I spent a good portion of 2019 trying to actively read more own voices and more queer books, especially books with queer male leads that are actually written by men. I follow Ryan La Sala on Twitter and adore him, and am thankful to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rants, Raves, and Reviews

I liked this book, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted. And I am wondering if the book had been described as “hey you remember how annoyed you were that it wasn’t okay in Persona to romance someone of the same sex, but it is okay to romance adults as a teenager? This book is Persona but gay” if I would have been able to wrap my head around it more?

Our main character is Kane, who I overall liked. His sense of isolation, not knowing who to trust…all of this I am all about. But all these characters get introduced (Ursula, Adeline, Dean, and Elliot) and none of them ever come across as trustworthy? I mean I get that we aren’t supposed to really trust anyone, and that Kane is an unreliable narrator. But really, overall the book just….feels like an overly complex book with shallow characters? Like the magic system is just overly complex, but the characters just don’t seem to develop much. I almost would have loved it if we had seen more than Kane’s point of view? And it may have helped with explaining the Reveries a little better. I mean, the definition of a Reverie is essentially a daydream, so it shouldn’t be that overly complicated. And because the reveries were complicated, the plot just got even more confusing. There is something about magic systems in YA books that I am just not jiving with anymore.

Final Moments

If you’re looking for a more in-your-face queer book with magic, give this book a shot. And by in-your-face, I mean the main character’s super powers are literally rainbows shooting out of his hands? It wasn’t quite for me obviously, but I am excited to see where La Sala is going in the future.

Another gorgeous cover, another intriguing book description! To be honest, I really had very little to go on when requesting this book. Part of it may have spoken to my withdrawals from “The Starless Sea” with some of the similar-sounding descriptions of mystical worlds each with their own story. December always seems to be a bit thin in the pickings, too, so anything that sparks interest is usually a go around now. Alas, even no expectations were too many for this book.

Kane knows very little about himself or his life. Found half dead on the side of a river, he only feels a sense of…difference. About him?About the world? About the mystery behind what happened to him? So when three others show up claiming to be his friends, he jumps at the opportunity to learn more. But he quickly realizes that this mystery is much greater than a near-drowning. Now, worlds are opening in the middle of the ordinary places in the world, each with their own stories and histories. How does his own experience connect with these mysteries? And is that even the biggest problem Kane faces now?

Ah, too bad. Another story that falls into the too simple and too common box of “missed potential.” These types of books are almost the hardest to review because there is nothing overtly wrong or offensive about the book, and, more often than not, they still have good qualities that hold them together. But by the final page, I’m left with an overwhelming sense of indifference and a fixation on the hours spent reading this book instead of some other book.

Amnesia stories, to start with, are very hard to pull off. The main character of the story is a necessary blank, having no point of reference of history, prior relationships, ongoing emotional struggles to draw upon. This leaves their observations and reactions feeling hollow. It’s hard to feel connected to a character who isn’t connected himself. This is the problem with Kane in a big way. Through the entire book, I just never really cared about him. He was instead mostly just a blank slate around which to build this story and magical world.

The world-building and writing was both a hit and a miss for me as well. On one hand, several of the descriptions of events and places were beautiful and new. But on the other hand, they weren’t the type of descriptions that read easily. I’m not sure how to put my finger on this. But I found myself having to re-read several lines to really put together how a particular metaphor was being used or what was being described. Perhaps having just read “Starless Sea” made this particular misstep hit home a bit harder than it would have at other times. That book, too, used very unique language to describe strange and new imagery. But there, somehow, the words flowed in a way that wasn’t distracting and didn’t throw me out of the story quite as badly as a similar style did here.

I also struggled to fully understand the rules of the world. How exactly do reveries work? What are their boundaries? There was definitely an interesting idea to be found here, but between the blank that was Kane and the distracting writing, I was already too out of this story to be able to turn my brain off and just go with the flow.

All of that being said, I did like Kane’s love interest, and in many ways, he had a lot more character building given to him than Kane himself did. And, while the writing style did kick me out of the flow of things every once in a while, there were also some legitimately lovely pieces of word play. But, in the end, my main takeaway was that this book didn’t accomplish all that it set out to. It was too bad. Others, however, might still enjoy this story. If you’re looking for a unique, LGBT fantasy, this does do well on all of those counts. Just not really my cup of tea, I guess.

Rating 6: Nothing terrible, but amnesia strikes again at taking down its main character and the unique word play hurts the flow of the story more often than it helps.

This was an interesting read to say the least. I really liked the idea and concept of the story with the reveries and how diverse this was, but I couldn't connect with the characters in the way I wanted to and the plot seemed a little disconnected to me. But with all that being said this was still very entertaining and I very much appreciated having a queer driven story. I think this book was very original and had something new to bring to the YA book industry.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel!

Rating: 2.75 stars
Rep: gay MC

This is the epitome of a "me not you" situation. I 100% see why people adore this book and I really wish I was one of them!

I want to start by talking about the things I loved:
-How queer it was. I knew going in that this would be extremely gay and it definitely delivered!
-The first 50% was really interesting and gripping.
-I loved the characters, and while I wish there was a little bit more character development at times, overall I really liked them, Kane especially.
-Another thing that made me want to read this was the tagline "drag queen sorceress" in the synopsis, and let me tell you, that character did not disappoint.

Things I didn't like:
-Around the 60% mark is where I got lost. If someone sat me down and asked me to recount a scene from the last 40% of this book...I wouldn't be able to. I was thoroughly confused and lost and ultimately just wanted it to end. Now, I don't know whether that was a "me" problem (not paying enough attention) or whether the book lacked world-building.


Overall, I would still recommend this to people looking for LGBTQ+ fantasy, this just wasn't the book for me personally.

I received a copy of this via Netgalley for an honest review.
I started this book thinking it was something else. I ended up putting it down one evening to pick back up the next day but never did. It just didnt hold my attention as I had hoped. Hopefully in the future I will pick it back up and give it another go.

This was such a fun and unique concept!! I loved the idea of someones fantasy being made real, and the friendship group in this was awesome! I will definitely be reading more from this author!!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reverie
By: Ryan La Sala

*REVIEW* 🌟🌟🌟
I wasn't sure what to expect from Reverie. The consensus is mixed, and I'm on the fence about this book, too. I liked the unique premise of daydreams that come to life, but I felt like a deeper defining or explanation of this phenomenon would have been immensely helpful in my understanding. The diversity of the characters is excellent and will appeal to a great number of readers, many of whom are underrepresented in young adult fiction. While I enjoyed the story, I was kind of confused here and there, but it's not a major issue that should deter anyone from reading this book. I think it's a matter of taste and preference, so some will naturally like this story more than others. It is entertaining, compelling and unique, and I do recommend giving it a try.

The book’s concept, that Kane, who doesn’t remember who he is, and his friends must unravel the conglomerate of magical mini realities before a sinister force consumes the world, grabbed me immediately. It unfortunately it fell off halfway. The concept of the Reveries was fascinating. They are described as miniature realities with their own plots, rules and perils that are born when person’s imagined world becomes real. The people in the reveries do not know that that they are in them as their brains accept their new surroundings as truth. Another aspect of the reveries that I found interesting were the plot twists that occur when the rules are not followed. This was done well in the beginning. It was also clever when in one of the reveries subtitles appeared in front of Kane to translate what the people were chanting. I could use something like that!
Things I didn’t like:
1. Part of the plot simply fades from existence once the reverie adventures commence. The whole police investigation is forgotten about by the midway with no explanation other than Posey talked to them. However, at that point we only really know her as a “therapist” and are left to assume what she did to the police after her identity is later revealed.
2. Kane never talks to his sister about anything that is happening. In fact, I did not like how he treated her period. Constantly brushing her off even after all the help she gave him every time she had to cover for him at home. I understand Kane was going through some stuff but she deserved answers. Especially after she got pulled into one of the reveries.
3. Kane was not nice to his friends. He was unfairly abrasive when they were trying to help him.
4. By the end I was so confused about all the different twists and reveals that I had a hard time grasping what was happening.
I would still recommend the book because while it may not have been for me it could be for someone else.

I loved this book so much! All the characters were so well developed and the storyline was very enticing!

This was a fun fantasy that I think teens will appreciate. I love the cover and the world that La Sala built.

Did not finish. I really wanted to love this book but I found myself becoming bored and uninterested. I didn't connect with the characters at all. They fell a bit flat for me.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t an out of this world read, but it was thoroughly entertaining. The concept is really cool and I loved getting sucked into each of the “reveries”, which are daydreams come to life. They were so vividly described and the way everything worked was explained really well, which is so important with such a creative concept that could have easily gone off the rails. Kane was an interesting hero. I wasn’t sure about him at first, but as he starts to put his memories back together I warmed up to him. “The Others,” Kane’s group of friends, were really fun and each had bright distinct personalities which made for an interesting ensemble. The villain was a complicated character, which I appreciated, and I loved the similarities of them and Kane and getting to watch Kane figure out what is right for himself. On paper everything about this book was wonderful, but for some reason, I just felt that something was missing. There wasn’t anything, in particular, that was wrong with it but there was a lack of depth in my connection and absorption into the story. In spite of that, I still had a good time with this one, absolutely loved the concept, and I can definitely see other people falling in love with this story.

Kane is such a fantastic, well rounded character. He’s not the typical YA character – both in the way gay characters are portrayed and teenage boys are written. He’s nervous, unsure of himself and reminds me of Taylor Swift asking not to be a part of this narrative, thank you very much!

The people surrounded Kane are spunky and individual. Kane’s sister is nosy and protective and I am a stan! And his friends all have unique quirks and I wanted to get to know each of them. Also, I kept wondering if I was supposed to ship relationships and that part of the storytelling kept me guessing.

Now that I’ve touched on Kane and the rest of the cast, I just want to emphasize how incredibly imaginative Reverie is. The writing is flowing, and has a campy, magical vibe.

I kind of feel like this story is the MET Ball immersed into a teenager’s imagination. That said, there are confusing points throughout the story. Kane is lost and as a reader, I am lost as well.

While I like to be a control freak and know where a story is going, I did like feeling lost in Reverie. Maybe because Kane felt just as lost as me and we were struggling to comprehend what was happening together.

I see a lot of chatter online comparing Reverie to Inception and the Magicians. I might compare Ryan La Sala’s book to either of those but I haven’t seen or read either one. So that is not very helpful. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This was such an original idea that occasionally got away from the author a little bit, but I really enjoyed the spectacle. It tells the story of Kane, a teenage boy who has no memory of the car accident that caused his burns and no memory of the group of teens at school that profess to being his friends and no memory of the fabulous drag queen who may or may not be trying to kill him.

The positives: I loved the idea of the reveries and the way in which they were mini stories within the main narrative. I loved the group of friends - particularly Ursula - and thought that they were all well drawn with distinct personalities and behaviours. I loved Poesy!

The negatives: There were times when I felt like we needed a bit more explanation about the reveries - where they came from, how they worked etc. Occasionally, it felt like the plot had meandered slightly but La Sala managed to pull it back on track.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely pick up anything by this author in future.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This jumped into action from the off & followed Kane who has experienced amnesia after an accident as he rediscovers what is real & what is happening in the world he thought he knew.

It didn’t really grab me but I’m sure others reading it will adore it.

I went into this book blindly I had no idea it was a fantasy and I usually don’t read fantasy but this book was pretty good and the characters were built up pretty well thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this EArc for review

This book is so amazing, really. Not enough words to describe the amazingness of it all.

So many queer characters. The main character's power is shooting rainbow etheral from his hands. That's awesome! And his nemesis is a drag queen. And his love interest. OMG I loved that book!!

The reveries are little universes within themselves, with a mind of their own. Don't try to challenge it (and Kane is sooooo good at that *facepalm*).

Seriously, this book breathes rainbows and queerness, and it's FANTASTIC.

Can't wait to see what Ryan writes next.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I didn't expect this book to really like me so much, I loved it!

This book has everything you expect from a fantasy / ya book: A well-built fantasy world, a well-defined magical system and real characters.

Can't wait to read the sequel!

BOOK REVIEW⠀
BOOK: Reverie
AUTHOR: Ryan La Sala
@ry_la_sa

This book to me was a jumbled of feelings all rolled into one. It’s definitely one of the first queer fantasy books I have ever read. The writing is descriptive and fantastical. But as action is not really my thing, I found myself skimming through those. That being said, the premise is wild and at times confusing. That doesn’t mean I enjoyed it any less. But I will say that I came away from it wondering if there would be a sequel because…. I still have questions.

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can’t remember how he got there, what happened after, and why his life seems so different now. And it’s not just Kane who’s different, the world feels off, reality itself seems different.

As Kane pieces together clues, three almost-strangers claim to be his friends and the only people who can truly tell him what’s going on. But as he and the others are dragged into unimaginable worlds that materialize out of nowhere—the gym warps into a subterranean temple, a historical home nearby blooms into a Victorian romance rife with scandal and sorcery—Kane realizes that nothing in his life is an accident. And when a sinister force threatens to alter reality for good, they will have to do everything they can to stop it before it unravels everything they know.

This wildly imaginative debut explores what happens when the secret worlds that people hide within themselves come to light.


I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀

Definite parallels to the movie Inception, though with more of a magical bent. I kept expecting the characters to question their reality, to wonder if the life they were living was, itself, a complex Reverie. BUt that never happened. Actually, that would have answered a lot of questions for me. Their abilities, the lack of explanation for certain events. The whole plot had a rather dreamlike sense to me. Character development is a bit lacking. It might have worked better in a visual medium.