping the next chapter would bring her some sort of backstory or driving motivation. Alas, she remained a perfectly coiffed mystery.

Recap:
If you want a wild ride of a read (including but not limited to: barbarians, a Victorian garden party, a dystopian regime, and shapeshifting nightmares) Reverie is the book for you! It was a thoroughly enjoyable & imaginative read. I’m excited to see what Ryan La Sala will write next.

4.5/5 stars

*Thank you Net Galley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

This is a book that I felt I really needed to pay attention to especially when starting out as it jumps right into it and since the main character is confused about what is going on with him the reader is as well. I found that not knowing what was going on increased my interest to start with but also found it very confusing if my attention wavered even a little bit. Once I got over the confusion and just allowed myself to just go along for the ride I found myself really enjoying the story and the mystery elements of the story and trying to figure out what actually happened to the main character and to figure out who is really telling the truth.

I thought that the idea behind the story was really interesting though I'm not exactly sure how everything worked so I would say that you need to suspend some normal beliefs in the world to fully allow the magic of this story shine. The characters themselves were fine but at times I found myself annoyed with them and what they were doing. Overall the story was interesting I just couldn't get over how long it took for me to feel like I was figuring things out and even when I did the world didn't make sense.

I unfortunately did not enjoy this story as much as I'd hoped! I was so drawn in by the gorgeous cover and the refreshingly unique storyline, but my hopes fell flat as I continued. The beginning was interesting, with suspense, mystery, and intrigue, but as the story continued, I found that the story grew very extreme and strange, which I wasn't the biggest fan of. I also felt that some of the characters were very flat and I couldn't connect to them.
I'll still continue to support the author, as I really like Ryan La Sala as a person, but I wasn't the biggest fan of his debut novel.

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

DID NOT FINISH! I got 32% in/12 chapters and I just cannot continue. I do not care that the character is gay, I do care that it is brought up SO DAMN FREQUENTLY in every single chapter and as almost as a character FLAW. Some of the chapters are even mean about him being gay so I am confused about what the author was trying to do and say...

This books idea was fantastic, however, the author was not at all focused and it was just awful and I could not even try to continue. I had such high hopes and was sorely disappointed.

I have a LOT of feeling about this book. But I want to start with the fact that, as in almost all reviews, this is an account of my enjoyment of this book, and with this book especially, I think there are many things that I didn't like that you might love! It is very relevant to consider that I am 26, and this is YA; I very much think adults can read and enjoy YA (I often do!), but I think at times, some critique of YA comes from being outside the target audience. I don't think the book was juvenile; I just think I might have liked it more when I was newer to this kind of fantasy.

Reverie follows Kane, a gay teen whose memories of the last two weeks (and possibly more) have just completely disappeared from his head after he crashes a car into an old building. He was found covered in burns in a nearby river and shortly after fell into a coma. We enter the story with Kane trying desperately to figure out what happened to him while he was gone with the threat of potential jail time looming. Kane must figure out his past to grapple with the uncertainty all aspects of his life are currently caught in.

What I really truly loved about this book was the beginning 20-25%. It was enthralling, mysterious, and raw in a way I really loved. The mystery immediately captured me; I loved Kane's exploration as a character and how his family relationships were being explored. I was completely invested in how the world was clearly fantastic (in the literal sense), and Kane knew he should know more than he does. I was 100% sure this was going to be a new favorite book.

You can see my rating, you know it wasn't a new favorite, but I don't think the book was bad! (I also very much think that one person's opinion of a book cannot be used to declare a book bad, but I mean that I didn't dislike the book, I just didn't love it either.) There were just many elements of this book that very much did not work for me, as the story continued to unfold. This very much might not be your experience! Don't let me stop you from reading it if you want to do so!

I think my biggest issue with Reverie is tied to what made me love the book's beginning so much. Having Kane not remember any of his previous life gave the beginning of the book wonderful tension, the mystery of putting what happened and his life back together was wonderful. Unfortunately, once we realized that old friends were to be trusted, I just kind of wasn’t as into the plot any longer. The relationships these characters had with Kane just wasn’t developed enough for me to care. And the tension between who Kane is now and who he was before didn’t work for me, mostly because the descriptions of the two seemed eons apart at times. The character development of this book just overall did not work for me. I think this could have been mitigated by either a smaller cast or having this book be a series, but that is obvious just conjecture on my part. And that is just what I think I would have liked it, not necessarily something that would make it objectively better.

I didn’t feel connected to the emotional core of the story, the saving of a sister plot (especially when the first reverie we are introduced to called out how reductive and sexist that hero fantasy was, they were different scenarios, but it just seems a different flavor of the same virgin archetype. And when this is paired with the sister's fantasy involving her overthrowing a sexist world that she feels trapped by, I was just not into it. The book encouraging you to be aware of tropes and archetypes, and critiquing them in the narrative encourages you to look very critically at what you are reading, which is excellent, except that the conclusions I came to with this character were not what the book seemed to want me to conclude. Also, somehow I was less invested in this character as the book progressed. She went from central to peripheral, then was an obstacle, then was a damsel. It just didn’t work for me.

Other aspects of the middle and end of the book that didn't work for me included that I found the book very confusing at times. This could be down to falling interest in the plot while I was listening to an audiobook. Still, I did relisten to about ten chapters just to ensure that I was completely paying attention because I had become confused. I think the set up of reveries (other peoples dream worlds coming lethally to life) was fascinating, but the world outside of the reveries needed more to keep me invested; it was a very cool premise that just needed something else for me.

I thought the twist in the romance was interesting, but I wanted to see that relationship more on the page. Kane's love interest is so rarely interacted with I forgot his name multiple times throughout the book. The main point in most of my critiques is that I wanted more time given to something, and that holds true here.

I genuinely think I would have enjoyed this story way more if it had been a douology. I needed more setup, more time spent in the world, and more character development. I think the container for this story was too small for how much it was trying to accomplish.

There were also some tropes i don’t like. Specifically, I wanted La Sala to do more with the evil gay trope. He subverts the trope a little with the protagonist also being gay and having Kane see himself in out big bad. I liked Kane's exploration of being envious and interested in this character for their ability to be so openly queer, but it was not enough for me to get over my dislike of this trope. I am not saying it was poorly done, just that it is a thing I don't tend to like and that held true here.

I do really think the world was deeply interesting; it was so open and full of potential. There are tons of people who really loved this book, and I completely see why they did. I just became less interested as the book progressed. I found Kane to be a great protagonist; I liked that the book had a strong focus on friendship and family ties. I thought the book was funny!

I would recommend this book to people! I would recommend the book to people who really liked Caraval by Stephanie Garber, to people who love fantasy that deals a lot with memories, and to people who are seeking out YA with a largely queer cast.

Unfortunately this did not work for me. I wanted to like it but was often confused and just couldn't wrap my mind around the reveries, and couldn't connect with the characters.

I really liked this! It was magical, lyrical and oh so queer! Loved the queer representation and the overall idea around this. I honestly applaud Ryan La Sala’s imagination because he created such intricate and vivid scenes with different reveries.
I think the only thing I hadn’t liked was our MC, Kane. I found him to be so pretentious. But I loved all of the other characters and Kane eventually grew on me, though I mostly just tolerated him. Overall the journey this book took me on was amazing.
I liked the mysterious beginning with Kane not having all his memories and the introduction of increasingly fantastical elements. It was such a well crafted story! I would definitely check out more in this universe and from La Sala!

I found the beginning a little slow and on my third try to read the book I finally pushed past whatever block I had and read the rest of the story. I quite liked Posy as a character and found her a unique anti-hero. Ursula was the perfect best friend and Adeline was fierce, in all ways. I was very intrigued with the concept of the story and La Sala has a unique and glorious ability for world building. It is so ingenious that you could wonder if you are in fact currently living in someone’s reverie. Overall a great read.

It was an interesting concept, but fell a little flat for me. As a stand-alone novel, I think it will do well among readers.

Reverie by Ryan La Sala
This fun fantasy adventure has a variety of characters set in different worlds or “reveries”. The story opens as Kane struggles with memory loss and frustration because he’s been accused of reckless behavior, destruction of property and possibly murder but he doesn’t remember any of it. He digs deeper into solving the mystery of his life and discovers that he was part of a group called “Others”. The more he reveals, the crazier everything gets. Dreams from individual minds come to life and most people are swept into the reverie while the Others have special powers of illusion, strength and cleverness to guide people safely through the dream world. The story also has a drag queen reverie guide that adds flair as well as lesbian side characters and Kane, who is the gay main character. These characters add perspective, kindness, diversity and a broad array of personalities to Reverie. A fun adventure fantasy geared towards young adults. The relationship scenes aren’t detailed and are a small part of the Reverie world. 4 stars!

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

Kane wakes up half-dead in a river next to a burned house, with no memories of how he got there. Actually, he has no memory of the few months or years preceding the accident. While trying to find out what happened to him, he discovers clues linking him to 3 strangers claiming to be his friends and is dragged into unimaginable worlds.

What I enjoyed the most about this story is that this plot is nothing like I have read before. I was dragged into the story from the start. The world building was so original and fun to read about. The different worlds the characters get stuck into felt so real and imaginative. I wish I could see this book adapted, as I could so vividly see all these worlds visually, it would transfer perfectly on a screen.
On top of that, all the side characters were so interesting to read about. They each had their own personalities and flaws; they felt unique in their own way.


I just wished there had been more explanation about how the reveries worked, how the group unraveled them and where their powers came from. But overall, a really enjoyable experience. Would definitely recommend!

Very unique premise. I don't think I have read anything like this before. Great story fun characters and with every page turned you want to know what happens next.
If you like magical realism, fantasy this ones for you. Enjoy!



My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Reverie" era, sem dúvidas, um dos meus livros mais aguardados do ano. A história basicamente segue esse garoto, Kane, que acordou de um coma sem lembranças recentes. Tudo o que ele sabe é que se envolveu em um acidente que quase tirou a vida dele. Conforme ele tenta entender o que está acontecendo, descobre um mundo mágico onde desvaneios tornam-se parte da realidade. O problema é que esses desvaneios, chamados de reveries, podem ser perigosos, e há uma feiticeira drag queen por trás disso tudo. Seria ele a chave para impedir que coisas terríveis aconteçam?

Nada mal para um livro de estreia, "Reverie" conseguiu me manter viciado na história durante a maior parte da leitura. Eu não fazia outra coisa além de ler para entender aonde o autor estava me levando. No começo, fiquei um pouco confuso até descobrir o que estava acontecendo, e um pouco decepcionado porque a história não seguiu a direção que eu imaginava. Quando me adaptei ao mundo que o Ryan criou, consegui aproveitar bem mais.

Todo o conceito de como um reverie funciona, o porquê da existência, o que é preciso para pará-lo, etc. me fascinou. Ryan La Sala conseguiu criar um sistema de magia complexo o bastante para explorá-lo em outros livros (apesar de que, até onde eu sei, esse é um livro único - e se sustenta bem assim). E é simplemente incrível o fato de que a pessoa mais poderosa na história, até certo ponto, é uma drag queen.

Em alguns sentidos, esse não é o livro mais original do mundo: "Reverie" também tem seus clichês e segue uma fórmula. No entanto, ele é criativo e cativante o bastante para fazer disso algo novo. Quer dizer, onde você já leu a respeito de um garoto gay que tem manifesta seu superpoder com arco-íris pelas mãos?

Essa foi uma leitura incrível, e esse é um livro que eu queria ter lido uns anos atrás. Precisamos de mais fantasias assim protagonizadas por personagens LGBTQ+. Espero que a história chegue logo ao Brasil.

Sometimes expectation can be the death of enjoyment.

Reverie sets up such an intriguing premise. I mean the description states it’s “about what happens when the secret worlds people hide within themselves come to light”. How amazing is that?? And that phenomenal cover screams we’re in for a trippy adventure.

For the first quarter of the book I seemed to be getting exactly what I wanted. Kane awakes without his memories and he is thrust into situations he doesn’t understand, meeting people he doesn’t remember, and experiencing phenomena that can’t be explained. This mystery gave the book great momentum and I flew through these chapters.

But after only about 100 pages we get an explanation for almost everything: the car accident, the role of his classmates/friends, his own history. And I’m sitting here like I’m sorry you seem to be misunderstanding things … I want to be confused. I wanted this to be an evocative, mysterious adventure but instead it devolves into your typical YA book.

I thought that this would be a highly introspective book. Secret worlds people hide within themselves is such a great opportunity for character work, especially since it involves queer identity. What an amazing vehicle for people to discover aspects of their identity, or to reveal their desires for a world that is better and more accepting than the one we have. Imagine what people could learn about themselves in a world created by desires they might not have known they had. But that’s not what this book is. Our protagonist Kane barely undergoes a character arc and we never even enter his secret world. Instead we get worlds that play on book/cinematic tropes. We have the Indiana Jones world, the YA dystopia world (and I must say that my 15 year old self is feeling attacked thank you very much), and our YA heroes must learn how to survive in these silly idealized visions. These secret worlds turn out to be funny critiques of tropes instead of complex character work. I’m so disappointed.

And you know maybe that’s also on me. Maybe I wanted more than this book could give. I was totally in the mood for a psychological adventure that doesn’t have definitive answers. But this is just another typical YA adventure. I guess I was hoping for something more.

This book was really not up my alley, but I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read it. I was basically hooked from the first page. Kane's memory loss was so intriguing to me, and I found myself getting mad when I had to put the book down to go do other things. The fantasy aspects of the book were so well done. The visuals were completely clear in my mind. I kept thinking this could easily be a TV series on Netflix. I would love to see this book turn into a series that follows Kane and his group of misfits as they battle other fantasy villains.

This one is a wild ride with unique characters and a premise that is wholly its own. Come for the adventure and stay for the heart.

One of the best YA books I have read in a while. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen and wanted more. Ryan La Sala is going to have a great career.

I’m not going to lie, going into this post, I wasn’t exactly interested in reading this book. I was just going through netgalley and saw this cover and thought it looked interesting. And then I hit a reading slump and didn’t read any e arcs for months. So I had no idea what this book was about when I went into it.

When we enter this book, we met our main character, Kane Montgomery. Something terrible happened to Kane but he doesn’t remember what. All he knows for certain is that the police found him half dead in the river by the old mill in his town. He has no memory of how and what happened when he got there, just that he was there. But ever since that night, he has felt off, or that the world was off to him anyway.

When three strangers claim that he is their friend, he tries to piece together a life that he can’t remember. But when life is just returning to normal, he starts getting visions of monsters and a mysterious visitor that visits him that he doesn’t know whether to trust or not. Kane must figure out what is going on with reality as reality and fantasy are blending together and who to trust with his secrets.

This book was a good read for something that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy but other than that, the story was kind of predictable. Though our entry into the story can be interesting as the main character is essentially filling in the blank for us as the readers and himself, the character was lacking by trying to fill in the void of what the character once was.

3 out of 5 stars.

I can't for the life of me summarize books so please look to the official summary of the book for context!! Now, going into this I wasn't expecting to like the book so much. The only things I'd ever heard about the book was there was a drag queen and everyone had powers. I didn't know what was gonna go on so I wasn't all that excited to read it. I don't even know what I was expecting, just that I probably wouldn't like it all that much. Lemme tell y'all, I was WRONG. It was a little slow for me in the beginning but once the magic system and reveries start to get explained...everything clicked into place.

For one, the villain of the story isn't all that obvious. At least for me it wasn't. I kept flipping back and forth between assuming one or the other, or more than one person! But...BUT. (Spoilers ahead) Y'all that was one of the best written villains I've ever seeeeeen oh gosh. I loved Posey so much!! She was so dramatic, and cunning, and strong! I don't have the words to describe how much I loved this drag queen sorceress asdlkfsd

Not only that, but I also loved about every other character as well. Mainly Dean, Ursula, and Kane. I loved Dean and Kane's relationship and how it grows over time. That couple is by far my favorite (besides the next obvious cute couple being Adeline and Sophia, which!! I was NOT expecting!!) And ohmygod I nearly forgot Maxine and Helena!!!! They're actually the cutest couple out of the whole book, I don't make the rules. Seeing old lesbians adds 20 years to my life.

The only thing I didn't really like about this was that it's kinda hinted at that Ursula and Elliot get together or like each other. I could've just read it wrong, or it could've just been the fact that I was reading an arc and not a final copy. But I could've swore that it said earlier in the book that Ursula was a lesbian. So I was confused for the rest of the book when they would mention Elliot flirting with Ursula and her blushing. I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong because I very much could be. That didn't affect my rating obviously LOL

I highly highly recommend this book if you want some gay fantasy with a pretty cool magic system!