Reviews

A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

shakirae's review against another edition

5.0

This book was even more amazing than the first. Black girls revered and loved, the hint of queerness to be explored. Complicated love interests. A Black female lead who is awkward yet a badass with a complicated experience of emotion. A beautiful diversity of characters. I cannot wait to read the third book!

najack3's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

4.0

kaylalikestoread's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

debrakelsey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

5.0

damusicalpoet's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

jwanz86's review against another edition

4.0

A very enjoyable follow up to A Blade So Black — from a writer’s eyes, you can see the world building that the author explores and expands with some of the key characters from the first entry, and adds a curious villain into the mix, nefarious plot twists, and steers away from the book feeling like Buffy fan fiction go taking ownership of these characters uniqueness and individuality. It’s a very fun, enjoyable YA read and leave me curious (and speculating) where the third book will take this cast of characters.

mcf's review against another edition

4.0

I was frustrated when this book started with a lot of the "OMG HAVE TO LIE TO MOM AGAIN" stuff that was a constant in the first one's latter half, but that issue was happily resolved fairly quickly, and McKinney's decision to really delve into the Imposter!Black Knight's story was a great one. Seeing through his eyes opened the story up significantly, and also created a tangible history for the world that hadn't previously been concrete on the page. In addition, the new supporting characters introduced here are immensely appealing, and Alice's relationships with them is a lot of fun, particularly the confused flirtation she has with another female protector of Wonderland. As indicated by their relationship -- particularly Alice's awareness of her feelings about her counterpart -- the LGBTQIA + representation that was a highlight of the first book continues here, alongside the confident portray of the reality that Alice's Blackness is central to her identity. It's not something that appears on the page everyone once in a while to make a point (something that still happens way too often in all kinds of media), it's intertwined with everything about her, and McKinney does a fantastic job of making that clear. Finally, the way Alice manages to survive a final, major attack is really wonderful, as is the way it pulls together the odd events that had peppered the book to this point.

All that said, I remain extremely uncomfortable with the relationship between Alice (A TEENAGER) and her mentor (who is repeatedly described as being AT LEAST 200 YEARS OLD), and the romance seems wildly irresponsible at best. (I don't know why I'm hung up on this, but it really, really bothers me.)

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC.

elizkacz's review against another edition

4.0

This book read well - the pacing was much better this go around. I loved the non-stop action.

While it felt like there were moments of extraneous details and I still don't understand Hatta as a love interest (I do understand it better now), the overall plot and tangibility of the characters definitely add to the series. No second book slump here!

miss617's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 stars

I liked this one *slightly* more than the first, but still disappointed.

It's not that A Dream So Dark is bad, it's just... A mess. I'm so frustrated with some of the relationships because, as I mentioned when I read the first book, it felt like they were just thrown in to check a square on a "YA trends to capitalize on" bingo card. Representation is great, but it kinda feels like pandering if it does nothing to advance the plot. But, I'm not a member of the community in question, so I could be off base.

I didn't feel like Alice, or any of the characters for that matter, really grew at all from the first book. And, two books in, we really don't know why Alice is special compared to other Dreamwalkers (unless I'm forgetting something from the first book). But for a book set in such a fantastical universe, the characters are pretty flat. And at 400 pages, the pacing feels uneven and the ending was a let down.

(Slightly nitpicky pet peeve here, but Alice's name really should have just been Alice. Because as far as I know, it is not a nickname for Alison. But it seems her mother is the only one who calls her that.)

I'm assuming a third book is coming because there are too many questions left unanswered by the end of this one.

rolynn_nevels's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0