The writing in this book was clear, the description was incredibly vivid. The plot was confusing for me, and I never really understood what was going on, which may be the point, but it wasn't enjoyable to me. However, the book was intriguing, and kept me on my toes!

This book has an incredibly interesting premise!! Mysterious clues, a fantasy world appearing before the main character's eyes, familiar-looking strangers hiding strange secrets - it's such a gripping and exciting idea!

I'm sure I absolutely would have LOVED it... if I'd been able to make it past around page 50.

I feel so bad for DNFing this book, because I feel like if I'd gotten a little farther and actually reached those fantasy elements, I would have really, really enjoyed it.

But I just couldn't get past the beginning, the scenes where MC Kane still has no idea what's going on. The writing was just... dry? Not bad writing, not by a long shot, but not engaging at all. I found myself skimming the words but not really being able to actually get *into* the story.

It pains me to say this, because, as aforementioned, the premise sounded great, and the cover is absolutely STUNNING. I'll probably pick this back up one day and try to make it to the end, but as for right now... I just couldn't finish it. I'm so sorry :(

This was a snoozefest and that's putting it mildly. If you weren't already able to tell by the rating, "Reverie" was a huge disappointment for me, which nearly breaks my heart because from the get-go (the cover, blurb and everything in between) left me enthusiastic to dive into this read and within a span of a few chapters, it almost pained me to say that this wasn't what I had expected. The plot was too confusing and overwhelming, the author's writing style that was featured was too dry, mediocre and lame for such a large concept in which failed to meet all expectations and didn't have that wow factor to win me over.

I will give kudos to the author for the originality, queer inspired tale that pulled me to this read at the beginning. Sadly it just didn't do much for me and it's better for me to drop this now before I get too deep. Let's just hope the next one is a keeper.

Absolutely adored the concept of this book as a whole (as well as the gorgeous book cover!), but at times, the writing felt disjointed and many of the characters were easily interchangeable.

I loved the elements of the book: a drag queen sorceress. That alone sold this entire thing and I adored the imaginative way Ryan writes—and really, it should have all come together for me, but it ultimately fell short.

However, many of the bloggers I know loved and enjoyed this book greatly. I think it's amazingly written, but with a few more edits it would have been a lot better!

This was okay. I've read so much teen fantasy/sci-fi that I absolutely LOVE, so, unfortunately, new titles are often hard for me to care about. While this book is beautiful to look at and has an interesting plot, it fell flat in the end and I found myself skimming. NO ONE IS MORE DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF NOT LIKING THIS THAN ME. TRUST ME.

I read many reviews of this book prior to getting an ARC, and I was disappointed afterward to find that, 1, none of the reviews or synopses I'd read had mentioned that drag culture was a huge element of this book, and 2, that so much of this book relies on cis white gay culture, and stereotypes derived from this culture. This does not make for an inclusive reading experience for many people in the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Can we just take a moment and appreciate the BEAUTY of this book. This book had a great level of mystery and magic and left me turning pages for hours.

I didn't know what to expect reading the synopsis, but I was actually hooked right away. It was kind of a strange story, but I loved it. The story was unique and entertaining. Definitely look into it if you enjoy fantasy books.

I'm actually having trouble truly understanding how I feel about this book. While the premise is INCREDIBLE, I just kind of wish that the execution was a bit more cohesive, a little less drawn out and I wish that I could have connected with the characters more.

I received a Netgalley ARC of Ryan la Sala’s magically realistic novel Reverie in exchange for an honest review, and I am so glad to have gotten the chance to start my 2020 with this gem. The story begins with Kane Montgomery struggling to make sense of a car accident; according to police reports, the wreck that inflicted massive damage on his town’s historical mill was all his fault, but Kane can remember nothing surrounding that moment. After meeting Dr. Poesy during an interrogation, though, Kane starts to realize that the accepted trail of events may not tell the whole story, causing him to question the very reality around him. Soon, Kane is battling through previously unfathomable realms and reclaiming his memories--and his potential--with a group of newly-rediscovered friends dubbed “The Others.”

What I loved about this novel was the nuance of the plot, the crystal-clear characterization, and the superb, wry prose. For example, one “reverie” is spawned by rude boys in Kane’s gym class who are described as being “in the process of peaking early in life.” Characters such as Ursula are described with such precision that I could picture her in front of me, even when she was performing such unbelievable acts as donning a wedding dress while karate-kicking an oversized, bejeweled beetle. And if that sentence sounds completely incongruous, that’s the other thing that was so wonderfully intoxicating about this book: despite how outlandish the premise, the plot just worked. Are there moments when a teacup can swallow an entire world? Yep! Can reality grind completely to a halt from time to time? Of course! Do we have a realm-bending drag queen as a main character? Sure! Yet in reading la Sala’s words, it’s so obvious that none of these things could be any other way. Finally, amid these completely entertaining moments, there is such a message of hope for any reader who feels on the fringes; although la Sala acknowledges the “secret sadness that [grows] like mold in the humidity of a life kept closed” when Kane considers himself as a queer person, the story ends on such a positive note as to encourage those who may not have yet found their way toward acceptance.

With its beautifully written prose, positive message, and thrill-ride plot, Reverie is a strong purchase for school libraries and a strong recommendation for students who have enjoyed titles such as Stephanie Garber’s Caraval or the Sci-Fi series The Magicians.

I was very excited to receive this eARC from #Netgalley and am delighted to report I wasn't disappointed at all. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review it.

Reverie is beautifully written by Ryan La Sala, full of vivid imagery and prose, so very unique in its creativity and just an absolute delight to read. Where do authors get their fantastic imaginations from?!

I loved the diversity of the high school characters: firstly our protagonist Kane, gay, confused, looking for acceptance but always running from something, and totally oblivious to the fact that he has the best type of friends who would follow him into the unimaginable, because they believe in him. Then there's Ursula, so strong physically, yet so vulnerable and unsure of herself too; Adeline, brave and fiery and loyal and absolutely nothing like her 'cheerleader' facade, Elliot the high school jock, adored by all and part of the 'in crowd', but how much of his persona is actually an illusion, and of course Dean, the mysterious interloper and protector, but where do his loyalties actually lie? Lat but not least of course, you have the arch-villain Poesy, the powerful, magical, drag queen sorceress😈 What a character!

The premise of the story is that concurrently/simultaneously (I wasn't totally sure which, but this is a tale of magic and deception, so don't hold it against me) with life as we know it, people's reveries (dreams/nightmares) are being played out like live theatre, with the players having no memory of the reverie once it's 'unravelled'. Only our heroes are able to remember, participate and actively affect the end result of the reverie.

But there's more to it than that. There's (of course) an evil plan for world domination, a hero who can't remember who he is or what he can do, and layers upon layers of secrets and lies and red herrings.

I completely loved it! Highly recommended and 4 ✨✨✨✨

"What makes this book especially powerful to me as a queer reader myself, is not only does it feature a gay protagonist, but the powerful and magical authorities are ALSO queer, like gender-fluid drag queen sorceress, Poesy, who travels worlds and takes a special interest in Kane for reasons we find out later in the book. People like Poesy become possibility models for Kane’s growth as a queer character in both the realism and magical elements of the story." excerpt from online review below.

I wanted to like this more than I did - the idea behind it was wondrous, but something about the execution fell flat for me. So many of the separate parts of this book should have added up to a favourite - a month has passed since I read it, but I can still clearly picture the characters in my mind. A fun read, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The first couple chapters of REVERIE kind of had me scratching my head– I couldn’t quite get my head around what was happening– but then things clicked and I got into the story and especially Kane as a character.

He’s funny, but angsty– which has to be my favorite combo– and while he’s desperately serious, he kept me laughing with his insights and side observations.

REVERIE is a weird book, for sure. But it’s a super endearing weird. I love the way the book stretches and twists reality and has Kane and his friends jumping in and out of different dream-like sequences.

If you mashed together the dream-jumping element from the movie INCEPTION and added the upbeat, liveliness of a Caleb Roehrig novel, you’d have something like REVERIE. I had so much fun reading it, and I can’t wait to see what Ryan LaSala writes next.

I’m sad. Mostly because the idea of a gay kid having superpowers that including shooting rainbows out of his hands sounds great. But I was expecting this book to be less fantastical and more based in reality.

I have a hard time with narratives where the POV has amnesia. It’s frustrating in a bad way. And Kane’s attitude and behavior didn’t help matters at all. I really like the group of friends and the epilogue was more of what I wanted the story to be (minus like kitschy Halloween part just more of a group of friends being friends and solving magical problems).

I’m sad I didn’t enjoy this, but I know many people love it and I would not stop someone from reading it. It is a slow story, the plot moves very slowly and folds back on itself a lot and I found that to be annoying but others seem to really like it. This is probably just a case of wrong reader syndrome.

I'm not even sure where to begin with how much I loved this! Reverie has an incredibly promising concept and absolutely delivers with the wonderful characters, prose and reveries themselves. The imaginative ways that each reverie was crafted and written, plus the clever ways they were interlocked with the cast's experiences and stories, were an utter delight to read. I adored all of the characters, their strong, dynamic friendships and the unapologetic expression of their identities.

This is definitely a book I'll be gladly returning to and reading again and again.

I received this book the publishers via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this really intriguing and lovely! I really enjoyed the concept and how unreliable Kane was as a narrator, so we find things out alongside him. That worked well for me. The reveries themselves are honestly such a cool idea - i definitely see the comparison to Inception here! But I also like that we get to see both "quieter" ones as well as ones that go wrong.

I did find it a little hard to get into at first but only because I was tired and you know something is up and you're not sure what! Once the main story gets going and Kane learns more of what is going on, it really picks up and I couldn't put it down.

This book is also wonderfully queer - Kane is gay, but there's a whole host of queerness including someone who never names it, but is written as gender queer, complete with changing pronouns, and I *adored* that!

The friendship is wonderful when it gets going too - especially as we learn more about what happened. I really liked how everyone's powers worked with their personalities, but also how it helped us get to know them.

Reverie is a teen fantasy superhero adventure romance… a bit of everything for everyone!

Kane has had an ‘accident’ and has lost his memory of the events surrounding it. Gradually he becomes aware that there is more missing from his life, and embarks, reluctantly and suspiciously, on an adventure that sees him facing down evil, fighting for what he believes in, and making dreams come true – but not necessarily good dreams.

Perhaps more importantly, he makes some friends. The problem is whether he can trust them when he can’t even remember them.

There are elements of the familiar, like X-Men style super-powers and an Inception-like incursion into the imaginations of other people. Ryan La Sala has created a fresh story here though, with some very endearing characters and a fascinating take on following your dreams. I particularly loved that in order to resolve each ‘reverie’ the team had to first identify which literary or pop culture trope it was following and then blend in with it – like a cross between puzzle-solving and an RPG!

A strong theme running through the book is that of otherness, or feeling like an outsider. Alongside that are plenty of positive lessons about learning to love oneself – the bad as well as the good – but the author doesn’t preach, allowing the story to make his points for him organically as the plot unfolds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and it was great to see LGBTQIA characters represented naturally and with complexity. I would definitely read more from this author, especially in the same fiction-verse, and would recommend it to teens upward looking for a fun fantasy read.



Kane might have noticed Sophia look away too quick if he wasn’t watching a shadow behind her break away from the wall and scamper, huge and spider-like, across a doorway.
“Something’s in here,” he whispered.

– Ryan La Sala, Reverie

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

"Just because something is imagined doesn't mean it isn't dangerous."
This was a message the characters in Inception needed to hear and wildly ignored, but it is something that the characters in Reverie slowly began to understand and adapt to, thank goodness. It's a difficult thing because we tend to find hope in our dreams, in the things our mind tells us in quiet places. However, these hidden whispers can be dangerous, wicked in their stealthy ways. Despite all the negative things that happen to the characters throughout, they still hold on to their hope, the small pieces of themselves that keep them going.

Ryan La Sala weaves humor into the dark moments and keeps the reader invested in the action throughout. I'm not always in love with realistic fantasy that occurs in the "real world;" but I was invested the entire time while reading this, always anxious to the new and varied ways in which the "real world" changed to adapt to the characters, the magic, and the circumstances. I'm always in love with romance of any kind in a novel and the romance in this one did not disappoint. It was careful and kind, building up appropriately so that the reader falls as the characters fall, bringing you in with them. I recommend this book to others and have already done so to make more queer friendly books available to my students.

I wanted to love this so much but I had so much trouble understanding it all. It just seemed pretty messy and I couldn't connect to the characters either. I'll probably try whatever else this author writes because I see some promise but this wasn't my kind of book!