Unfortunately this is a DNF at 28%. I couldn’t get on with this book at all, which is a shame as actually the first couple of chapters had me thinking this was going to be a cracking story. I got bored with it and then after a break went to read again and couldn’t get back into it. Shame.

Sam Sheridan has finally found her place at a magic school in Scotland. Mostly. Auchter is a mountain to climb that everyone wonders about (can it really be worth it?), but Sam knows that there's no alternative for her, no matter how poorly grad school is going for her. But then one of her closest friends goes missing. Sam knows what's going on, but the truth will never be believed. And then things get real weird.
I tried really hard with this book. It was not what I hoped for, though. The dark academia part, the terrifying and dark school of magic in Scotland with the little found family, which was my favorite part, was only the first third of the book. The rest is...a road trip?? So that was a little unexpected. Also, I really missed the rest of the gang introduced in part one. Yes, one of them is missing, but there are two others who aren't Tate. Not that I didn't like Tate, but like, Bridge? Nina?? Where??? I missed them. I did like Sam a lot, the mess of a grad student at the heart of all this. And the villain was also really good. Genuinely pretty despicable. As for the writing style, I didn't love it. It felt disjointed a lot of the time. Choppy and jumpy. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be stylistic with the freaky magic happening, but if it was, it wasn't working great.

2.75 stars.

A dark academia, following Sam, as she studies at Auchter house, a university specialising in arcane subjects, including practical dreaming, the art of removing objects from dreams. Sam has struggled with mental illness and has found a safe haven at the university.
Dark secrets are uncovered and friendships are put in peril as the story progresses.
I loved the premise of the book, particularly the practical dreaming, and the prose was quite lovely.
I did have some issues though. Firstly, the way that the magic works was not really explained, it just happens. I also found that from the start of the book like I was missing something. We are continually told that Sam has this love of Auchter house, and close relationships with her friends around her, but I struggled to see this, and therefore when characters were put in peril it was difficult to feel that invested.
I also felt like Sam didn't have much of a personality past being troubled, and the constant line-breaks got a little tiresome after a while.
Real promise though, and it was nice to read something that felt different from other dark academia I've encountered so far.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Goodreads.

If The Atlas Six and The Dream Thieves had a brooding, fever-dream of a child, Some Advanced Notes on Practical Dreamers would be it.

This debut blends dark academia, psychological depth, and dream-fueled magic into something strange, lyrical, and compelling. The characters, flawed, raw, and real, shine brightest here, with Sam’s arc especially standing out as she stumbles through grief, growth, and self-acceptance. The writing is poetic and immersive, often blurring the lines between reality and imagination so effectively that you feel as untethered as the characters.

Autcher House is one of the eeriest and most intriguing magical schools I’ve read in recent years. It feels like a living entity full of secrets, and I only wish we’d gotten to explore it more. The dream magic system is original, though at times frustratingly vague. The early chapters especially suffer from a lack of clarity, with metaphors occasionally bogging down the pacing and big plot points left underexplained.

Still, when this book hits, it hits. The emotional intensity, the friendships, the gut-punch twists, everything builds to a memorable, haunting payoff. It’s a slow burn but worth the time if you’re craving something both cerebral and emotionally resonant.

Fans of introspective fantasy with dark academic vibes and found family dynamics will find plenty to love here, even if they, like the characters, have to fight through a bit of dream-fog to get to the heart of it.

I was fully drawn to this by the premise of the story. And yes, it does have a more original premise than some other books lately. However...

The biggest problem - the ARC had a lot of errors - there were duplicated pages, spelling errors, problems with grammar and if I remember correctly one character being called the wrong name repeatedly which just made me confused for a while. Not helped at all by the writing style of the author, which wasn't really my own personal cup of tea.

There is good stuff in here like the vibes of the whole book, being set in Scotland, but this probably needed another round of edits and adding/removing stuff and fleshing out the secondary characters more. Even Tate could use a few more.. building blocks to be honest. While I loved his love for Sam, I feel like we don't really know him. 

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC: All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Some Advanced Notes on Practical Dreaming by Clare Robertson has one of the most original premises I’ve read in a while. The setting of Auchter House and its blend of academia, mystery, and dream logic was instantly compelling, and I loved how the story pushed into dark, imaginative territory that felt both eerie and unique. The themes of identity, memory, and revenge were ambitious and layered, and the bones of this novel are genuinely strong.

That said, the technical execution made it difficult to stay immersed. As this was an ARC, I expected some roughness, but the number of typos, misspellings, duplicated passages, and even moments where a character was called by the wrong name really distracted from the reading experience. Beyond those errors, the prose itself sometimes felt like it was striving for a literary style that, instead of elevating the narrative, weighed down the pacing and flow.

Overall, this debut shows a lot of promise in its creativity and scope, and with further editing and polish, I think it could truly shine. For now, I’m landing at three stars: solidly inventive and worth watching for readers who enjoy atmospheric dark academia and surreal twists, but not quite refined enough yet to reach its full potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was so hopeful for this one but alas it wasn’t my cup of tea. I DNF’d at about 20-ish% and just felt a little let down by what I thought was going to be rich up my street! It just didn’t quite have the mystery and intrigued I had hoped for, felt a little flat and was a slow read.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75 rounded to 4.

A dark academia written in lyrical prose where reality and dreams intertwine and the narrator slowly loses their grasp on what's real and what isn't. It's sort of like a fever dream come to life on the page. At times this felt confusing, but considering we're seeing everything from main character Sam's POV that blends well with the overall vibe. Did I like Sam? I'm still not sure. Did she need to be likeable? Not at all! The unique magical system and intriguing plot line kept me invested even when some of the writing felt a little over-flourishing and metaphor-heavy. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a more cerebral dark academia fantasy, along the lines of Babel or The Atlas Six.

I sadly DNF:d this because I could accept the description of mental illness in this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is more of a two and a half star read but thought I would round up. All in all; I think I was just anticipating a lot more from this book and it did not deliver. I found majority of the characters lacked personality and depth. I had a hard time reading it as the imagery and descriptive writing was lacking. I typically enjoy any book that can create a good movie in my head, but this book seemed to rather have not enough detail (where you were just thrown around) or too much that I forgot where I even started. I think when reading dark academia, I expect a lot of emotion and depth and this just didn’t deliver for me. The premise of the plot was promising and I did enjoy some parts, just not enough for me throughly enjoy and recommend this book.

Sam, a young woman with a history of being institutionalized for mental illness, is now a student at the secret magic academy Auchter House. She is being trained as a practical dreamer, someone who can do things like bring items from dreams into the waking world. It's her 5th year, she's on the verge of failing out due to her mental illnesses and burnout, and she's becoming increasing suspicious about the intentions of her favorite professor. When her and a friend discover a horrible secret about Auchter House, Sam is forced onto a new path if she has any hope of surviving.

It feels kind of bad to write a review for this book considering my copy is missing Chapter Forty-Eight and the Epilogue, but I'll make due.

This book is very heavy on the vibes, which works with its subject of magical dreams and having a protagonist who struggles with depression and disassociation. However, this book isn't what I expected it to be. I requested it because I read a post implying it was a Dark Academia book about the way academic institutions mistreat women, particularly mentally ill women, so I was expecting a thematically heavy read. Instead I got a coming-of-age story that wants to be about finding the ability to accept other people's love and care when you come from a background of mental illness and abuse, but there wasn't any acceptance in the copy I read (maybe in those final two chapters I was missing).

The biggest problem I had with this book was the characters, and how this lead to the book having no emotional weight. Sam feels like an actual person and I understood her struggles and thought process clearly. Every other character feels like a cardboard cutout. We're supposed to have a "queer found family" but literally, why are any of these people friends with Sam? Who knows!

Sam spends a lot of time angsting over the realization that her professor for these last five years isn't the man she thought he was, but he's introduced to us as a rather cold and dismissive person. It surprised me that she was surprised by his actions. We never get a sense of how he portrayed himself or built up a relationship with Sam before the rose-colored glasses fall off, so their conflict felt hollow to me.

The lack of emotional weight felt especially bad when it comes to our only major character of color and our love interest, Tate. It is very cool to have a Native American be a love interest. But, all he does is be in love with Sam and emotionally support her. He doesn't seem to have any sort of hobbies, interests, or existence outside of orbiting her like a moon, and it gave me the ick. All of the characters revolve their whole lives around Sam, whether by supporting her or thwarting her, and it made the world of the story feel empty. I can't imagine anything happens in this world when the protagonist isn't on-screen.

There's also the occasional strange or wrong phrase that pulled me out of the story (a character is described as shucking on her clothes at one point, and literally, "to shuck" means "to remove").
Overall, this was a disappointing read that I don't think the missing chapters could have saved. If you go into it knowing it's a coming-of-age story and not Dark Academia, you'll probably have a better time than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clare Robertson for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

One of those cases of interesting concept and lackluster execution (all subjective ofc). I was curious to see how it would end, but something about the way it was written made me struggle through it. And then I grabbed another book, and by the time I finished that other book I realised I didn't want to carry on with this one.

Oh well. If you like dark academia and surreal vibes, give it a check.

If you don't feel comfortable with a narrator whose grip on reality is tenuous, maybe give this a pass.

This book wasn't great but wasn’t awful. I feel like it’s definitely too big for it’s boots in that a lot of world building where it comes to the magic system is glossed over and we’re fully just dumped into things in order to get things moving faster.

There’s some things I didn’t figure out but what the girls were, which the MC for some reason didn’t get til like the last page of the second to last chapter, I got literally once they found out what was in the library so that was silly imo.

The mind wipe ends up being pointless, if you have a plot point broken so easy just dont do it.

This book would’ve been a 3 but there’s just too many glaring spelling errors and my copy had chapter 48 and the epilogue as the title with just a blank page? And I feel like a month out from print it should be in better shape.

I must first off say it took me quite awhile to get through this book. To me at points it felt like it dragged. If you like Dark Acdemida this might be right up your alley. Trigger warning about loss and depression so if that's a sensitive subject maybe steer clear of this one. It did kind of remind me of a Harry potter world in some points which is what kept me till the end.

I would describe this as a dark academic mystery that centers around found family. I appreciated that the main protagonist struggles with self-esteem and asking for help. There are some very poetic and evocative passages, and the entire book feels like you're suspended in a dream. The prose style is very stream of consciousness, which can be difficult to parse between many long, run-on sentences and short repetitive ones. That being said, the dreaminess of the book is mostly due to that very style, so it's mostly successful. I had a little trouble connecting with the main protagonist for the first half of the book, but as I kept reading, the plot and motivations came together.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for approving me to read this book, I’m rating it 4.5 stars rounded to 5.

I’m going to think about this book for a long time, I just know it. Although some parts didn’t flow quite how I’d like for my brain to digest the insanity unfolding.

The depth of this story just grows and suffocates, then shows you such strength in our characters considering where they begin and how they fall back into coping mechanisms they just aren’t ready to escape. There’s a number of layers to this story with beautiful friendships, romance, loyalty, betrayal and secrets that Auchter house isn’t going to give up for free. This felt like a well paced dark academic fantasy with fever dream like vibes and I really enjoyed this.

The story tackles some tough subjects that may be triggering for some people like loss and depression, but I do feel like it did this with a great sensitivity while intertwining it with fantasy elements of the plot.

I highly recommend this one for fans of All the Devils, it’s intriguing and darker than expected.

The descriptive and lyrical way this story is written transports you on to the pages. I was immersed into the Scottish Highlands on a journey to save my friend. I love a story with strong friendships and it was lovely to be on this journey with Sam and all her friends, you couldn't help but root for them!

i have some complaints about this title:
- there were a lot of errors in the text, and twice a chapter was repeated. if that was a deliberate choice, the effect was not felt, i was just annoyed.
- some of the story didn’t quite work with regards to McCulloch and Sam: McCulloch says that no one will ever believe Sam about what happened to Sid, but throughout the book (and before this moment) Sam’s friends are shown to care deeply (through words and actions) about her despite her distancing herself/not sharing about her struggles, so it just doesn’t seem believable. I’m aware that we experience this world through Sam and she is not totally reliable, but it doesn’t work for me to believe that her friends actually think she’s nuts and untrustworthy.
- the prose was too flowery and dense, and i am someone who normally enjoys that kind of writing.
- ultimately however, the ideas and themes of this book were really engaging, very unique, and i did really like the cast of characters. lovely ending, too.

Good but needs some polishing. As a fan of Ava Reid, I could see the similarities but it also felt like it was trying a bit too hard to have a certain style.
It’s still worth a read and think the author will benefit from this process. I think a second book might give us a more solid story. It felt like everything was poured into this book rather than maybe dropping some stuff and keeping some things for a second, etc. if that makes sense.