This started off... well, it was weird, okay? I hadn't a clue what was happening, where/when we were, or what the point even was. I won't lie, I almost quit. I tell you this so that I can also yell "don't give up!", because it gets so much better! This is one of those books that makes me never trust myself because had I given up, I feel like I would have missed a genuinely awesome story, just because I was a little frustrated by the beginning. And to be totally honest, I think my frustrations were on me more than the book? Like- I wanted answers, but maybe I hadn't earned them yet, you know?

The story follows Las Mal Criadas, a girl gang, and more specifically, their leader Nalah (aka, Chief Rocka). I love her. She is such a grumpy old man. "Get off my lawn", I imagine her yelling. But it works, because all the girls have these strong personalities, and particular strengths that make the group cohesive. And Nalah being the consummate cynic is part of her role. She (and the others) grow so much during the story. Their bonds are tested, their allegiances questioned, their loyalty challenged.

"By what exactly?", you may be asking. And okay, this is the part that confused me when I started. There's a leader, Déesse, and she seems to be the motivating factor for Nalah. Oh and by the by, men mean nothing in this world. It's an interesting dynamic that is explored further. Anyway, as you can imagine, there's more than meets the eye to Déesse, which is easy for the reader to see, but less so for Nalah, who's been idolizing her for ages. There's an absurd gap between the elite and the masses (sound familiar?) and Nalah yearns to earn her place as an elite.

But she has a lot of journeying to do. Both in the literal and figurative sense, as Déesse sends Las Mal Criadas on a pretty harrowing mission. They cross some rough terrain with some even rougher adversaries facing them, and the whole thing becomes quite an adventure. One that you will not want to miss.

Bottom Line: After a slow/confusing start, I fell completely in love. And actually, can we maybe have a sequel please and thank you?

This seemed like a book made for me. That cover is gorgeous and it’s about girl gangs! But sadly I could not get into it. And ended up not finishing it. The writing style just wasn’t for me and I really couldn’t get past the nicknames and repetitiveness.

If you always wanted a feminist version of The Warriors, A Clockwork Orange, or The Outsiders set in a dystopian sci-fi world, Dealing in Dreams is where it's at. With brilliant commentary on violence, feminism, class, and sacrifice along with featuring a diverse cast, this book is well-crafted and timely. Highly recommend!

Beautifully written with amazing world building and strong female protagonists. Easily one of my favorite novels so far of 2019! Teens are going to eat up this compulsively readable dystopian novel.

Dealing in Dreams is one of those books where you immediately want to begin the story all over again. Whether it to see where things started dissolving, to spend more time with your favorite characters, or to bask in the world a little while longer, Dealing in Dreams is it. It is a story about revenge and ambition. In a world where the masses drug themselves away from reality, Nalah is searching for a different future - a place above it all.

Dealing in Dreams has one of those main characters that pulled at my heart strings. Nalah is trying her very best and she's aware that to be a leader comes with costs, consequences, and sacrifice. She's fiercely determined and has created a family born out of violence, but also loyalty.

I really loved the language, the bravado, and the dynamics between the characters. The world was harder for me to grasp, and ultimately didn't quite do it for me. However, I know I'll be recommending this book to readers who want more dystopias and badass female characters!

Lilliam Rivera’s Dealing in Dreams exhibits impressive world-building, but left me wanting more in terms of characters. In Mega City, violence rules the streets. Nalah, known as Chief Rocka, and her crew, Las Mal Criadas, patrol the streets, keeping the people in check and enjoy the occasional spoils at the local clubs known as boydegas. For Nalah, the ultimate goal is to find a place next to Mega City’s leader Déesse, to live in the Mega Towers, where the privileged live in luxury. When an outsider threatens everything Mega City stands for, Las Mal Criadas venture to Cemi Territory, to infiltrate a crew that supposedly disbanded years ago. But on the outside, Chief Rocka faces unexpected challenges and discovers her beloved city may not be the perfect utopia she’s been led to believe.

Lilliam Rivera’s world held a surprise at every turn. The ruler of Mega City, Déesse, is from a line of women who helped rebuild the city after a devastating earthquake. But it wasn’t only buildings that were reconstructed, society itself was reimagined. Mega City became a matriarchy; women rule over men and men are expected to defer to women. This was such an interesting concept to explore. Men’s bodies were exploited in a way that we see women’s and women no longer had to worry about their bodies seen as sexual objects. Young girls are recruited and taught how to fight. If they survive training, they have a chance to join a five-member gang and prove their worth to Déesse. Toilers are the lowest class, producing goods, but never able to climb the social ladder. Money no longer has value, instead people trade for goods and sueño tabs, a drug meant to help ease people into sleep every night, but one that is incredibly addictive. This is the one part of the world-building that I wanted to see more of. Nalah has a rule where none of her girls are allowed to take sueño tabs, so we rarely get a peek at what this pills truly does.

I love how dedicated Nalah is to her crew. She’s a natural leader, not because she is the toughest or the smartest, but because she knows her team. She understands who each member is, what their limits are, and how to deal with each of them. I wish we had gotten to know every member of Las Mal Criadas more. Nalah’s right-hand woman, Truck, is the most clearly conceived. She’s a hothead, who will always pull back her fist first when trying to take care of a problem. The young Nena, who is still learning the ropes, falters more than she succeeds. The other girls haven’t quite accepted her as a member as they are still processing the loss of their former crew member who died at the hands of another crew. Shi and Smiley, the other two members of the gang, did not have much page-time and aside from Nalah’s narration describing who they are, we really don’t get to know either.

Dealing in Dreams has one of the most unique dystopian worlds I’ve read and even though I wanted more character exploration, the inverse world is one I wouldn’t mind spending more time in.

I'm torn on this one. I was really excited for Dealing in Dreams, but it fell flat for me as far as the writing went. I had a hard time really finding myself empathizing with characters or caring about the setting. That said, I feel like this would be pretty popular among my patrons, and I could easily see myself ordering a copy of this for our collection when it releases next month. So, was it a success for me? No, not really, but I could see many younger readers loving this.

Lilliam Rivera’s Dealing in Dreams is an interesting experiment in the post-apocalyptic and dystopian genres that is anchored by its Latinx-inspired world. The world is more or less a wasteland after a human-made environmental disaster known as the Big Shake—and in Mega City, men have been given the blame for destroying the world. But the women who came together to rebuild in the aftermath of the Big Shake didn’t build a more inclusive world, they simply reversed the power structure. Mega City used the patriarchy as a blueprint instead of a warning, and Dealing in Dreams is not shy at pointing out how eagerly people will uphold corrupt, violent, nationalist power structures provided it will give them an advantage. Nalah and her crew, Las Mal Criadas, embody the willingness to kick down on your way to the top.

While I found Mega City interesting on a conceptual level, I cared very little for anyone who wasn’t Nalah. While I understood Nalah and Truck’s devotion to each other, I don’t feel like the rest of the characters and relationships in Las Mal Criadas were fleshed out enough. Part of that is due to their limited screen time (one member drops off the page for most of the middle act, others disappear and/or refuse to talk to Nalah for significant chunks), and part of that is that Nalah is their Chief Rocka, who issues orders and expects to be obeyed without any backtalk or much space for friendship building. Otherwise, most characters pop in and out with little time to go beyond a splashy introduction.

The journey into Cemi Territory to find the Ashé Ryders was filled with interesting characters (and character revelations) and plenty of peril. I wish that Nalah and her crew had been able to stay longer outside, though, because I feel like extended exposure to an alternative society to Mega City would have made me appreciate the many emotional and motivational changes in the final act more than I did. Personally, I would have liked to see much more of the Ashé Ryders and how they built a society and survived outside Mega City if only so we could get a non-Déesee take on the history of the world. Maybe between the two, we could have gotten a better idea of what the truth of it might be.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday. Dealing in Dreams is filled with intriguing ideas, but needed more fleshing out with its supporting cast. If you’re interested in an examination of toxic societal structures and a discussion of how much you’re willing to hurt others in order to achieve your dreams, add this book to your TBR pile.

Excellent dystopian setting with a few twists. Girl power may not be all it’s cracked up to be in this violent and emotional story of a leader who is rising to the top.

I'm not a huge fan of Mad Max so honestly, going into Dealing in Dreams, which is described as "Outsiders Meets Mad Max" I was keeping my expectations low. I should not have been worried. This book quickly won me over with its complex world-building and sympathetic characters. I felt like I really understood this world, these people, and their struggles. While nothing that happens in the book is particularly Earth shattering, seeing the events through Cheif Rocka/Nalah's eyes helped provide more emotional context. Her journey, both physical and emotional, comes across as very realistic and it is interesting to see how she changes based on her experiences. I feel like there is going to be a sequel coming, even though I kind of liked this ambiguous, slightly sad, but hopeful ending.

Nalah lives in Mega City, in a world ruled by competing crews of girls and where men are second class citizens. As Chief Rocka of the Las Mal Criadas crew, when she ventures outside the city on a quest for Mega’s ruling queen, she begins to discover that all is not the girl power utopia it seems to be.

DEALING IN DREAMS has one of the coolest gender reversals I’ve seen in awhile. Literal girl gangs rule the streets while men exist only for entertainment in this world. And then, just as I’m thinking to myself “seems like gender and sexuality are still just as rigid in this world” we are taken outside a Mega City and outside the grip ruler Déesse has on her citizens.

I really enjoyed the world of this novel, which felt somewhere between THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR and READY PLAYER ONE. I also loved the central role the bonds of the crew members played. Romantic relationships are just on the edges in this novel - commitment to your crew is paramount (though the problems that can bring are also exposed).

I did feel like it took Nalah a long time to catch on to the idea that Déesse was not a benevolent ruler. You could see every plot development coming a mile away (maybe not unsurprising for a YA novel) but it was also interesting to watch Nalah’s internal conflict as the world she knew, loved, and profited from crumbled.

Despite me saying that, I’m eager for the sequel - there are a lot of plot threads teased at the end, and I’m here for any story that’s about how love and empathy are stronger than hate.

A surprising dystopia exploring family and sisterhood, as well as gender roles and addiction. Add in some badass girl gangs—because Nalah runs the baddest girl gang in Mega City, of course—lots of secrets, and a not-so-benevolent leader and you’ve got Dealing in Dreams. This book also gave me some major Mad Max vibes which I loved.

An interesting and imaginative read over all. I’d recommend it to people who like YA dystopia, especially if they love girls kicking butt (see: aforementioned Mad Max vibes).

Oh man, I was really looking forward to this one - I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s debut and this sounded right up my alley. Alas, it was unfortunately Not For Me (I mean, obviously, I’m a 40-year-old woman and this is a dystopian YA SF book - but I love all of those things and yet this one just didn’t work for me). It’s not unusual for me to want to throttle protagonists for what seem like obviously poor choices being made - but this took it to a whole new level. I’m not sure if it was because this was told in first-person perspective that made it worse - we were literally in the main character’s head, so there was no distance to wonder if she were feeling a certain way - she felt a certain way, and it was usually 100% obviously misguided. I just found the plot pretty...worn. Again, this is coming from a person who is older and has read her fair share of SF & dystopia - I know the experience will be different if any of that is new to the reader, so obviously, ymmv. But I mostly just felt let down by this one - it never quite synced for me in any way - character motivations never clicked, the pacing was slow, the coming betrayal visible from 100 pages off. I hate to give a less than stellar review, but here we are. How about I just say, it’s not you, it’s me? And we’ll leave it at that.

This was a surprising read for me! I did not think I was going to like it as much as I did. I am a guy but I love a book with a good girl gang in it! I thought the plot and setting were unique, and I would love to read more by this author in the future.

I loved Lilliam's debut novel, The Education of Margot Sanchez, but since I only review SF/F/H, I didn't review it for my site. When she said her second would be more speculative in nature I was definitely interested. Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped.

The Education of Margot Sanchez was one of my favorite books I read last year so I had high expectations for Lilliam Rivera’s next book. I was not disappointed! Dealing in Dreams is full of strong women struggling with goals, concepts of family, and identity. Highly recommended.

All girl gangs, throw downs, and a quest?  This description was unlike anything I'd read before, and with this beautiful cover, I couldn't resist.

Such intriguing and creative world-building.  Mega City is a matriarchal society led by a beloved woman, and men are primarily considered secondary citizens.  It's a gritty, dangerous way of life, with gangs gaining power and moving up the food chain through physical battles against each other.  At the age of seven, girls are sent to soldier training camps.  Many of the citizens are hooked on pills that induce lucid dreaming, that are also a used as a form of payment.  It's not an easy way of life by any means.  The only thing I had difficulty buying into was eleven and twelve-year-old girls having the capacity to take down much older teens - it just seemed too young.

Nalah and her gang are tightly bonded, and consider each other family.  The dynamics between the crew are messy, heartfelt, and difficult at times, but completely realistic.  Nalah's strong loyalty to them and need to secure their futures through obtaining a spot in The Towers is the driving focus of the story - until some hard truths are revealed.  Nalah's character arc is sensational, and really made the story for me.  Her journey from having such strong beliefs about herself and her environment to questioning everything she thought she knew is compelling.

Dealing in Dreams is dark at times, full of action, and surprising revelations, and a book I'd recommend to dystopia and sci-fi fans.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

The writing and the story was completely spectacular. It was heart wrenching and I couldn't put it down. Definitely want myself a finished copy of this book!

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was really fun and creative while still sticking to the issues and action needed in a dystopia. I loved how it touched on gender roles and recognized that an all-girl world has issues just as much as an all-male world does. My only concern for the book was that it felt a little fast for the pacing of the plot.