Reminded me of Sandman Slim, the idea that LA is magical but not fun, a darkness that spreads everywhere. A story of a father's love and commitment.

Magical realism, a father love for his daughter, what lengths he will go to rescue her from her stories.

It cannot be overstated enough: I LOVED this book. LOVED IT. And I don't like fantasy. Like at all. But this wasn't really fantasy, until it was. And by then I was so invested and it was so intriguing I didn't care.

Byron is a dad and a journalist whose 12 year old daughter goes missing and he is determined to find out what happened to her after everyone else (her mother included) seems to have given up. He discovers that his daughter's obsession with a fantasy book series may have something to do with her disappearance that sets him on a journey to LA to investigate.

I love that this book was written to include Byron's notes, interviews, emails, excerpts from books, etc. to really pull the story together. It made the book so engaging and felt like the reader was also part of the investigation. I found myself looking for clues right along with Byron. As I said before, I don't read fantasy so a lot of that aspect was lost on me. I honestly feel like I was missing a lot since I don't have experience reading fantasy books. Despite that, I was still really able to enjoy those parts of the story, and did not deter me at all from reading.

This book also hit home on a personal level: as someone who used to be a weird kid with weird interests who grew up to be a weird adult with weird interests. I have to say this: parents, please please PLEASE take an interest in the the things your kids love. Even if you think they are silly or stupid or boring...just take the time to let them talk to you about it and learn about it. It will mean more to them than you know and it just might help save their life. Ok I know that was a little intense, but this is a huge part of this book and what really grounded the story that was really fantastical, and fun. I also would love for this to be a TV series!

When I started this book, my first thought was that believability was going to be stretched beyond the limit - and I was spot on. That said, count me as one who took a deep breath (make that two or three) and decided to go along for the ride.

And what a ride it is! Part Peter Pan, part Harry Potter, part Narnia and all fantasy with roots in reality, it really blew me away. One big reason is the unique presentation: Written as a cleverly composed compilation of notes, interviews, emails, book excerpts and other interactions between Bryon and other characters, it's far from any of the standard writing styles common to most books. Basically, it follows the frantic attempts of successful writer/reporter Byron James (nee Kidd) to find his 12-year-old daughter Liza. The girl, it seems, left a note, meaningfully stashed in her favorite fantasy book, to inform her parents that she was leaving home to find her way to "the end of the world." Byron and his wife Val are devastated, of course, but Bryan - knowing that several other children have gone missing in similar fashion and never been found - takes it to a whole new level by vowing to find her and bring her back.

Not a little of his intensity is born of guilt; he blames himself for failing to give Liza the attention she deserved and not supporting her strong beliefs in the fantasy world she clearly loved. And, his attempts to win Val over to his assertion that Liza is still alive fall mostly on deaf ears; separated from Byron and in therapy after Liza's disappearance six months earlier, she's struggling to come to terms with her grief and isn't inclined to drag things out any longer. And that brings up another point: while Bryon's dogged determination to find Liza is commendable, he's not the most lovable of heroes. Put another way, his controlling, misogynistic attitudes make it easy to see why he no longer has a wife and daughter. Still, there remains a clear and present danger to Liza - and there are some signs that he's trying for an attitude adjustment - so (insert a couple more deep breaths here) I gave him a pass.

Early on, Bryon concludes that the author of Liza's favorite books, Annabelle Tobin, is central to the disappearance. The wildly popular series has spawned a huge following, right down to an annual event similar to Comic Con. Now, all those fans are clammoring for the sixth, and final book, to be completed; but so far, Annabelle's promises to produce are empty and the author has become a virtual recluse. Just to land a meeting with her, then, is the first significant hurdle Bryon must overcome. The rest of the story follows Byron's progress - complete with gains, setbacks and near disasters - as he tries to follow the path Liza took to get wherever she went and, hopefully, find that she's still alive, able and willing to come back home. Loved it - and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading and reviewing a pre-release copy.

this was an absolute bummer. i was really looking forward to reading this based on the premise. i DNF'd at 40%- i just couldn't connect with the characters. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Dreambound was kindly provided to me by NetGalley and Random House in exchange for my honest review.
Dreambound follows a father/reporter desperately trying to locate his 12 year old daughter who has recently gone missing. The police can’t help, the mother has moved on and he has no clues other than the fact that his daughter is very obsessed with an unfinished fantasy series.
The more he investigates the links between his daughters disappearance and the strange disappearances of other youths that love the series, the more he discovered that maybe the series isn’t such a fantasy after all.
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the mystery surrounding the disappearances. I liked the interesting and sometimes strange characters that we encounter on the journey to find the truth of where these kids have gone. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers BUT I will caution that this book is told via emails, Reddit threads, interviews, text messages, story excerpts. This is really not a format that I enjoy while reading so I would caution anyone else who does not enjoy this format. I’m giving this book 4 stars as I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this novel. I really enjoyed it. By mixing YA fantasy with the POV of a crusty, middle-aged male main character named Byron Kidd, it kind of worked, I'm at a point in my life where I can't really stomach any more YA fantasy, but I can go on the same journey as Byron Kidd in rediscovering my inner child. The embedded scholarship around fantasy itself, through the character of Misha, and through the excerpted Sir Henry book, added an additional layer that adults can appreciate and that don't just feel like recycled Hollywood schlock. Byron's journey in understanding his shortcomings as a father felt genuine and heartfelt, so his quest to find his daughter did not fall into stereotype either. I realize this style of novel may not be for everyone, but I thought it was very well done.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @RandomHouse for the e-ARC and opportunity to provide feedback.

Part Lev Grossman's "The Magicians," part "The Chronicles of Narnia." Dan Frey's "Dreambound" is a fantastical journey about a father's search for his missing daughter in the twisted underbelly of Los Angeles. Combining wonderous fantasy elements with a dark. mysterious realism, "Dreambound" takes the reader on an adventure that pays homage to some of the greatest fairytales and their modern retellings. Dan Frey's expression of the profound grief of losing a loved one is heartbreaking in its execution. Written in epistolary fashion, "Dreambound" is a must-read for urban fantasy and sci-fi enthusiasts alike.

WOW...I really fell for this one.

It reads so fast you don’t really notice the writing, the words. Is that good? Bad? In this case it is irrelevant whether the writing is brilliant or poetic or whatever, because you so want to find out what happens next. Now that it is over I think there is a fair amount of cliched parts, sometimes clumsy or unnatural dialog.

Maybe there is some improbable character development. Maybe. But he gives you something to hold onto in the story to ease over any of that. I see some reviews feel there is some misogyny, and I think I see what them mean. BUT it is “light” misogyny. So not perfect.

However it is a LOT of fun. Plus to feel that longing to get back to reading a book as soon as you can just to see what comes next. THAT is a great feeling.

One final point….i have said before in my reviews I am kind of a cynical curmudgeon, so it is odd that I recognize the author’s maudlin storytelling as it goes by, YET I love it and suddenly I am crying at father/daughter emotional interplay ( even though I have no daughter and am not a father). So yeah, this book turned me into a crybaby at the end

addendum: I remembered I meant to add this scene where the two main characters are talking about traditional folktales or just stories involving a rescue. Byron is the father and Misha the young hip scholar on fairy tales.

MISHA: But there aren’t that many parent-rescues-child stories. There are more of the other way around! In “Beauty and the Beast,” it’s Belle that rescues her father, and in the Grimm story “The Carnation,” it’s the son who rescues his mother. But dad-rescuing-kid is all over the movies of the last thirty years.

So the question that interests me is…why? What changed?

BYRON: Maybe us modern dads are just better. More connected to our kids. And we like to imagine that if shit went down, we could save the ones we love.

MISHA: I kinda think it’s the opposite. That modern dads are full of guilt, ’cause they all work too much, and modern kids all feel abandoned. | Location 2041-2044

I don't know if it "meta" or what, but from a quick web search I think he is a new father. Just makes you think.

<i>Dreambound</i> took me by surprise. A girl goes missing in the manner of her favorite book series, and her father has to go down the rabbit hole to find her. It's an epistolary novel, made up of notebook entries, emails, and excerpts from the <i>Fairy Tale</i> novels. I wasn't expecting this book to be as moving as it turned out to be; <i>Dreambound</i> is about stories and how they can save us, about being seen and understood, about fandom and creation and Los Angeles and a bunch of other things besides. Part detective story, part urban fantasy, part <i>high</i> fantasy, it reminded me of Tim Powers and his tales of hidden worlds hiding in plain sight in California. If you enjoy Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series and/or John Scalzi's <i>Redshirts</i>, this book's for you. I highly recommend it.

I tried to get into this one. I requested it and looked forward to reading it after reading Frey's other novel via Netgalley. This one just wasn't for me. I felt nothing between Byron and his ex. I could have cared less for his lost daughter. I honestly think it was the way it was written as correspondence and a disjointed, uncaring narrative.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this one. I will not be posting a review online as I didn't care to finish it.

This is a great book for any parents wanting to raise a future fantasy reader. The story had these pieces of warmth in it that really gave me the vibe of what the author describes in the author's note as a love letter to reading.

I absolutely loved the format of this story. The difference between the sections kept me interested and invested in how these parts would come together.

It's definitely something I recommend to fans of fantasy!

Out September 12, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

I would say this was a 3.5. I absolutely loved how this story was told in journal entries, interviews, emails, etc. I thought that was wonderful. And the story was intriguing. I'm not quite sure didn't work the best for me? I got halfway through and then didn't read a word of it for a week, so something lost my attention I'm just not sure what exactly.

I really wanted to love this. I thought the premise of children disappearing related to a super popular YA portal series was amazing, and I expected this to be a cross of Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series with Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. And in a way, it was, but unfortunately I found the main character deeply unlikable and, more than that, his actions seemed so random that I couldn’t get comfortable in the story. I’m all for a good redemption arc, but that redemption has to be earned, and it didn’t ring true for me here.

I also think it’s possible that the way the story is told—through journal entries, emails, and recorded interviews—just wasn’t for me and made me feel disconnected from the story.

I’m sure there are other people out there who’ll love this, but the rating here is just my experience with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House!

In this thrilling contemporary fantasy novel, a father must uncover the secret magical underbelly of Los Angeles to find his daughter, who has seemingly disappeared into the fictional universe of her favorite fantasy series.

This was a really cool concept with good world-building and character development. I would like to read more in this world.

“As humans, we are desperate to be seen. But if we’re not careful, we can warp the world in ways we might not like. Which means we outfit to be more mindful about which stories we tell.”

Foremost, the cover of this book is gorgeous. It’s initially what caught my eye and garnered my interest. I am most definitely one who tends to (sometimes unfortunately, but in this case, fortunately) judge a book by its cover, so whoever designed this book deserves the highest of kudos.

Secondly, the way that this book was written was really enjoyable for me. I loved the different formats, and the way that the journal entries were written more as thoughts rather than interests. There were some sentences, or rather “thoughts” I suppose, that were marked through. They seemed to be darker thoughts or things that the main character Byron changed his mind about thinking. This was super relatable for me as I tend to think this way as well. I sometimes will think something in my head that may not be the nicest thing or may be a bit “dark”, and then immediately feel bad or also think to myself “what I ACTUALLY meant was…”. Byron seemed to write in his journal this way a lot, and I just really felt validated by that knowing I’m not the only person who does this. That’s not necessarily a major deal pertaining to this book, but it was for me personally.

Third of all, I want to touch on the dedication this author has to Los Angeles. From reading this, as someone who has never traveled to LA, I was pretty easily able to picture everything that was described out. I was able to paint a pretty clear map in my head of the city, as well as the fantastical world the city was based on. This automatically earns a lot of respect from me, as I can tell the author really did their research and paid great homage to this city.

Finally, I do want to say that the characters themselves were not my favorites. I just personally was not able to connect with any of them, other than the way Byron wrote in his journal. Even with that I feel myself more connected to the author rather than the character themselves. Other than that, I really don’t have anything negative to say about this book. It was a super enjoyable read and I would recommend this to any person who loves fantasy and to any parents of younger children. I definitely see this book making it into my top 10 favorites of the year, and maybe even my top 5.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dreambound was SUCH an intriguing read! The summary of 'a father on the hunt for his daughter who went to look for a world she's read about in her books' is what originally pulled me into this book, but honestly I was more than hooked from the moment I started reading. Truly I loved the way the story was told, as you don't normally (or at least i don't normally) see books told from the perspective of emails, interviews, journals vs the normal 1st/3rd person. There were also a few surprising twists and turns that kept me on my toes wondering what would happen next. Overall this book makes me want to get out and explore my own area to see what magic I can find for myself and I cannot thank #NetGalley enough for letting me read this copy in advance!

Dreambound was a wonderful novel. I enjoyed the speculative elements, as well as the power of storytelling. Great writing, kept my interest even though it was long

*I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley. Thank you!

2023 has been my year to really dive into some fantasy novels in a way I never have before, and Dreambound definitely fits the bill. In this novel, you get a mixture of fantasy, journalism, academia, family relations, how to find your place to fit in as a child, and so much more. It made me think quite a bit about a non-fiction book I also read recently called, "Trust Kids! Stories on Youth Autonomy and Confronting Adult Supremacy" by Carla Bergman. What happens in Dreambound is a prime example of what can happen when we don't listen to children—when we ignore their needs, feelings, and desires. Children are people, too, and Dreambound plays out a gripping scenario, mixing fantasy and reality, of what can happen when a child feels unheard.

This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. This book is about the power of stories, the power of faith and belief, and escapism. This book is beautiful. At first reading it, I really identified with our protagonist Byron’s daughter Liza and with Misha. Byron is probably Gen X but came across like the worst version of a Boomer especially at the start of the book. It made him very believable as a character. But seeing his growth over the course of the book, his ability to accept that there may be things in this world that he doesn’t understand, and it’s okay… it was very cool and gave me a lot of hope for myself and my own future development. Maybe it’s never too late to be the best version of yourself. This book and aspects of it have so many parallels, many of which they call out explicitly, but I just keep coming back to how gorgeous it all was. I flew through it in two nights because I couldn’t stop but I may need to go back and reread it because I am sure there are things that I missed.