To be honest. I DNF's this book. I don't think this was for me. The characters had no development, I didn't feel connected to them or to the story.

This took me a while to get fully immersed into the story and get a handle on the worldbuilding but once I did I absolutely feel in love with this. TLORD is a fun magical adventure which makes for a great read. This is also not too long so you can read it anytime.

A beautifully told tale of magic and friendship. Cael is from a good family, spending his days helping his father in the forge. Increasingly though, he starts having vivid nightmares where he is being chased through the forest. During a trip to the city to try and find help, he crosses paths with Wynn, a girl who he recognises from his dreams, and Landon. Landon explains to Cael and Wynn that they have special abilities, and that their dreams are real. They are being perused by a group of seekers who have sensed their magic and are tracking them to take them to the academy. Their methods are ruthless and they do not care about anything other than getting their targets to the academy and will not stop until they have achieved their mission. The only decision Cael and Wynn have is whether to go at the hands of the seekers and risk the safety of those around them, or whether they are willing to place their trust in Landon, the friendly stranger who appears out of the blue, who assures them he will take them to the academy without the distress the seekers will undoubtedly cause.
The story follows Cael and Wynn on their journey to the academy, training with Landon and uncovering what they are capable of. The only question is, have they put their faith in the right person?
This is a beautifully written book. The world building and the magic system are impressive. Well written characters, each experiencing their own personal growth. Such a refreshing change of pace for a fantasy book. I was genuinely annoyed when I got to the end of this one! Looking forward to the sequel now!

The absolutely gorgeous cover drew me in. A fabulous story about some young adults traveling through dreams understand their gifts.
It took me a few times to actually get invested and to finish it. However, I was a good read and I might recommend it to someone else.

As much as I love high fantasy reads I tend to struggle with getting immersed in them.

This was such a fun read and the cover is gorgeous. If you're into books about other worlds, things that have to do with dreams and up for an adventure I would absolutely recommend this book!

I'll be on the look out for more titles by this author. The writing style was captivating!

Firstly I would like to apologise for being late for this review. I have tried to start this book a couple of times and after having finally managed to get through it I can honestly say that although I loved the premise, the characters felt a bit too one dimensional and the writing was fragmented. I feel like with some editing this could make up for a much better reading experience overall.

It was an okay read. I just didn't like the storyline that much. The writing is great, but it didn't grab my attention at all. It took me some effort to finish.

received this book to review. It has really great world building. It is sparks a rollercoaster of emotions. I did feel it lacked a little adventure or plot to weave everything together. I enjoyed reading it but did wish it had a little more developments within the plot.

It took me a bit to get into the story was, as soon as I was in sync with the magical adventure, I was all in. I liked the writing style and the way the author linked the various events without it being too confusing and was in fact easy to follow. You end up caring about every single character, no matter how small, and you know they are part of a really great complex story.

A brilliant easy read that left me emotionally invested! It’s a story of young people journeying in to dreams through the five kingdoms in order to find answers about their gifts! It’s rich in its storytelling and leave you looking forward to the next installment!!

I enjoyed this as a concept but I sometimes found the pacing to be a bit hit and miss, it sped through certain elements and slowed at others.

Look at the cover! It's so so stunning but the story inside this beautiful book just felt flat for me. I think it can be developed even more. This book is full of magical plot and things. I think it's still lacked smth.
Thanks to Netgalley for giving me this ARC!


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After nightmares begin to seep into Cael's waking life, a mysterious stranger arrives offering to help. But that help comes at a steep price. Taken from their families, Wynn joins Cael on his journey across the Five Kingdoms as they struggle to find reason behind the powers they've been cursed with.

Unsure of their guide, Landon, and fearful of those around them, Cael and Wynn experiment with their abilities alone. The dreams they share offer a dangerous new gift, one neither of them could have expected.

As they try to navigate their new connection they find themselves questioning their choice to follow Landon and what his true motives are. When the ominous rebels confront them, will they betray the man who protected them or will they fight to save his life?

The premise of this book is so interesting and I enjoyed the world and characters we were introduced to, but I'm giving it 3 stars because it felt very average. I put it down and I did not want more which it a pretty bad sign in my mind.

Can't say I had much fun with this one... The setting was confusing (was is set in the medival age? Was it the modern world?) - I had some difficulty figuring out what the book wanted to tell me. The characters felt unfinished and weren't very sympathetic. The plot lost my interest after the first few pages and the book itself was surprisingly uneventful and predictable. I am sure younger children or teens might be having more fun than me, because I really felt exhausted after reading the first few chapters and I wasn't very excited or emotional about the ending.

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

this was an interesting take on a fantasy novel, I enjoyed getting to know Cael, and I enjoyed the use of nightmares. it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to more from the author.

I received “The Last of Ryn Dvarek” by D.R. O’Shea from the publisher as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Sometimes you read a book and the book just isn’t your cup of tea. I was drawn in from the cover and the description, but I had to really push myself over a long span of time to actually read the book rather than mark it as a DNF. I finished the book to give it a chance to grow on me since I know it was jumping between dreams and reality, but, again, it just didn’t work for me.

The overall premise is a good one and the book wastes no time to jump right into the story, however, I didn’t find myself invested into the characters (and while some were certainly colorful and memorable, I found the main characters a tad annoying). Also, I found the pacing was a little inconsistent. There were parts of the book that I greatly enjoyed and brought me back into possibly liking the book more, but then it would be followed by a scene that I felt was slow and dragged on. In the end, I felt that the plot was promising more than what was delivered and that was also a big driving point for me in reducing an additional star.

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I feel like this story had a lot of good, but I also feel like there was a lot of room to grow. There was a lot of good to it tho. I loved how complex this world was. I love how well it all comes together. I loved how layered each of the characters are and how much life is breathed into them. It’s so easy to love them and care for them. They were almost real to me.

But it also felt there wasn’t much else to offer aside from wonderful characters in this great world. Very little truly went down or happened, and it gets to the point where you question the point of reading the story because it feels like a tedious journey without any real adventure or end game. The actual plot itself hardly has any developments even with all its happenings.

It wasn’t my favorite journey, but I appreciate it all the same.

This was an incredibly captivating read! I love diving into new worlds and really enjoyed the writing style and characters of this book.

Cael was the typical hardworking, normal person until he finds that he is not very normal at all.

I did find the pacing quite odd with a bit of filler in the middle, but an overall good story to enjoy!

This book doesn't waste anytime getting right into it, however I did find myself loosing my grip on what I was reading. Though the originality of the adventure and enchantment of this dream world kept you engaged. I still didn't feel connected to the lead character. It just didn't do it for me.

Join Cael in and out of reality. Follow him to the big city and watch him sink into the dream world or was it nightmare. This will need to be sorted so that they can unravel the understanding of what is and what was. This book would be good for younger adult readers. Readers starting their journey into fantasy.

In short :
Did I like it ? Not enough
Would I recommend it ? To younger YA yes.
Would I read more by this author? Sadly probably not.

I will not be sending my review to my social media feeds. I feel like this book is a work in progress and instead of posting a negative review I will just submit constructive feedback. I finished this book a week ago as it has taken that much time to figure out what exactly I didn't like about the book. It wasn't the plot. That shows much promise. But after reading several books since I finished Ryn Dvarek I realize that it was the lack of fluidity of the first person narrative. It reads as if the 14 year old is in every voice of each character. The long, nonsensical ramblings of thoughts were just not appealing. And the journey on the boat made me feel like I had been quite literally reading it for 6 weeks. The times when O'Shea switches worlds melt together and are not distinguishable from each other. The story line becomes confusing in that there are two groups hunting down the children. Both seem evil. Both are ambiguous. And neither seem less agreeable than the other. It seems one should be at least better than the other. Otherwise, what's the point? It's unclear how the kids are tracked. It's odd how they call an adult an "ass". And until there is a sequel I cannot see the point of melding the minds of the characters. Who are supposed to be harder to read because of it but others seem to have no problem doing so. I thank you for giving me the privilege of reading this book. The last chapter seemed to be the most interesting to me but then it ended. I finally felt we were going somewhere.....