If you're a fan of short story collections, this is the book for you. Bailey brings freshness to each story in "Upon a Waking Dream" as well as bright and clever ideas. I think this fits the sci-fi genre beautifully and has some stories that are really bound to make you think about the way we view the world and the people that surround us! I had never read anything by this author before but upon reading this, I will absolutely be seeking out more of his work.

***4.0 Stars***

Overall,
This was a highly enjoyable collection of science fiction/fantasy short stories. It was easy to read and come back too after i had finished one story and moved on to another. I would definitely recommend this book to all science fiction/fantasy readers.

***I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my free and honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book early #UponAWakingDream #NetGalley ***

I did not enjoy Upon a Waking Dream by J.S. Bailey. The premise seemed something I would really enjoy but it never clicked for me. A lot of the stories read as aggressively simplistic. Almost all the narrators are inane, irritating and kind of ridiculous characters. Extreme motivations and no common sense, which made it hard to connect with or enjoy the stories. The narrative voice sounded the same in every story so it was hard to differentiate the characters. They are so “golly gee” “aw shucks” and exuberant. They feel so false.

I only finished it because it was an arc to review. I found each story painfully dull, pointless, and nonsensical but not in a good way. I feel like it was attempting satire half the time and not succeeding.

This is how you make great plot twists and write really ridiculous sci-fi/fantasy tales without being cringy. Overall, the stories have a good level both in plot and development, all were entertaining and have a final that makes my jaw drop, like super low.
The one critique I have is a few of the stories are much longer than they should be, sometimes I was a bit bored, so I was counting the pages that were left for the next chapter. But that grand finales made it completely worth it.
My favourite one was The Men of her Dreams, I really loved the protagonist, she's so real in her own way and I can really connect with her. Also loved the transformation of Tom Cruise... I mean, Tom "Suarez".
I super recommend this book to anyone with a little bit of free time, there will always be something special in there for you.
🌙━━━━━•°•°•❈•°•°•━━━━━🌙
A comment that I don't share in my public reviews, because I want to have a spoiler free content. I Really liked the explanations in the end, I have never seen something like that in a book and gave me a little bit more of context, special the Jay one, I never make the connection Jay=Jesus but when I read it my head explodes because it has a lot of sense!
Other thing I have to clarify is that I'm a Chilean bookstagramer, so all my content on Instagram is in Spanish, but I left an English review in my Goodreads for you to check, the stories one is the same but translated to my native language so don't worry.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. Ranging from alien abduction to imaginary friends, the stories are refreshing, thoughtful, and often hilarious. Each story is well written, with a plot twist or ending that is unexpected. The stories range in genre from sci-fi to mystery. Easy to pick up a chapter, this has me hoping to find more short story collections.

Unfortunately I dnf'd this book. Probably it wasn't my cup of tea.

*Thank you to NetGalley and J. S. Bailey for providing me this arc for an honest review*

Upon a Waking Dream is a collection of 12 sci-fi/fantasy short stories, on one end you have a flat earther who gets abducted by aliens, and the other a traveling whimsical house that has no outside. An entertaining span of stories to be sure. My favorites were Letter from Glomsuet (Flat earther who is abducted by aliens), Jay (if Jesus was here in present day), Inheritance (a magical pen connecting generations), The Last to Pass (What if humanity solved Death?), and The House With an Inside But No Outside (girl finds magical house in the woods). This was my first time reading J.S. Bailey's work and I enjoyed a lot of the concepts that she came up with, they were all very imaginative. Most of these stories could be made into novels, or even series. That being said, I think a lot of the charm and magic of the story comes from it being so short and leaving it open to the reader to think about.

Some of the negatives now, the only story I really did not care for was The Man of Her Dreams. I thought that one was just annoying to read about, because of the 'main character' being so self centered and basically being a stalker. I could have done without that one.

Thirteen was another one I think we could have done without. Even for a short story I don't think there was much there to work with. It was just an eerie encounter I suppose.

The Family Name was just depressing to think about because it is basically what modern day could be like in the blink of an eye

But those 3 don't negate that I did enjoy the rest of the stories. I would definitely read her work again!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ecopy Arc in exchange for an honest review

I would read more from this author. I mostly enjoyed reading this. Not a perfect or memorable read but entertaining enough. Will look out for more in the future in between my must-reads. Thank you to the author and publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity.

Upon a Waking Dream is a collection of 12 science fiction short stories. As with all short story collections, I felt that some stories were stronger than others, but as a whole, I felt that they were a bit too short for me to be able to connect.

While Bailey has a clear voice and the stories were really well written, I unfortunately did not really enjoy the content of the stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

These short stories were very interesting! They kept me engaged overall even though this isn't my typical type of reading. I liked the fantasy-esque feel of some of the stories since that is my favourite genre!

Upon a waking dream is a collection of twelve short stories of the sci-fi and obscure kind. From a flat earther who meets a real alien, a woman creating a new universe just to live with her celebrity crush, a college dropout with an imaginary friend and of course, unlucky thirteen - or is it?

This read like episodes in a weird and wacky TV series on all things strange. Touching on everything, including aliens and Fae, this one will have something for everyone. I found myself thinking too much on all of them after I finished, and it was a great thing. This is perfect for fans of the Twilight Zone and anyone who just loves a compilation of short stories to break up the monotony of today.

A big thank you to J.S. Bailey and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Upon a Waking Dream comes out March 7 2023.

Upon a Waking Dream is a delightful collection of 12 fantasy and science fiction short stories. I thought each story was well written, even though I did like some more than others. I have been on a romance binge for a while now and I thought Upon a waking dream was a refreshing break from romantic comedies. I honestly thought that each story was fun and quirky. I liked that if I wanted to, I could leave the stories after finishing one and be immersed in a different story when I came back to it. If you are looking for some fun science fiction tales, then Upon a Waking Dream is what you are serching for.

More more more! I loved each story very imaginative and immersing. A easy read and lots of fun. The whimsical elements and storytelling were on point. Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my eArc.

I really enjoyed this! Not every story resonated with me (I must admit there were a few I rated 2 stars), but the ones I enjoyed were good enough that I think I'd recommend this to other sci-fi and fantasy readers who want to dive into something a little bit shorter. My personal favorite was Inheritance, because in an odd way it felt like a wholesome version of my favorite (not wholesome) K-drama, Signal. I don't think this work is perfect, but I'd really recommend it, and personally, given that I read this as an ARC, I may have to buy a copy just to be able to look at that gorgeous cover. Overall, the vibes of the book are very whimsical and weird, and it was nice to read something like this as an adult.

J. S. Bailey weaves science fiction into a handful of short stories, great for a quick read before bed or in between classes.
In a total of twelve short stories, Bailey establishes a clear writing voice while navigating a new world and new characters in each one.
This book is perfect for anyone who is new to science fiction and doesn’t want to feel overwhelmed with world building, and anyone else who is just looking for a quick getaway.

A very well curated collection of stories. Each a marvel, each a tiny piece of handcrafted excellence that evokes and explores the limits of reality, spacetime, and imagination.

I did enjoy this book however would have preferred some stories to be more exciting or link together.
I did enjoy the morals in twined in the stories though.

I feel like my students would greatly enjoy this. Each short story is interesting and well written. I thought the twists were interesting and that's probably my number 1 complaint. For a collection of short stories, I felt tired at the end. There's simply too much.

If some of these were part of a larger anthology, it would have been fine, but this was not a sit and read in 1 session collection.

The thing I want to start with is the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous and honestly the first thing that drew me to this book. Well done Molly Phipps!
The book itself contains several stories, twelve in total, ranging from just fun to read to absolute killers. There wasn’t a single one that disappointed me. And in a book that touches twelve different topics that is rare. J.S. Bailey has delivered a solid package and is a must read for fans of the genre.

This is a fun collection of short stories. The whole thing is relatively short so it’s a good fast read.
Most of the stories felt more science fiction to me rather than fantasy but I still had a good time.

Some of the characters and worlds I would have liked to see expanded on more.

Overall I had a good time with this and would recommend others give it a chance too.
Might even help get someone out of a reading slump because it has a good variety of stories.