1.38k reviews for:

Reverie

Ryan La Sala

3.48 AVERAGE


rating: 2 stars

i wanted to love this SO badly, especially since the prose of the first chapter struck me as stunning right away. this didn’t change — if there’s anything ryan la sala is good at, it’s gorgeous sensory imagery — but unfortunately, as time went on i found myself more and more unhappy with this book. the pacing feels really messy and a lot of the relationships we as the readers are supposed to care about felt hollow and underdeveloped even by the end of the book. twists in the story were either completely predictable or out of left field, and i found kane, the main character, to be irritatingly gloomy, bland, and a bit of a mary sue

while i certainly didn’t enjoy this book, i didn’t hate it. poorly explained as they were, i LOVE the concept of reveries. furthermore, i think queer fantasy like this is very important, and this book’s discussions of queerness, while a bit shoehorned-in, are still a step in the right direction for queer YA as a whole.

Oh my goodness the description of this book was fabulous!! I was so excited for this one and wanted to love it so much. I think books like this about queer people are so, so important and I want to see more of them. Unfortunately, the writing and the plot fell a little short for me. The characters kind of melded together and weren’t really differentiated. There was definitely a lot of non stop action but I do wish the world building had been more clear.

I was provided an advanced copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not 100% sure this book turned out to be what I was expecting either from the blurb or even from the first chapters, but I find it appropriate that it left me charmed and confused as if I'd woken from a weird and half-remembered dream.
adventurous funny mysterious reflective 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

I never really got into this book.
I liked:
-the queerness of so many of the characters
-the funny, melodramatic and self-aware use of tropes, which often found in YA stories,
in the Reveries
-Poesy’s amazing looks
-Most of the characters, except for Kane.

Disliked:
-Kane. Perhaps dislike is too strong a word for him, but I never warmed to him. I also didn't care for how he treated his friends
-I never really got a handle on the story, and found myself losing story threads as I read.

Great idea for a plot but the teenage angst was too much for me.

A Great Book

I really loved a mix of a great fantasy novel with an amazing mystery mixed in. I loved the characters so much especially Kane although he was confused for a good long time he was a really interesting character to read about. The bit of romance was great it was gradual like Kane's memory but it was so worth it Kane and Dean were so great together. I loved the plot it was both a great fantasy and a great mystery that unraveled itself over time it starts with Kane having been in a accident and losing his memory things start moving along he learns things I loved how it ended. So overall I loved this book will read more by this author for sure

Title: Reverie
Author: Ryan La Sala
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: 3 out of 5
Days to read: 5

Hey everyone, sorry for the break. I kinda got swept up in my week and now here I am. Back and ready to tell you about books.
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Earlier this week I finished, Reverie by Ryan La Sala. Briefly, it is about a boy who wakes up from an accident having no idea what caused it. As he is trying to piece his life together he’s quickly greeted by old friends he does not remember and thrown into a world of magic, that seems oddly familiar to him.
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My review: 3/5. Ryan La Sala makes a great attempt at introducing his characters, reveries, and his plot but all at too quick of a pace. Though he does a great job of touching every topic I wanted covered, he spends minimal time making it hard to soak up what I just read before something new is introduced or explained. In this same remark, there were two scenes that were drawn out in a beautiful way that left me anxious and excited to see what lies in the next page. Overall as a first published novel this was pretty good, but I would say it falls into First Novel Syndrome. I do look forward to Mr. La Sala’s future novel.
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If you want a Queer MC with a lot of magic elements then this is a book you might what to read. It moves pretty fast but allows for great stopping points if you need them.
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TTYL
Trev

A great premise, poorly executed.

I liked this book. Some of the characters had fun personalities. (Although, I hated the main character.) The plot was interesting. It was mostly written well. My critique would be that I felt like the ending didn’t make much sense and the main romance felt rushed. I spent a while if the story asking questions, and was pretty dissatisfied when a lot of it made no sense. All in all, the story was ok. I gave it 3 stars because it wasn’t bad. It just also wasn’t my favorite.