#bookreview #wrenhandman #spoilers
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Book; In restless Dreams
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Sylvia is an amazing girl that just wants to be an ‘normal’ teenager, and so far it goes ok, she has friends and fun. Till she comes home and everything will get up side down and she has to deal with stuff.
Her parents are divorced and now dad needs to step up...
Dad has an whole other world and way of living and Sylvia and her brother needs to adapt to that while mom gets better...
Sylvia gets involved with the famous kids and she triggers her special side and ends up in an whole other world again 😱
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I totally loved the way of writing and how this story has been building up.
And the cute hot fae guys; Royan the Gentry Knight and the Stranger shadow fae. They both realize that Sylvia is the girl they are looking for, the Phantasmer that can change everything.
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You can read this amazing book as standalone but there is an big possibility of an other book coming in the future 🙌🏻🥳💕 and I will definitely be looking forward to it.
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Blurb;

Sylvia is just a normal girl with huge, normal problems – her mother’s attempted suicide; how to adjust to life on the Upper East Side; trying to make friends in a rich prep school where she doesn’t belong; whether or not to trust the cute boy with the dangerous eyes. She thinks that’s more than she can handle, but she tests the limits of her endurance when she learns that she is the long awaited Phantasmer, a human who can change the fabric of Fairy simply by believing in a new story. Sylvia’s life is thrown off course as two warring Courts, the Seelie and Unseelie, both attempt to co-opt her gift to fight the other Court, which she has to deal with while trying not to get kicked out of school for fighting. And it doesn’t help matters that the fairies begging for her help are both attractive young men – with their own agendas.
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Rating; ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre; YA, fantasy, faerie, adventure
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#adventure #arc #bookstagram #book #tbr #excited #faery #booksleeve #booksleeves #book #review #sogood #📚

ARC from NetGalley

4 stars for being a page-turner.

This book was full of vivid imagery. The kind of writing that thrusts you into it, not so much the sights as it was tactile. The beginning, the painful beginning, was very well done. You feel Sylvia's confusion and hurt. You live it. This is a YA paranormal fantasy situation where you are reading first person from a girl in the real world, oh so modern and very much here and now, and then the fantasy elements seep into the mix. I felt that this book could have benefited from things being just a bit more mature, and it could have benefited from a little less modern here and now and a lot more Faerie.

Some of the Fae dialogue felt out of place. In my mind, a faerie doesn't wear a Metallica T-shirt and say 'yup.' That kind of thing pulled me out of the story. It didn't add anything to it. It took from it, and it was confusing and weird.

I wish that the author would have taken some time to work a bit more of the mental health angle into things, but perhaps that is for another author, another book. It seemed like she took this very painful, tragic situation and used it for nothing other than to give the MC some backstory and to thrust things forward. It wasn't really revisited, and it could have been. I think it should have been. It was a bit cheap.

The modern portions were just a bit too stereotypical. The MC is very down to earth. She isn't like the other girls. Her father is a bajillionaire, but she grew up in the sticks. She is totally aghast at the excess of her peers, but her father is a bajillionaire. The author makes this excuse that she only visited her father a few times, but that doesn't really pan out. She says at one point that her family is blue blooded or something like that, not nouveau riche. Okay well if this wealth is baked in, why are you so stunned by it? Did you have no other family on that side? No one wanted to see you, ever? Your mother kept you in the sticks so that you would develop into a good girl who only buys second hand clothes? Did she not get child support?

There's the stereotypical pretty blonde villain, only we aren't given any kind of peek into her psyche. She is completely one dimensional, and she didn't need to be. She would have benefited from some colour and shape, some texture.

This story would have benefited greatly, as stated above, if the ratio of IRL to Fae was more like 20/80 instead of like 70/30. The IRL bits were a bit juvenile, not so much in the actions as the dialogue.

I shouldn't have read the 'about the author' portion at the end of the book. I'm not sure if she wrote it herself or if someone decided that this was the way to go, but it was just a wank, and I rolled my eyes so hard. I was tempted to take a half star off just for this, but I'm not a complete asshole. Dear authors, readers want to know if you have a dog. If so, what is the breed? Do you prefer cats? Do you have any hobbies? Who are you as a human? IDGAF about your scholastic achievements.

Phew, okay I'm done kvetching. This was a good book. I enjoyed reading it.

Oh, and I didn't add this to my goodreads review, but dear author: you need a new cover. This book could do well if it had a better cover. Unfortunately, it looks like someone's cousin made it for free.

If you read A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES and wanted the same magical discovery of Fae, not to mention the exploration of a fantasy world that abuts our own, but wanted content that actually stayed YA? This might just be the book for you -- or the book you should buy for your teens and/or young people.

This book opens up with very traditional YA elements, like starting at a new highschool, navigating rocky social waters, and all that drama that ensues with both, then some not-so-traditional (and a might heavier) elements, like how to process your mother's mental health issues and connecting with an absent father. And then, halfway through, tosses you into a whole new ocean; a purple one!

Sylvia isn't perfect; she struggles like all sixteen year olds do, like all humans do, and that's compounded by discovering she has a magical heritage that is dangerous and seems impossible, and meeting a boy (or two!) from that magical world -- a boy (or two!) she isn't sure she can trust. Because that dashing knight might not be the hero, and maybe that stranger made of shadows and darkness is as kind as his eyes; maybe they are trapped in archetypes that should mean one thing, but are in fact something else. Or maybe not. But aside from the romance, there's also wonder and magic and Handman's unique and brilliant way of describing.. well, magic and wonder and emotion.

The high point of this story, for me, is just experiencing said magic, the unusual, the very interesting take on a Chosen One trope (in every generation a Phantasmer is born.. or, in this case, every few centuries..) and, more than that, what this Chosen One can do and how they are woven into the very fabric of something so much bigger than them. And what it means to choose for others and what it means to make decisions with the best of intentions. Where she starts out, lashing out at bullies, arguing with her younger brother, is not quite where she ends up, burdened not only with power and responsibility, and coming out the other side intact. Mostly.

IN RESTLESS DREAMS will give you a new perspective on imagination, creativity, emotion, fear and loneliness, the burden of memory, and of the longing to change who you are. This is a solid series opener and I think it's only going to get better from here.

3.5 stars

I had a hard time really enjoying this book to be honest.
It had all the right ideas. The characters were there as well as plot development. I enjoyed how the MC realized how the magical things seemed completely insane to her mortal mind. There was so much potential here.
The book seemed as though it had a lot of ideas running though just think one book. There was just so much happening, but not happening all at the same time.
Overall I think this could be really good and more modern than most books, it just feels like it needs to be cleaned up a bit. The fact that it was so all over the place made it hard for me to WANT to come back and keep reading.

-Stone

I really struggle with my feelings for this book. Overall, I think Handman has crafted an original tale that will be exciting for lovers of contempory low fantasy. She definitely channels the elements I have always loved from Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - this idea that fairy is barely removed from the world we experience on a daily basis.

Sylvia is a compelling heroine. For the first say, 65% of the book, I was really invested in the way she was handling the difficult curve-balls in her life and her incredible ability to shut down bullies. I was really invested in the portion of her story that felt strongly like a contemporary. The scene in the bathroom during the party (avoiding being more specific because **spoilers**) where we begin to understand how the worlds bleed together was a personal highlight. I also love the Stranger. A lot. He was my favorite character from the jump.

However, the last 25% of the book really didn't do it for me. I felt as though the ending was a little too pat? Or perhaps that it was rushed, as there was a lot of action crammed in to the very end. Considering how much I had been enjoying the book, I was a little disappointed by the conclusion. I would still read subsequent books in the series, but I would hope that future books spend more time focusing on the relationships between the worlds, since the time spent primarily in fairy is what felt the least successful.


**I received a free copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. **

Fans of Fairy, the Unseelie and Seelie Courts, and those who love a bit of unsure romance will enjoy this one.

Sylvia is a very usual high school student with a normal life in a small town out West. That is, until her mother tries to commit suicide. While her mother undergoes very necessary therapy, Sylvia and her younger brother move to their father in New York, who happens to be one of the richest and most well-known men in the city. The culture shock isn't an easy one to master as Sylvia is suddenly thrust into a private school with the elite's of the high class, especially when they decide to bully her. Tricked into taking drugs, Sylvia is meets two very strange men while she's high, ones no one but her can see...and even afterwards, she still sees them. Just as she's sure she's going crazy, she stumbles into Fairy and discovers that so much more awaits her. And most of those things are anything but nice and safe. They're down right deadly.

I could give two very separate reviews on this book if it were divided somewhere about a third of the way through. In the first third, we meet sixteen-year-old Sylvia as she's dumped by her boyfriend and immediately are drawn in as her life flips upside down. The writing is pretty well done (with only a few stumbles here and there), and it was fairly easy to fall into the scenes. I was a bit thrown by Sylvia's snark and found her a little unkind at times. The side characters also didn't have the depth I would have hoped for, but still, the entire thing was interesting enough to keep me reading. So, I'd give that section three stars.

It takes over one third of the book before the fantasy really gets going. During the first pages, the Stranger does pop in with his own section every now and then, but it's always very short and doesn't meld into the happenings with Sylvia...making it almost possible to forget magic is supposed to be involved at all. When Sylvia finally does see Fairy, her talents hit suddenly and without a real explanation (unless the accidental drug use was the cause?). The reasoning behind her being born with such powers is never neared upon, which I found a little disappointing.

Once Sylvia is hooked in with the Fairy, the adventure truly begins. Everything she faced with her private school fades away, making the entire drama between new friends and such meaningless...and made me wonder why much of it was necessary.

Anyway, the fairy side is simply a fun read. The author develops the two fae men well done as their two very different personalities add amazing tension and bring even more secrets into play. Sylvia has a lot to figure out and deal with, and none of it is crystal clear. This kept me guessing until the last pages and made every twist and turn fun.

The scenes and imagery are a treat. The world is packed with fantastical details and each set is vivid. The emotions run high in a mix of black and white as the two opposing worlds of Fairy collide. Even the background history, which the author has created, melds in wonderfully and makes for an exciting and unique predicament. So much happens during this latter section of the book, and it's packed with danger, action, mystery and adventure. The romance adds even extra spice.

All in all, I enjoyed the read and will meld the rating together to form four stars. I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed it quite a bit. So, I'm leaving my honest thoughts.

As someone that loves and lives for fairy-themed retellings and stories, In Restless Dreams was right up my alley! Sylvia's unexpected turn from normal teen experiencing some really rough family times to a girl with an abundance of power was a great ride. I loved the different glimpses into the Abstract World and the various characters found there were complex and unique. I did feel at times that I wished more was developed or explained there rather than in the Concrete World of Sylvia's school and such, but it definitely seemed like the author might do more books later (but didn't end on a total cliffhanger as many books seem to do).
I received an advanced copy of In Restless Dreams by Wren Handman for a fair review via Netgalley. As it was advanced, I will note I noticed the occasional word missing or grammar error. I should also note there are themes of suicide and drug use, so folks who are concerned might want to be cautious. Otherwise, it was a great, complex story and I'm excited for more!

Imagine if Gossip Girl suddenly had ties to the land of Fairy and you have In Restless Dreams.💫

Our protagonist Sylvia has her life flipped upside down when her mum ends up severely mentally ill and both Sylvia and her brother have to go from their small town home to New York 🏙to live with their rich and slightly estranged father.

For the first half of the book its mainly about the perils of being a small town girl in upper east side New York and trying to adjust to that new life. At about 60% we get to start our journey into and through Fairy 🦄

There's the standard idea of the Seelie and Unseelie courts but the actual history behind it is really interesting as is the role of the phantasmer 💥 the one that has the ability to reshape the land of Fairy with their mind.

The world building and character building is consistent and makes sense. I would've liked some more depth to certain relationships in the story because it seemed incredibly shallow and vague and made certain moments feel really forced.

I did have a very clear love interest who I was rooting for and the fact I was so passionate about that is because the author can really write emotion into her stories and I think that's exactly why I was disappointed in other relationships because I knew she could make me feel so strongly.

Either way, this is a great fun read and I definitely recommend checking it out if you're a fan of sassy, witty and strong female leads with a hearty dose of fae both human and not.

Review will be live on Jan 27th.

It had an interesting twist on the seelie / unseelie fairy courts but the rest of the story was as dull as a box of hair.

While the main character was not particularly engaging, my issues are mainly with the writing. The characters were one-dimensional, the writing was incredibly basic, juvenile and lacking depth, and the pacing was woeful. The fairy story didn't appear until 40-50% in with the beginning being padded by the "mean girl" story-line. I was surprised this is classified as a YA novel and thought with the lack of world building, instalove and tweeny heroine it would be better aimed at middle grade readers (apart from the swearing and drug use references). Although I was reading an ARC, it really needed a few more rounds of editing to tidy up the story, grammar and first person narrative. Hopefully this happened before the final release, because I have atrocious "Engrish", so if I am noticing these errors, then you know there are probably a lot more in there.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I fell in love with the cover and I think that this is a well written story with a cast of fleshed out characters.
Unfortunately I didn't connect to the plot and the book fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't love this book. It wasn't bad but I just do not feel I was the right audience. I feel it was well written and the characters were thought out well. The cover art is absolutely stunning and that is what drew me in!

Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I had a slightly difficult time rating this book. On one hand I read through this in 2 days and didn't want to stop but on the other hand the characters, their actions, and the social scene were just too over the top to embrace. I've never been a huge fan of novels that overdo the stereotypes of society either.

In this story Sylvia is thrust from the simple life in Nevada to the rich and mighty high school world of Upper New York. Through her own bad decisions she creates issues and scenes that should paint her as a unique character but for me she just came off as a teen not handling herself well. Seriously bad judgement calls. However, the dynamic between her and her brother Eric was something I loved every bit of and I wished that version of Sylvia was portrayed more. Protective, cunning, witty, brave and reflecting a normal teenager.

Once we are introduced to Fairy and start meeting the characters of this parallel world the story picks up pace and you get sucked in. The character descriptions,world creativity and backstory were exactly what my readerish mind looks for in a good young adult fantasy. I wanted more. I understood the plot, the conflict between courts and needed to know the outcome. The only Fairy drawback was our two "lovers."

For the most part everyone likes a little romance in their story. But I could not figure out why it needed to be in this one. Though I see the appeal of having two guys from separate courts vying for the attention of the MC and bringing out that conflicting triangle of lovers, it did not move smoothly in this book. I even considered the aspect of the knight in shining armor rescuing the damsel in distress aspect of fairy tales for this and it helped. I'd probably still remove the random kissing everyone seems to be doing and stick to the evolving connection between Stranger and Sylvia.

Overall I would definitely recommend this for the plot of the battling Courts and Fairy. Like I said I read this in 2 days and did not want to put it down. If you can look past the stereotypes and see the fairy tale dream in the pages I think you'll like this as much as I did.

Reader warnings: suicide, drugs, some violence

Thank you to Parliament Press, NetGalley and the author for the ability to review this work for an unbiased opinion.

First off, a big thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book.
If I had to summarize this book very shortly, I would say it's almost like Gossip Girl meets the fantasy world. The premise is a very interesting take for anyone who has had a foray into fairie fantasy fiction. It attempts to be an almagamation of all things fairie.
The pacing of this book was just strange to me. It started off very slow and it took a very long time for any real fantasy, magic, or fairies to be introduced and when they were, it was sporadic and a bit confusing.
I actually loved the narration style as it was almost conversational and casual which lended a more intimate feel to the story-telling. I also enjoyed the characters and particularly thought that Sylvia, our heroine, was a very strong female lead.
That being said, in the end, this book fell very flat for me. It certainly had promise, but it almost seemed like the ending half was very rushed. As a result, the romance was sudden, undeveloped, and seemingly without reason. The climax of the story, which was also squished into the last few pages of the entire story were packed and confusing with some parts seeming jumbled while others were over-simplified and brushed aside. The story and its characters were just thrown together haphazardly and the dialogue became cheesy.

Overall, I would say the story held so much promise but was ultimately not executed well, particularly the ending. It is such a shame and a discredit to what seems to be a good amount of research, what could have been well-done world building, and a band of characters with potential. So sad this didn't go over well.

I was unfortunately a bit disappointed in this book. I enjoyed Sylvia's character but the writing almost felt middle grade to me (Sylvia talking about her school experiences) but then there would be extremes like being drugged at the birthday party. I read a lot of YA and it was hard to tell who the target audience was exactly for this book. I felt by the synopsis that we would get more of the Fae world but unfortunately up until about 45% all we really hear about is Sylvia and her experience with her new classmates at school. The writing was not bad, just not what I was expecting to get based on the synopsis. I would definetly give this author another shot!

I absolutely loved this!! This was such an interesting book with a great premise. My heart was racing and throbbing and I was left breathless. There were some parts that were more shockingly but it just added excitement to the story plus relevant to the plot. So much fun!

In Restless Dreams reminded me a lot of the YA books I used to read when I was in middle school: entertaining, but ultimately simplistic and not very thought-provoking. This book was good, and I liked the writing, but the majority of it just involved Sylvia complaining about something or other, or Sylvia dealing with her mother's problems, or Sylvia dealing with mean girls at school, Sylvia thinking about one of the guys interested in her, and once again, Sylvia complaining about something or other. At some point I believe I referred to this book as similar to Twilight, but with faeries instead of vampires and werewolves.
That being said, I was entertained throughout the book, and I liked the Stranger, as well as Sylvia's little brother Eric.

A fantastic surprise!

I like the kind of paranormal/fantasy where the girl is a regular human girl from the current time, living in our normal world, then she somehow gets pulled into this supernatural situation and has to come to terms with it. That is exactly how this book is and I really enjoyed it. This story was about a girl named Sylvia who lives in a small town in Nevada and she leaves early from a party after her boyfriend breaks up with her so he can dance with another girl. Sylvia gets home to find her mother on the floor after swallowing a bottle of pills.

Sylvia and her younger brother Eric, wait at the hospital for their very wealthy father who lives in New York and once he arrives he ends up taking them with him to live in his mansion in New York. They begin attending an exclusive private school and from the very first day, Sylvia gets on the bad side of one of the mean girls in the school, Cassidy. Though she also makes friends with some of the popular crowd as well.

This section of the book goes forward pretty much as a standard bully romance type of story, which I like. But also it serves the purpose to set up the fantasy/paranormal part. It also serves the purpose of developing the characters very well and world building. We get to see the way Sylvia interacts with her friends, her father and her brother. We see that Sylvia is lonely and nothing seems to work out right for her.

I don’t want to give things away so I will only say that Sylvia meets some men from the abstract lands (A.k.a. Fairy realm) which is another dimension that sits on top of ours. Suffice it to say that humans including Sylvia aren’t supposed to be able to see them. However due to extenuating circumstances she can. There is what’s called the shadow which is a sort of barrier between the two realms that is where one of the two men likes to hang out. Sylvia names him The Stranger and he is a commoner from the Unseelie court and is a bit of a trickster and likes to try to mess with humans from the shadow. The other guy, whom Sylvia finds out is named Royan, is a knight from the Seelie Court and is very handsome and gallant.

From here, the story is more like a Fantasy and an adventure but Sylvia still has to account for herself in our world. It isn’t so easy to be the lone human who can see things other people can’t. It gets harder for her to explain what she is doing. But that is part of what I enjoy about stories like this. You can see the dilemma and it feels like it could be a real situation (if the Fae really did exist).

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sadly, this one didn't work well for me. I wished the fantasy would have been introduced sooner and the format of the title was kind of off. The diary thing just didn't work very well for this story if you ask me. The romance was kind of badly done as well and just didn't flow like most do. The story could be amazing but it needs some work. It was over the top with school drama but underwhelming with the whole Fae thing. I love stories about the courts but this one just didn't shine at all.

Unintentionally written like a diary and has way too much drama filler content. It's marketed as low fantasy but the main character doesn't find out about magic until 40% into the book. The pacing in the romance was awkward & unrealistic, and overall this book was very boring & tedious to read.

Read my full review on my Goodreads!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3120943681

I'm confused on the release date for In Restless Dreams. Netgalley says 2020 but Goodreads says 2016. It would have been a really good paranormal story in 2016 but there are much better Fae stories out there now. If you are looking more for dramatics, then I think you would love this book. If you like Fae stories I would even recommend it. It just didn't work well for me. 💖