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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
I really liked the concept of the plot, and I liked a gay character being central and brave, but I just couldn't get into this book, as hard as I tried. I read a lot and I almost never put down a book until the end, even when I'm having trouble getting into it, because I want to see how it ends. This book, however, was disjointed and confusing. I have no problem with jumping into a scene, without a lot of explanation at first, and then getting more information as you go (show don't tell), but it never seemed to get to the point of you understanding what was going on. It stayed confusing. I never got invested in any of the characters and I finally decided that the trip to see how it ends was just not worth it. I was about 30% into the book when I just decided I was done. It's sad because the description was really compelling. And I really liked that a book about a gay main character was a "Big Read" choice.
Lots of good stuff here but to me it felt like the ideas and metaphors were not completely thought out.
A fun, inventive fantasy that kept me guessing for a good part of the book.
I really enjoyed the characters as a whole and the twisting story line that kept things intriguing for a good part of the book. I normally get a little annoyed with a plot that has the main character left in the dark for a portion of the book but La Sala made it work here. While it was frustrating that Kane didn't know everything, it allowed me as a reader to empathize with him as he gradually discovered what was happening around him. Finally realizing what all of the foreshadowing and plot twists had been about at the finale was a great reveal and really brought home the final big boss fight for me. I also really enjoyed all the representation in the book.
The audio narration was also very good. The reader captured Kane's voice and feelings very well throughout the book and kept me invested right up 'till the end.
If you like twisty fantasy with an intriguing concept and a fabulous villain, check this book out.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the characters as a whole and the twisting story line that kept things intriguing for a good part of the book. I normally get a little annoyed with a plot that has the main character left in the dark for a portion of the book but La Sala made it work here. While it was frustrating that Kane didn't know everything, it allowed me as a reader to empathize with him as he gradually discovered what was happening around him. Finally realizing what all of the foreshadowing and plot twists had been about at the finale was a great reveal and really brought home the final big boss fight for me. I also really enjoyed all the representation in the book.
The audio narration was also very good. The reader captured Kane's voice and feelings very well throughout the book and kept me invested right up 'till the end.
If you like twisty fantasy with an intriguing concept and a fabulous villain, check this book out.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was really surprised by this but I loved how it all unfolded. The villain is absolutely fabulous and all the characters are really enjoyable. Ryan really created and stitched together a wonderful story.
The first half of this book felt like a very strong 4 and then it quickly lost me and I could not keep track of what was going on. It felt like a different book - it reminded me a bit of The Hazel Wood and I want to say a little of another book too but I can't recall which one. It bums me out because the beginning was so incredibly intriguing and I couldn't get through it fast enough. Also the cover is so gorgeous. Ugh.
*I was provided with an ARC of this book by the publisher, in exchange for my honest opinion.
This sounded like it was going to be an incredibly interesting and mysterious story and I was looking forward to exploring it. However, only a little way in, I quickly realised that this book, unfortunately wasn't for me. Honestly, I wanted to DNF at several points. I just couldn't get into this world, everything from the characters, to the magic and plot just seemed very superficial. It felt more like a middle grade book, apart from the random inserts of strong language or a character being 'hard'.
The characters were okay, but that was about it. None of them really stood out or made me feel any real emotion towards them, so I was just passive whenever anything happened. I didn't particularly like Kane either, for someone who didn't know what was going on, he was hellbent on not following people's advice, despite it resulting in dire consequences most of the time. He was very quick to judge people for their mistakes, even though he made just as many. He also didn't actually have any real personality that I could grasp. And the other characters weren't that well realised either, and as Kane was frustrated with them for most of the novel, it was hard not to feel the same.
And I champion diversity, but here, the diversity didn't feel naturally filtered in. Kane was gay and this was all I kept getting about him, even though there was clearly a theme in the novel that this shouldn't define someone, which was ironic. At random points in the book there would be talk of the difficulties one faced in the world by being gay and this was linked to the idea of the reveries and the desire for gay people to escape reality. I think that the idea here was great, but was executed quite poorly. I do believe that this is an own voices novel, which I love and it made my expectations a bit higher, but there was no real depth to the ideas and issues raised. And with the villian, the focus was more on them being a drag queen than their intentions, which was disappointing.
I'm not actually sure what the plot was, as everything was a bit disjointed. It was the typical story of someone not being aware of the magical abilities they possessed and then discovering that they're in fact the most powerful one of their kind. I wouldn't of minded the cliches, because I thought that the reveries were going to make this stand out, but it was confusing and underdeveloped. I truly liked the idea of the reveries and why people's manifested as they did, but there wasn't anything of real substance behind it, and how they formed and were unravelled was hard to wrap my head around. I actually ended up skimming the majority of the book and didn't feel like I missed out on a lot of what was happening, so that suggested that there was a lot of unnecessary scenes.
Overall, I'm quite disappointed with this book as I think that it had quite a lot of potential. It was just that things seemed to be reversed, the characters were too simplistic and the magic was too complicated, whereas I would of loved the characters to be more fleshed out and for the magic to not be as confusing. And the diversity in this is probably one of its biggest attractions, but the way the book explored it didn't work in my opinion. A lot of others enjoyed this book, so it seems that it either works for you or it doesn't, therefore I wouldn't deter someone from picking it up.
This sounded like it was going to be an incredibly interesting and mysterious story and I was looking forward to exploring it. However, only a little way in, I quickly realised that this book, unfortunately wasn't for me. Honestly, I wanted to DNF at several points. I just couldn't get into this world, everything from the characters, to the magic and plot just seemed very superficial. It felt more like a middle grade book, apart from the random inserts of strong language or a character being 'hard'.
The characters were okay, but that was about it. None of them really stood out or made me feel any real emotion towards them, so I was just passive whenever anything happened. I didn't particularly like Kane either, for someone who didn't know what was going on, he was hellbent on not following people's advice, despite it resulting in dire consequences most of the time. He was very quick to judge people for their mistakes, even though he made just as many. He also didn't actually have any real personality that I could grasp. And the other characters weren't that well realised either, and as Kane was frustrated with them for most of the novel, it was hard not to feel the same.
And I champion diversity, but here, the diversity didn't feel naturally filtered in. Kane was gay and this was all I kept getting about him, even though there was clearly a theme in the novel that this shouldn't define someone, which was ironic. At random points in the book there would be talk of the difficulties one faced in the world by being gay and this was linked to the idea of the reveries and the desire for gay people to escape reality. I think that the idea here was great, but was executed quite poorly. I do believe that this is an own voices novel, which I love and it made my expectations a bit higher, but there was no real depth to the ideas and issues raised. And with the villian, the focus was more on them being a drag queen than their intentions, which was disappointing.
I'm not actually sure what the plot was, as everything was a bit disjointed. It was the typical story of someone not being aware of the magical abilities they possessed and then discovering that they're in fact the most powerful one of their kind. I wouldn't of minded the cliches, because I thought that the reveries were going to make this stand out, but it was confusing and underdeveloped. I truly liked the idea of the reveries and why people's manifested as they did, but there wasn't anything of real substance behind it, and how they formed and were unravelled was hard to wrap my head around. I actually ended up skimming the majority of the book and didn't feel like I missed out on a lot of what was happening, so that suggested that there was a lot of unnecessary scenes.
Overall, I'm quite disappointed with this book as I think that it had quite a lot of potential. It was just that things seemed to be reversed, the characters were too simplistic and the magic was too complicated, whereas I would of loved the characters to be more fleshed out and for the magic to not be as confusing. And the diversity in this is probably one of its biggest attractions, but the way the book explored it didn't work in my opinion. A lot of others enjoyed this book, so it seems that it either works for you or it doesn't, therefore I wouldn't deter someone from picking it up.
For a random book I picked up at a discount store, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this book as much as I did. I can see why people get Persona vibes from it. Reveries are a lot like the Palaces from Persona 5(I'm not familiar with the other games to know if they are all like that).
I'm not sure why Kane's friends refused to give him information most of the time. It seemed counter-productive and just gave him more reasons not to trust them.
Adaline had said she could unravel reveries, but she never ended up being the one to do it. I wonder if she actually can.
I think the early chapters(the rest were fine) tried a bit too hard to say Kane is gay. It felt like it was repeatedly stated for no reason. It doesn't require a lot to give that information. Sometimes less is more when letting the reader know stuff like that.
I didn't bother reading the note from the author, the reading group discussion guide, the acknowledgements, or the about the author sections.
The bonus chapter in the back is an annotated copy of chapter thirty nine with doodles. I didn't read the chapter here, but I went through and read the notes and looked at the doodles. I struggled a bit with this because with the handwriting, as a mix of printing and cursive, as well as the thickness of what looks like marker, some of the words were difficult to read. I actually couldn't figure out some of the words.
I'm not sure why Kane's friends refused to give him information most of the time. It seemed counter-productive and just gave him more reasons not to trust them.
Adaline had said she could unravel reveries, but she never ended up being the one to do it. I wonder if she actually can.
I think the early chapters(the rest were fine) tried a bit too hard to say Kane is gay. It felt like it was repeatedly stated for no reason. It doesn't require a lot to give that information. Sometimes less is more when letting the reader know stuff like that.
I didn't bother reading the note from the author, the reading group discussion guide, the acknowledgements, or the about the author sections.
The bonus chapter in the back is an annotated copy of chapter thirty nine with doodles. I didn't read the chapter here, but I went through and read the notes and looked at the doodles. I struggled a bit with this because with the handwriting, as a mix of printing and cursive, as well as the thickness of what looks like marker, some of the words were difficult to read. I actually couldn't figure out some of the words.
Fascinating concept but it loses a star for making the one gender-non-binary character not only a villain, but at times vapidly campy. Still, three stars in spite of that large flaw, so, pretty well done!
This is probably more of a four-star read, generally speaking, but personally it was a five-star because once I started, I couldn't stop thinking about this book or get it out of my head. Like, I read it on my lunch break, and then came home and settled into it until I finished.
My biggest tip for reading this: let go of everything you know and accept the impossible. The unlikely and the improbable is what this novel thrives on, and if you spend time trying to rationalize the magic, then you're just not going to enjoy this. I can see why this was marketed as an Inception type of fiction; I wouldn't say that it's as open to interpretation, but there's just a certain level of "just watch and see" that remains at the forefront of the story. If you can let go of your logic, then I think you'll have a great time! (That being said, there are a couple of elements of the magic system that threw me - mostly Poesy's charm bracelets and the physical collection of Reveries, which NEVER gets explained as a concept outside of Poesy's purpose with them. But otherwise, I enjoyed the magic system and especially loved the way powers came from pain!)
I love the way this novel begins; it completely propels the narrative and your motivation as a reader. Meet Kane: he's got amnesia, he's in trouble, and he needs to fill in the blank spaces of his memory. The entire book only allows the reader to know what Kane knows, as he discovers things, which really works and makes the pages fly by! At times, some readers may find exposition coming in info-dumps; I think that depends on the reader. I don't know that there was a better way to do it narratively, honestly, with the structure of the book as is. It leaves the reader overwhelmed - just like Kane! - but the author also does a good job of reiterating small details and making you realize that that minor word or action or phrase is actually Kind Of A Big Deal.
That being said, the one thing I didn't really care for were the characters. I liked Dean and Adeline. Everyone else? I didn't dislike them, but also didn't really care. Kane is tricky as a protagonist for numerous reasons I won't spoil (aside from obviously being an unreliable narrator for 85% of the book), but my biggest issue was how fearful he was and how he constantly wanted to run. And I guess he kind of gets over that by the end, but I didn't feel like that shift in character was done quite right, which made it complicated for me to enjoy his ending. Aside from Dean and Adeline, I felt that the other characters remained stagnant. And if there was any growth, most of it was done through romantic relationships (spoiler: every major character gets paired off with another major character) and I didn't feel like that was necessarily useful or doing a service to these characters that had much bigger problems. The non-protagonist relationships kind of come out of left field, too; perhaps just more development would have made that more satisfying as a reader. Also, as much as I enjoyed Poesy, I kind of wish I knew more about their background past their motivations. On the bright side, this book is unapologetically queer. Queer kids need more stories like this.
I don't know if this is planned to be a series, but there is absolutely room for one. And a not-so-subtle hint that one could be written! I wouldn't be opposed to it - maybe in another sequel we can get more development since the world is stable now. One thing is certain though - Ryan La Sala has written a good book. I saw some reviews commenting about diction and dialogue falling flat. To each their own, but it felt like a great balance of poetic and complex language (given the nature of Reveries) and realistic teen behavior and dialogue. And frankly, for a debut author, I found the writing to be super impressive! If there is a sequel someday, I'll definitely be looking forward to it - or whater Ryan La Sala tackles next.
My biggest tip for reading this: let go of everything you know and accept the impossible. The unlikely and the improbable is what this novel thrives on, and if you spend time trying to rationalize the magic, then you're just not going to enjoy this. I can see why this was marketed as an Inception type of fiction; I wouldn't say that it's as open to interpretation, but there's just a certain level of "just watch and see" that remains at the forefront of the story. If you can let go of your logic, then I think you'll have a great time! (That being said, there are a couple of elements of the magic system that threw me - mostly Poesy's charm bracelets and the physical collection of Reveries, which NEVER gets explained as a concept outside of Poesy's purpose with them. But otherwise, I enjoyed the magic system and especially loved the way powers came from pain!)
I love the way this novel begins; it completely propels the narrative and your motivation as a reader. Meet Kane: he's got amnesia, he's in trouble, and he needs to fill in the blank spaces of his memory. The entire book only allows the reader to know what Kane knows, as he discovers things, which really works and makes the pages fly by! At times, some readers may find exposition coming in info-dumps; I think that depends on the reader. I don't know that there was a better way to do it narratively, honestly, with the structure of the book as is. It leaves the reader overwhelmed - just like Kane! - but the author also does a good job of reiterating small details and making you realize that that minor word or action or phrase is actually Kind Of A Big Deal.
That being said, the one thing I didn't really care for were the characters. I liked Dean and Adeline. Everyone else? I didn't dislike them, but also didn't really care. Kane is tricky as a protagonist for numerous reasons I won't spoil (aside from obviously being an unreliable narrator for 85% of the book), but my biggest issue was how fearful he was and how he constantly wanted to run. And I guess he kind of gets over that by the end, but I didn't feel like that shift in character was done quite right, which made it complicated for me to enjoy his ending. Aside from Dean and Adeline, I felt that the other characters remained stagnant. And if there was any growth, most of it was done through romantic relationships (spoiler: every major character gets paired off with another major character) and I didn't feel like that was necessarily useful or doing a service to these characters that had much bigger problems. The non-protagonist relationships kind of come out of left field, too; perhaps just more development would have made that more satisfying as a reader. Also, as much as I enjoyed Poesy, I kind of wish I knew more about their background past their motivations. On the bright side, this book is unapologetically queer. Queer kids need more stories like this.
I don't know if this is planned to be a series, but there is absolutely room for one. And a not-so-subtle hint that one could be written! I wouldn't be opposed to it - maybe in another sequel we can get more development since the world is stable now. One thing is certain though - Ryan La Sala has written a good book. I saw some reviews commenting about diction and dialogue falling flat. To each their own, but it felt like a great balance of poetic and complex language (given the nature of Reveries) and realistic teen behavior and dialogue. And frankly, for a debut author, I found the writing to be super impressive! If there is a sequel someday, I'll definitely be looking forward to it - or whater Ryan La Sala tackles next.