Reviews

This book is one of my new favorites. So good, I purchased it so I could reread and annotate over and over again. It is devastating in the way that makes you rethink not only your decision but the societal structures that are put in place that cause you to make those decisions. Magical Realism at its finest. I think what worked most for the book was the magical element of the book. Jonathan Abernathy lived in a world that looked like ours but harvests our dreams, memories and fears. I think the harvesting was written in a way that suspended my disbelief for the duration of the novel. And, really, the lack of questioning of the magic system not only helped suspend my disbelief but worked within the context of the story. I think what also made the book particularly devastating in a good way was, no matter what went wrong, Abernathy remained hopeful and you could see yourself in him and you wanted a happy ending despite it all. McGhee also used situational irony subtly and to her advantage throughout the book to keep me on my toes as a reader. The omnipresent third person worked well for the narrative, being able to not just see Abernathy thoughts but others without being limited helped round out the characters and the story. Lastly, the most impressive thing about the writing of this story, is that McGhee didn't need the magic, the magic was in the writing. What I mean by that is I could conceivably imagine this story as a realist piece, with no magical elements, and still critiquing the societal structures (let's just come out and say it: capitalism) that keep the poor, poorer and how it convinces nice people to do shady things and trade in morals. The magical elements add and don't take away from the point of the story. Everyone should read this book: poignant, beautifully written and constructed, and makes you feel deeply.

flowchelle's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I overall liked this book. I thought the concept and commentary was really thought provoking and interesting. My problem with these kinds of books is my distrust of the main characters perspective. It makes me feel like I’m not understanding the real story line. The ‘mind-fuck’ of the whole book being narrated by an unreliable character is that dreams are often like this. So it just doubles down on the psyche exploration of reality and storyline and plot twist…I found it enjoyable and frustrating all at once. Again…a lot like how you wake up after a vivid dreamscape night. I think my main critique was the telling of occurrences and feelings instead of the development of showing it through the character arcs.

Content Warnings

mintoo's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

D:
This was so fun and heartbreaking and cute and made me so intensely afraid
So well written and the audiobook was really good too
It felt actually original which isnt that common in a lot of popular fiction atm (not trying to attack other books was just impressed by this one)

Oh yeah and also while reading this book (about nightmares) i consistently had nightmares (which is rare for me) so i think this book is magic