I had high hopes for this but didn't really love it. Most of the characters were vile and those who weren't didn't garner much sympathy. I found the plot flimsy and fanciful. Some of the historical references were interesting but other than that "Dreamland" wasn't for me.

One of my favorite settings in books is an amusement park, so the setting of Coney Island in this story is perfect! This story takes place in the early 1900s and follows a young wealthy lady who vacations in Coney Island with her family and struggles to fit in with the "high class expectations" of her family. The storyline had some similar themes as the movie, Titanic, with the "wealthy girl mingles with the lower class and falls for an unsuitable gentleman".

This story was a lot of fun...it was full of great descriptions of Manhattan Beach and Coney Island, the sights and sounds were described so well, I truly felt like I was there. There was also an air of mystery to the story, with some murders taking place.

I really found the peek into the wealthy family's dirty laundry interesting. The romance was decent, but not my favorite (I never really enjoy romance though).

Overall, this was a very fun, atmospheric, summery story that a lot of people should enjoy. Recommended!

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley and Endeavour Media to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book but felt it needed a little more . It felt like it was missing out on character development, atmosphere, even a bit more chemistry would have been nice. It was a good story and the writing was good. It just seemed to be missing something.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Book Review: Dreamland by nancy Bilyeau
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This gorgeous cover belongs to Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau, which pub date was 3 days ago! When I started reading this it had been a while since I read the synopsis, so for some reason I expected a fantasy novel. It isn’t, it’s historical fiction/mystery instead. It didn’t disappoint though! I loved reading about Peggy’s rich family, and I loved that I didn’t really trust anyone, which made it an exciting read that kept me guessing.
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Synopsis:
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The year is 1911 when twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Batternberg is invited to spend the summer in America’s Playground.
But the invitation to Coney Island is unwelcome. Despite hailing from one of America’s richest families, Peggy would much rather spend the summer working at the Moonrise Bookstore than keeping up appearances with New York City socialites and her snobbish, controlling family.
But soon it transpires that the hedonism of Coney Island affords Peggy the freedom she has been yearning for, and it’s not long before she finds herself in love with a troubled pier-side artist of humble means, whom the Batternberg patriarchs would surely disapprove of.
Disapprove they may, but hidden behind their pomposity lurks a web of deceit, betrayal and deadly secrets. And as bodies begin to mount up amidst the sweltering clamour of Coney Island, it seems the powerful Batternbergs can get away with anything… even murder. 
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Thank you @netgalley, @endeavour_media and @tudorscribe for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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Title: Dreamland
Author: Nancy Bilyeau
Publisher: Endeavour Media / Endeavour Quill
Publication date: 16 January 2020

2.5 Stars

This was a little disappointing. While it is incredibly well written it just didn’t live up to the promises made in the blurb. We are promised the extravagance and excitement of Coney Island amusements in 1911. The escape to its debauchery. Instead we got a slow paced slice of life of a New York socialite that had a little bit of “not like other girls” syndrome.

The mystery itself was extremely predictable. While initially Bilyeau managed to create suspicion in many of the male characters. It was not a page turning mystery. In fact in the end the investigation and reveal were very rushed. It took almost 80% of the story before our main character decided to look into the murders. Therefore all her investigative theories and the reveal and final wrap up all had to be squeezed into 75 pages. For me this was disappointing after pages of description of family dinners and how she spent her summer holidays. It just wasn’t for me.

Over all I just found it a bit dull. I wanted to be swept into the magic of Coney Island, to get imbedded in a dark and devious murder mystery and instead I found it rather dull. Again the writing was stunning, it reminded me of the style in An Interpretation of Murder but was missing the satisfying mystery for me. The writing was what kept me reading to the end. The rest just wasn’t for me.

What an incredible read. It gives you an insight into being an heiress in one of the richest families in America circa 1911. A summer on Coney Island, unsolved murders, an illicit affair between an heiress and an imigrant, drugs...what did this book not have? It would have been so much better with more description of hotels, coney island et. al. Otherwise very well done and look for more from this author!

Beautifully written historical fiction, focusing on the complicated lives of the Battenberg family in New York. Money fuelled engagements meets the bustling amusements of Coney Island, but it becomes very clear very quickly that a sinister killer is operating just metres from the fun. Peggy Battenberg wants to know all about it.

I loved the characters, richly detailed setting and varying pace of the novel. All the plot points felt believable, and there is an amazing attention to historical detail. Futurism, the rise of Mussolini's Italy, Coney Island and freak shows, its all there in high definition.

A very satisfying read.

Firstly many thanks to Netgalley and Endeavour press for an ARC of a wonderful book. As soon as I started reading I knew this would be a book that would hook me in and I would just not be able to put it down and I was right. I disagree with some reviews that say the book left you wanting more in the way of descriptions, I thought the characters were well thought out and described, the storyline was very believable and moved at a pace that was just right so that nothing was missed. The detailed description of Coney Island and the barrier caused by ones social class and place in society before the First World War was sensitively done and was true of the time the book is set in. I did find myself not wanting the book to end and when it did my first thought was hopefully the author will bring these characters to live again. I
This is a wonderful story that I encourage all to read.

I enjoyed this book but felt myself wanting more details. More atmosphere. I wanted more to happen at coney island. I did really enjoy the characters but I wanted more development of them. Maybe a little more romance between Peggy and Stefan. Especially because they were both such courageous people.

Started this book with a complete visual of everything described by the book's MC, Peggy Batternberg. Manhattan during summer's heatwave. The sounds and smells of Coney Island diffused all around me. Millionaires' Row and its wealthy, influential residents came to life once again. I don't know about you, but when I read historical fiction I tend to spend lots of time Googling people and settings from the story. (There's a lot to Google here.) Doing so allows me to better place myself within the storyline. I immediately bonded with Peggy because she cherished her duties at the Moonrise Bookstore. I'm always gonna root for a chick that digs books. I got in to the read quickly, but it kind of fizzled towards the end. Still, I quite enjoyed this historical mystery. Well worth the read. Atmospheric.

Peggy is an heiress. She doesn't have to work. She likes the independence she feels, if one can call it that. Unfortunately, the Batternbergs do not think kindly of a monied young socialite schlepping to a day job. How common and uncouth! Peggy's need to distance herself from uppity relations will find her entangled with a Serbian artist and three questionable crime scenes. If she had doubts about being the Batternberg black sheep, it's safe to say she's wearing the wool well.

America’s playground Coney Island turns into America’s nightmare in this historical fiction. Peggy, the female lead is a “modern woman” way ahead of a time where the rich ruled and most important the men. Having been born into an affluent family, Peggy doesn’t have much say in the way her life is lead which at times has her coming off as a bit naive to the reader. Many a time this naïveté kind of annoyed me because she truly believed she could change the world whom had decided her role in life from the moment she was born.

Not only does Peggy have to follow her families whims and orders but she falls in love with a working man who would never be accepted by her family. Underneath the surface of all this though lurks a serial killer hell bent on making Peggy’s life miserable and to keep her beloved out of prison, it is up to her to find out just what kind of secrets the rich hide.

This was a mesmerising novel. The whole time I was reading it, I felt I literally escaped to a whole new world. The language was vastly rich in its descriptions of Coney Island the socialite high life style. The heroine's character was layered, filled with the innocence of youth and idealism, making me feel nostalgic about first loves and rebel days of the past. It almost reads as a hypnotic tale of mystery and finesse. This was a beautifully constructed historical fiction novel, one that will hold a tiny piece of my heart with it. If you're a fan of historical fiction and a strong female lead, then this is a little gem.

I loved this! I have read all of Nancy Bilyeau’s previous novels – The Crown, The Chalice and The Tapestry, set in Tudor England, and The Blue, about an 18th century porcelain painter – and enjoyed them all, but I think Dreamland, her new historical thriller, is her best yet.

It’s the summer of 1911 and twenty-year-old Peggy Batternberg, one of America’s wealthiest heiresses, has just started an unpaid job at New York’s Moonrise Bookstore. Her family disapprove, but Peggy has been feeling uncomfortable with her sheltered, privileged lifestyle and is enjoying the experience of doing something useful for a change and getting to know people from different backgrounds. However, she has hardly had time to settle into her new job when she is ordered to join the rest of her family at the Oriental Hotel near Coney Island to spend the summer there at the invitation of her sister’s fiancé, Henry Taul.

Peggy is disappointed and angry. She resents having to leave her position at the Moonrise and she dislikes Henry, so it is with a lot of reluctance that she agrees to change her plans. Shortly after her arrival at the hotel, she slips away from her Batternberg relatives and ventures through the gates of Dreamland, the newest and most impressive of Coney Island’s three huge amusement parks. It is here that she meets and falls in love with Stefan, a Serbian artist who sells hot dogs from a cart – definitely not the sort of man considered suitable company for a Batternberg heiress! Her family would be even more shocked if they knew that she had become mixed up in a murder investigation, but that’s exactly what happens when the body of a young woman is found on the beach near the hotel…

There was so much to enjoy about this book. First, the setting. I have never been to Coney Island but Nancy Bilyeau describes it all so well – the luxurious hotels, the beach and, most importantly, the rides, shows and other attractions of Dreamland itself – that I could form a clear picture of everything in my mind. In reality, the events that take place towards the end of the novel happened in May 1911, but Bilyeau plays around slightly with the dates so that the story unfolds during the summer heatwave instead, adding even more atmosphere to the novel.

Although Peggy is a fictional character, she is loosely based on the real American heiress and art collector, Peggy Guggenheim. It was interesting to follow her personal development over the course of that summer at Coney Island as she becomes increasingly aware of the disparity between the world in which she has grown up and the world populated by those who are less advantaged. Her visits to Dreamland open her eyes to a whole different way of life and her relationship with Stefan shows her the difficulties faced by immigrants in a society where they are viewed with suspicion and distrust.

I think the mystery aspect of the novel was actually my least favourite part of the book. There were only a few suspects and the eventual solution didn’t surprise me. What interested me more was the prejudiced way in which the investigation was handled by the police and the assumptions they made about various people based on factors such as name, nationality, gender and level of wealth.

The way Dreamland ended seemed to leave things open for another book about these characters; I would love to read a sequel, but if there’s not going to be one then I’m sure Nancy Bilyeau will find another equally fascinating setting and time period to write about next!

My thanks to Endeavour Media/Endeavour Quill for granting my wish for an eARC via NetGalley of Nancy Bilyeau’s ‘Dreamland’ in exchange for an honest review.

Extra thanks to The Pigeonhole as I participated in their group read for this title and very much enjoyed sharing observations with my fellow pigeons on our daily chapters. Nancy Bilyeau kindly shared a number of rare archive photographs of Coney Island and Dreamland with us that helped to get a sense of the setting.

In 1911 twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Battenberg is invited to join her family for a vacation on Coney Island at one of its grand hotels. Peggy isn’t enthusiastic about this as despite being a member of one of the USA’s richest family she feels very much an outsider.

While wandering through the attractions of Coney Island she meets a humble pier-side artist and quickly falls in love well aware that her family will certainly disapprove.

Alongside this plot of forbidden love is a murder mystery as a number of young women are murdered on Coney Island. Peggy begins to suspect that the murderer is a member of the entitled milieu that she and her family are part of. Can the rich and powerful get away with murder?

I found this a highly engaging novel. It is extremely rich in period detail evoking the fashion, food, architecture, and manners of the time. Peggy proved a very sympathetic narrator.

Not long after I started reading it I was delighted to discover that Nancy Bilyeau had loosely based her Peggy on the early life of heiress Peggy Guggenheim. I was familiar with her through my study of art history. She lived a fascinating life and indeed was a free spirit who rebelled against her privileged background and became a passionate supporter of modern art.

I enjoy historical novels that feature mysteries, especially when the author has done their research and is able to transport me for a short time back in time. This novel fulfilled that criteria. I certainly will be recommending ‘Dreamland’ to like-minded friends.

As I scrolled through Net Galley looking for my next read, I came upon DREAMLAND and its amazing cover. I knew then and there that I must read and review this book. I wasn’t familiar with Nancy Bilyeau, so it really was the cover had me from the start, I didn’t even read the book description. I can tell you now that I was instantly sucked in. I don’t think I even looked up until the first third of the book was devoured.

So…
**If you love the harmonious mix of Historical Fiction and Mystery then DREAMLAND is for you.
**If you love really great writing and want to try something new then DREAMLAND is for you.
This book truly is amazing, and the writing is hypnotic and beautiful.

1911 – Margaret (aka Peggy) Battenberg belongs to the American royalty. Her grandfather was considered one of the riches men in America (in the lines of the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts) Although the Battenberg’s would rather spend their time with all the luxuries of life, Peggy would rather spend her time at Moonrise Bookstore (at job she loves as it’s so far removed from her life as a heiress). She’s even earned the title as the black sheep, as she wishes not to follow the posh life that her family lives by.

When her sister Lydia is set to marry Henry Taul, the Battenbergs and Tauls convene to Manhattan Island – and to Peggy’s dismay, she’s forced to leave her bookstore job behind. Even far from home, her family still lives a life of poshness as they call the magnificent Oriental Hotel home.

It’s at Coney Island, that Peggy manages to slip away and stumble upon an art exhibit. The mysterious Stefan, is the talented artist who Peggy instantly falls in love with.

But underneath all the pompous air of the Battenbergs, young love, and the amazement of Coney Island, there are bodies being found, and soon a web of lies and secrets start to unfold.

A big thank you to #NetGalley and Endeavour Media Ltd, for the opportunity to read and review DREAMLAND. It was such a pleasure to read a new and fresh author (that is, new to me author).

Captures you from page one and does not let you go. A engrossing look at New York's Gilded age. Definitely will look for more from this author.

ARC received from NetGalley last year- thank you, as always!

First of all, I have to say I loved the entire vibe of this book. I love the world Nancy Bilyeau created around New York in the early 1900s- I felt transported and completely enraptured by the city- and Coney Island. It's rare that you're able to shake all the nuances of modern society and fully feel like you strictly ARE back in time- this is one of those novels that did that for me.

At once a murder mystery and a slice of historical life, Dreamland highlights the way women were treated in this time period, and through Peggy we discover how hard it could be to live with the social hierarchy of the times. She struggles for independence from the start, and you can't help but root for her. (Let her live her life!) The romance aspect takes a priority over the actual murder mystery of the book, and while I did love the love interest I never truly felt convinced of their love- it was a bit too instant love for my tastes.

Which brings me to the biggest con of this novel- the mystery.
Branding itself as a mystery, I expected so much more than the roughly 20% of the investigation that we do get. I absolutely loved the writing style around the investigation, I would have loved so much more than what we did get. The story felt a little dragging near the middle because of this.

Overall, a pretty good read and while I wouldn't necessarily want to own a copy, I would suggest to a few of my more historically inclined friends to read this.

3.8 stars!

It definitely kept me intrigued, however the heroine doesn't actually decide to try to solve the mystery until 78% of the way into the book.
The first three quarters of the book is a bit Downton-esque, on a smaller scale. It felt like Peggy was Mary and Sybil rolled into one, and her sister was more like Edith. And just like Downton, you have a family on the hunt for money to keep up their lavish lifestyle and servants. So they try to force black sheep Peggy back into the fold as she'll be coming into her inheritance soon, and to join her sister to a mining tycoon so they can join their enterprises.
Peggy shuns her family's ways and while pursuing her independence from them, meets Stefan, and the two fall into a whirlwind romance. He comes from a country of political revolt, the American police are convinced he's an anarchist, and although three women have already died, it's not until they try to pin the murders on Stefan that Peggy becomes determined to solve the murders herself to clear his name.
The last quarter of the book is Peggy trying to unravel the mystery. Since the mystery is kind of corralled into a short portion of the book, it's fairly fast-paced and straightforward. Still good, but the book is definitely more about Peggy's bid for independence than the mystery. The time period details are very good, and I enjoyed the Coney Island setting. The writer clearly portrays the impact that such a new and in-your-face diversion had on the straight-laced aristocracy and how it started mingling the middle and upper classes. Very good historical fiction.

DREAMLAND BY NANCY BILYEAU⁣⁣
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𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 2.5/5 STARS ⁣⁣
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𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: None the Batternberg family really sucks. ⁣⁣
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𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: The Batterberg family. ⁣⁣
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𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦: The time period was interesting. I liked the setting of Coney Island, the premise of the story is really the only thing that was enjoyable. Even then, I wanted more descriptions about the glamour of this era with the “New Woman”. I also liked the cover but it really doesn’t make up for all the parts I hated. ⁣⁣
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𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦: This section may include some brief spoilers! Where to begin? The plot was cliché, I guessed who had committed the murders in the first few chapters of the book. It was so utterly dull that I merely skimmed over pages as I got closer to finishing. ⁣⁣
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The characters. Oh what a let down of characters. Peggy spent most of her time with her tears welling up in her eyes and making stupid decisions or the sake of her sister. Her sister, Lydia, who made equally stupid decisions about Henry Taul, Peggy’s ex, and then experienced a complete character shift towards the end? Then there’s her cousin Ben, who Peggy sort of had a relationship with—I was beyond creeped out. It was altogether just a book filled with two-dimensional characters obsessed with money and purity. It really had no substance. ⁣⁣
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𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥: readers who want to rant about books they dislike.

I could not get into this book at all. I did not really like the writing style and the story was different to what I thought it was going to be.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.