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cathyatratedreads 's review for:
Reverie
by Ryan La Sala
Reverie has a clever and promising premise and follows some good plot lines, but it fell flat for me. Despite it being marketed as a young adult book and with some elements being most appropriate for an older, YA audience, three-quarters of it read like a middle-grade book, with the phrasing and style I would expect from stories aimed at that younger age group. So it was jarring when there were some instances of strong language and more mature content. I also felt that the author was trying too hard at times to use some “impressive” vocabulary (and it was a bit annoying when I noted he had used “desiccated” three times within a chapter or two). It didn’t feel organic.
All in all, some good bones, but the flesh needed more work and maybe defter hands crafting it. The author is a member of the LGBTQIA community himself and says in the acknowledgments that he appreciates the opportunity to be able to live in a time when he can publish this book and have it be there for youths like he was. But it still seemed too often like a statement piece rather than just a book where these LGBTQ characters live and grow naturally within the story.
* I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/reverie-young-adult-book-review/
All in all, some good bones, but the flesh needed more work and maybe defter hands crafting it. The author is a member of the LGBTQIA community himself and says in the acknowledgments that he appreciates the opportunity to be able to live in a time when he can publish this book and have it be there for youths like he was. But it still seemed too often like a statement piece rather than just a book where these LGBTQ characters live and grow naturally within the story.
* I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/reverie-young-adult-book-review/