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bimblebop's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I think a lot of my opinions of this book can be amended by the fact that perhaps I am simply not the target audience.
It's a YA book, which I don't avoid by any means, but this one seemed a bit typical to me in its implementation sometimes. Or rather, maybe it didn't offer me anything special so I don't have particularly strong feelings about it, positive or negative? Which is interesting, because this is technically a book I should find myself relating to at least in some aspects.
Things I liked: The concept. I tend to like fantasy stories where the premise is encountering various worlds that are manifestations of human imagination (like the Persona video game series, for example), and always wondered how that could be from the perspective of someone who's not your average straight male. This aspect brought colour to this concept, because the LGBTQ+ community is inherently creative (whether it be for survival or otherwise) and the potential for it was sky-high. The ending also wrapped things up better than expected.
Things that could be better: The execution. I think the author was quite ambitious with the idea, but the swaths of teenage drama in-between (which I acknowledge is an essential part of YA) made it difficult to stay immersed for most of the story, because it didn't feel interwoven into the story as well as it could have been. Some of this is likely intentional, as the disconnect is supposed to be part of the protagonist's memory loss, but that went on for much longer than necessary. The story also didn't feel long enough to truly delve into the magnanimity of the concept that the author came up with, and in effect the description of the different reveries teetered more towards theatrical immersion than something more sensible. This also extended to the characters, because it felt like you're just short of feeling any real attachment to any of them.
Things that bothered me: The fate of specific characters.Frankly, I don't understand why Dean survived. I understand that a romance YA needs a happy ending, but tragedy for his fate just would have made more sense, and I rarely ever feel that way. His continued existence just doesn't make any sense and it wasn't explained properly either. We also barely get to know him despite being the main love interest, so there's really not much to go off of. The memory loss of Kane and Dean's time together is felt throughout the story all the way to the end. On the other hand, I feel a little unsure about Poesy's depiction as well. Truth be told, I'm still struggling to understand what the significance of Poesy being a drag queen was to her role in the story. Have I missed some kind of metaphor, is it a choice for diversity, or is it trying to send a malicious message about drag that I truly hope I'm just projecting unnecessarily? The lack of explanation made it seem almost like Kane was postured as a ""good"" gay, whilst Poesy was a ""bad"" one. I honestly think I might be reaching here, but that line in the epilogue about Poesy's 'sisters' potentially seeking revenge for her is just sitting oddly with me now, and there's not much else in the story about this to offer reprieve to these concerns.
Despite the length of my review, all in all it was an alright book. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was maybe ten years younger as my palate has shifted significantly.
It's a YA book, which I don't avoid by any means, but this one seemed a bit typical to me in its implementation sometimes. Or rather, maybe it didn't offer me anything special so I don't have particularly strong feelings about it, positive or negative? Which is interesting, because this is technically a book I should find myself relating to at least in some aspects.
Things I liked: The concept. I tend to like fantasy stories where the premise is encountering various worlds that are manifestations of human imagination (like the Persona video game series, for example), and always wondered how that could be from the perspective of someone who's not your average straight male. This aspect brought colour to this concept, because the LGBTQ+ community is inherently creative (whether it be for survival or otherwise) and the potential for it was sky-high. The ending also wrapped things up better than expected.
Things that could be better: The execution. I think the author was quite ambitious with the idea, but the swaths of teenage drama in-between (which I acknowledge is an essential part of YA) made it difficult to stay immersed for most of the story, because it didn't feel interwoven into the story as well as it could have been. Some of this is likely intentional, as the disconnect is supposed to be part of the protagonist's memory loss, but that went on for much longer than necessary. The story also didn't feel long enough to truly delve into the magnanimity of the concept that the author came up with, and in effect the description of the different reveries teetered more towards theatrical immersion than something more sensible. This also extended to the characters, because it felt like you're just short of feeling any real attachment to any of them.
Things that bothered me: The fate of specific characters.
Despite the length of my review, all in all it was an alright book. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was maybe ten years younger as my palate has shifted significantly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism
purplesaturday's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I do like books that start midway into the story, and it was interesting to watch Kane try to decipher what’s true or not as he made sense of his lost memories. I did find some of the characters frustrating at some points, but I enjoyed the villainess and the interesting concept of the reveries. I also found Kane really sympathetic and relatable, especially at the beginning of the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Bullying
moxiemin's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
3 Very confused, but highly entertained stars.
Drag Queen Witch who wants to take over a world? Or maybe build her own, yes pls?
A boy with knowledge that has seafoam green eyes? Big yes pls
A main character that when his powers appear from him, shoots rainbows out of him..... ? OMG YES, did we think I would say no to that one?
But here is my crux in our little situation here. We spend so much time in the characters worlds, and the reveries... which yes I get is the point of the whole book. But the Reveries have slipped over into the real world. Did we forget about the police investigation? The car accident, fire???? I am sorry my little over thinking brain wants to know how those officially were all covered up? Were minds wiped clean, was it ruled an accident, were there repercussions? I have questions.
Drag Queen Witch who wants to take over a world? Or maybe build her own, yes pls?
A boy with knowledge that has seafoam green eyes? Big yes pls
A main character that when his powers appear from him, shoots rainbows out of him..... ? OMG YES, did we think I would say no to that one?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, and Bullying
bzliz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Reverie has a great blend of mystery and fantasy elements and the characters are wonderfully diverse. We get gay teens with hints toward teen lesbians, we get an elder lesbian couple (though they don’t have much impact on any character development), and we get an incredibly powerful drag queen for a villain.
I enjoyed the concept of these superhero type teens hopping into dreams to safely dismantle them. My favorite was the reverie of Helena. The crew are thrown into roles from a popular romance novel but they get the ending wrong. Kane is put in the role of a non-verbal character and although he figures out the true ending (that Helena is trying to run away with the main female character, not the male love interest), he is literally being silenced by the reverie and his friends get it wrong. It felt like an allegory for how queer voices are so often silenced for going against what is “supposed to” happen, even when their supporters (Kane’s friends in this case) think they’re helping. I don’t know if that’s what the author intended but that’s what I took away from it.
Honestly, the worst part was Kane as a main character. He almost goes out of his way to make some of the worst choices and his feelings of devout protectiveness over his sister make no sense with his memory loss and how much he actively ignores her or is rude/mean to her. He has people willing to help him understand but he chooses to isolate instead. It’s also pretty convenient that the villain does a full monologue complete with cackling for the heroes to execute their plan.
Over all, there was a lot of great ideas here but sometimes the concept got a little muddied and hard to understand. I do think a lot of authors could take some notes about inclusion of queer characters taking on many different roles, not just having one to tick off a checkbox for diversity.
I enjoyed the concept of these superhero type teens hopping into dreams to safely dismantle them. My favorite was the reverie of Helena. The crew are thrown into roles from a popular romance novel but they get the ending wrong. Kane is put in the role of a non-verbal character and although he figures out the true ending (that Helena is trying to run away with the main female character, not the male love interest), he is literally being silenced by the reverie and his friends get it wrong. It felt like an allegory for how queer voices are so often silenced for going against what is “supposed to” happen, even when their supporters (Kane’s friends in this case) think they’re helping. I don’t know if that’s what the author intended but that’s what I took away from it.
Honestly, the worst part was Kane as a main character. He almost goes out of his way to make some of the worst choices and his feelings of devout protectiveness over his sister make no sense with his memory loss and how much he actively ignores her or is rude/mean to her. He has people willing to help him understand but he chooses to isolate instead. It’s also pretty convenient that the villain does a full monologue complete with cackling for the heroes to execute their plan.
Over all, there was a lot of great ideas here but sometimes the concept got a little muddied and hard to understand. I do think a lot of authors could take some notes about inclusion of queer characters taking on many different roles, not just having one to tick off a checkbox for diversity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Dementia and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident
20sidedbi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Car accident
chethanc's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Honestly, I think I might just be a little too old for this book. It just felt too...YA? What I mean is, if I had read this book when I was 12, I would probably have thought this was the coolest, most unique book in the world, and that all of the plot elements were super creative. But, since I'm eighteen and have read a bunch of other books that draw on similar themes, this book just felt repetitive.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia
amberinpieces's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Bullying
thevioletfoxbookshop's review
This one just was not for me. I couldn't connect with the main character and had some trouble suspending disbelief enough for the plot to work for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Homophobia
kelldel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Interesting worldbuilding/magic system. A bit confusing in the beginning because of the amnesia but it clears up pretty quickly. The action sequences are a little hard to follow at times but not to a distracting degree. I wish we'd gotten to see more of the relationship development between the characters. I felt it relies a little too heavily on the fact that Kane had relationships with these characters pre-amnesia and we didn't get to see enough of them re-becoming friends again
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia
bookwyrmknits's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a neat story that considers our dreams (the hopes and goals version of dreams, not the REM sleep version) and daydreams and fantasies, and how they impact our lives and our selves. It is a book that somehow seemed grounded in reality and completely fantastical all at the same time.
The characters were a lot of fun, and (even though the ones I felt the most connection to were the older adult side characters, instead of the teenage protagonists) I enjoyed reading their story.
I think this is a case where the resolution will stick with me longer than the rest of the book. I can imagine the details of the story fading, but the general impression of the epilogue sticking around.
The characters were a lot of fun, and (even though the ones I felt the most connection to were the older adult side characters, instead of the teenage protagonists) I enjoyed reading their story.
I think this is a case where the resolution will stick with me longer than the rest of the book. I can imagine the details of the story fading, but the general impression of the epilogue sticking around.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Dementia