Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the advanced copy of this book.
I was excited for the world-building, reclamation of self, and perseverance of the main character in this story. I read through multiple chapters before deciding to DNF. Unfortunately, Sci-Fi is not really my jam so I struggled to really get into this book. Others who are fans of sci-fi, world-building, and war-filled fantasy might enjoy this book. I’d recommend to my friends who enjoy those, it just wasn’t for me!

I have read and loved Heather O'Neill's work in the past, but this was painfully boring. I did love the goose character though.

Let me preface this review by saying that I’m a DIEHARD fan of ‘When We Lost Our Heads.’ That book changed my brain chemistry.

That said, this one didn’t really do it for me. As always, O’Neill’s prose is fresh and poignant. I would gleefully read her grocery list if given the opportunity. But I feel like excellent prose couldn’t completely carry this book and the things that I loved from WWLOH were missing in ‘The Capital of Dreams.’

Honestly, I think it’s a me problem. I’m always trying to branch out and try new things in fiction, but most war related stories really just don’t do anything for me. There’s an undeniable blend of whimsy and grit within this novel, and it’s brimming with the complicated character dynamics that O’Neill is also renowned for, but there was just something holding me back from loving this one as much as I wanted to.

That cover is stunning though!

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for a free copy in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own :)

IA fantastic story, and a marvelous work of literature with prose that borders on poetry, interesting enough to keep me turning pages. Five stars!

A fairytale? A war story? A tale of survival?

A little girl faces the destruction of her country as it is invaded by The Enemy, and is tasked with delivering a work of resistance literature to the outside world. Alone in the unfamiliar world outside the capital, she befriends a goose and they travel on foot together. As her journey becomes perilous and she has to improvise in order to survive, reality becomes intertwined with the mythology of the young, and fact blends with fable.

4.5

Heather O’Neill knows exactly how to put the chaos, wonder, and ache of girlhood into words.

The Capital of Dreams is a delightfully strange story. It follows Sofia, a fourteen-year-old girl forced to flee her home when her country is invaded. Through her eyes, war becomes something almost mythical—filled with talking geese, secret markets, and an eccentric cast of characters.

This story turned out to be much darker than I was expecting which I didn’t mind. I could definitely see myself rereading this and getting something new from it every time.

“The thing about the metamorphosis out of girlhood is that there is a buoyancy to it. It is a moment in life, a brief flash when you must at least try to run. To see if you can run fast enough to catch up to that feeling of being yourself. And claim it
as your own.”

“How can we ever be given proof that something does not exist? That absence, the unknowing. Is that what keeps us going in life? Looking for something that we lost, that we believe should be ours. Do we ever come across anything we are looking for?”

I never read anything by Heather O'Neil before, so I didn't really know what to expect. This was definitely unlike anything I've read in quite a while.

I really enjoyed how the author blended several genres is a mashup of a few genres. It is a coming of age story, it is about war and trauma, but it feels like a dark fairy tale. I also loved the authors writing style. I was struck by many lines, and I will be thinking about them long after I put this one down.

Overall, it is a dark and sometimes sad story, but not without lighter moments. I also feel like the end makes the whole story worth it.

Having read O'Neil's other three big works, I unfortunately do believe this is my least favorite. I generally love O'Neil's gritty, historical, hard to stomach stories but this just fell so flat for me. I did not find the story to be particularly captivating and maybe that is just because I do not enjoy dystopian fiction. The characters didn't feel as enjoyable as I usually expect from her books. I don't think this is a bad book by any means, just not a personal favorite for me.

Heather O'Neill manages to perfectly put into words what it means to be a girl and each new title she releases builds on that. The Capital of Dreams was no exception.

In The Capital of Dreams, amidst a reimagined fairy tale, The Enemy has taken Elysia, and Sofia, must escape their clutches and hope to save her mother Clara's work. Clara was never a typical mother and has spent her life focused on her intellectual pursuits. Now that the world has been turned upside down however, Sofia and Clara have had to reconsider their relationship to one another. Full of lush imagery and evocative prose, Heather O'Neill has written a gorgeous book that's hard to describe but will stay with you for weeks after you've read it.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

The Capital of Dreams follows Sofia Bottom, a young girl living through war. Sofia's mother is a famous intellectual named Clara. Clara sends Sofia away to safety with an important manuscript Clara wrote. Clara claims this manuscript will change how people view their country of Elysia, as it is currently being invaded by the enemy. Sofia's attempt to reach safety ends up being a trick and in her rush to save her life, Sofia loses the manuscript. This leads to Sofia roaming around the country with a magical talking goose in search of safety during war.

The first half of The Capital of Dreams was so enthralling. The novel jumps between before the war and Sofia living through the war. Before the war, Sofia lived in the Capital with her mother. They do not get along well and many of these chapters focus on Sofia's childhood and the strange relationship she has with her mother. The chapters of Sofia living through the war on her own are much more magical and unworldly. Sofia is a child who is alone, living through a war that leaves her in constant danger. She is on the search for her mother's manuscript, but she has no real idea of where it could be. She's roaming her country, avoiding soldiers and running into other Elysians. There is a slight fantastical feeling throughout the book as everything is being seen and explained through a child's eyes, but also because the country of Elysia itself has its own mythos of tree people and faeries.

I loved how strange this book was. The writing is also stunning. I highlighted so many passages that were so thoughtful and interesting. While I loved a lot of what this book was doing, it did start to feel like it was going on forever. I felt like everything I loved in the beginning/middle of the book got a little stale as it went on. There is a twist at the end that I found compelling, but by that point in the book I was already kind of over it.

Overall, this is an interesting exploration of war through the eyes of a child. It also deeply explores a mother/daughter relationship in a way I haven't read before. Even though this is not a new favorite, I plan to pick up more for this author as her writing is stellar and her storytelling is quite unique.

officially reading Heather O'Neill's backlist and anything she writes in the future. with both books I've now read by her, I feel like I cannot adequately describe how unique and special both her writing and stories are. her prose is lyrical and immersive, blending whimsy with darkness in a way that is both enchanting and unsettling.

The writing was really good. It had a whimsical feel to it. There was some slow parts in the middle that was a bit hard to get through. But the ending was worth it.

Heather O’Neill has once again crafted a mesmerizing, lyrical tale with The Capital of Dreams, a novel that blends dystopian grit with whimsical, fairytale-like storytelling. As someone who loves dystopian fiction, I was completely captivated by the world O’Neill created—both haunting and enchanting, filled with sharp social commentary and beautifully flawed characters.

Sofia Bottom is a compelling guide through this fractured, dreamlike society. I was deeply invested in their journey, their resilience, and the way they navigated a world teetering between decay and wonder. O’Neill’s signature poetic prose adds an almost surreal quality to the novel, making it feel like a lost fable unearthed from some dystopian future.

I read this on Kindle, but I absolutely loved the book cover and will probably purchase a physical copy because it deserves a spot on my shelf. The artwork perfectly encapsulates the novel’s eerie beauty.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Hive for the ARC—this was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to discuss it with fellow dystopian fiction fans!

A quirky, dark, introspective, and sometimes downright madcap quasi-fantasy — when a book makes you use all those words at once to describe it, you know it’s something unique and special!

I had to lean into this one a little bit at first and trust the process — but it grows on you over time, and keeps you coming back because you can’t stop thinking about it and all its layers. I’d never read any of Heather O’Neill’s other work, so I went in totally blind and it was a wild ride.

Part fable or fairytale, part coming of age story, part historical fiction (the author has said the book is based in part on her father’s stories from WWII and her own experiences in Gaza in 2023), it’s in a category all its own. Ultimately there’s not much “action,” it’s not that kind of war novel — it’s more about contemplation of the broader war of ideas, the meaning and importance of art, identity politics and class systems, and ultimately, one young girl growing up and trying to both survive and find purpose during war.

Thanks to @harperperennial for putting this one on my radar - The Capital of Dreams is available in paperback now!

A young girl befriends a talking goose while trying to survive a war and occupation.

Sophia's world is turned upside down when her mother, who is known as the most intelligent woman of her country, sends her away to keep her safe from the unavoidable bombing of their home, The Capital. This leads Sophia down a winding, fever dream of a path through the country while navigating a world without her mother. She soon meets a new companion, a talking Goose, and they band together to make it through the war and find the coveted Black Market. On the way, she meets many characters, both trustworthy and untrustworthy, that keep her on her toes and force her to learn how to make her own decisions - something she thought she would never be able to do in her mother's shadow.

This story is whimsical, dark, and very timely with its deeper message on womanhood and what it means to live amidst a war. I got lost in this book and loved what I got out of it. Heather O'Neill knows how to weave real world problems with imagination and fantasy, and I don't think I'll ever get enough.

I will be recommending!

The Capital of Dreams is a dystopian, war-torn fairytale told from the perspective of a fourteen year old girl whose country is invaded during war. Sofia Bottom has lived a life of luxury in the Capital with her mother Clara, a renowned writer and well regarded thinker. When the enemy invades their tiny country of Elysia, Clara tasks Sofia with smuggling her new manuscript to safety via a train evacuating children. Everything is going according to plan, until the train catches the attention of the enemy and Sofia is forced to flee, losing Clara’s manuscript in the process. Thus begins Sofia’s long, harrowing adventure as she faces soldiers, survivors, and talking geese to regain her mother’s work.

This book is very different from anything I’ve ever read. It was a fascinating choice to tell the story through the eyes of Sofia, a young woman on the cusp of adolescence. Puberty is a volatile time for young people and as Sofia straddles youth and adulthood her internal upheaval mirrors the volatility of the ravaged country that surrounds her. There are sickening descriptions of the travesties that occur during wartime, but through Sofia’s lens they seem trivial, almost cumbersome to what she views as important (i.e. pleasing her mother). Sofia’s naivety is what makes the fairytale aspects of this novel shine. She is able to make sense of violence through folklore; wandering around with a talking goose, searching for fantastical Black Markets, or sheltering with eccentric rebels. They’re devises that allow her to understand the horrors she encounters. Throughout the tale, Sofia’s maturation unveils slowly before readers’ eyes as she is forced to cease luxuriating in the past, learning how to survive instead.

The relationship between Sofia and her mother Clara was probably my favorite aspect of the book. Sofia and Clara are the embodiments of girlhood and womanhood respectively. Clara is passionate, lackadaisical, bold, selfish, and haughty. She is a ball of contradictions, representing the complexities of womanhood. She coddles Sofia while simultaneously treating her as a mini peer, making for an interesting examination of mother/child codependency. The messages behind Clara’s enthusiasm for the arts also felt very topical, especially as we face acts of repression against creation in our own lives. Art is the antithesis of occupation and creation must persist during wartime. I found this to be the most important theme of the novel, both a reflection and a warning.

I enjoyed my time reading The Capital of Dreams and even though there were some slower sequences, I felt like I could spend weeks analyzing the text. I never thought I’d feel so strongly about a talking goose, but this story made me believe in the safety of imagination and the power that we wield within our own minds.

Thank you Harper Perennial for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a massive fan of Heather O'Neill’s previous novels, I was eager to dive into The Capital of Dreams, but unfortunately, it didn’t capture my attention in the way I had hoped. O'Neill usually has this wonderful balance of whimsy and perverseness that makes her writing so captivating, but in this novel, that magic seemed to be missing. The story felt flat, and I struggled to connect with the characters, who lacked the depth and intrigue that made her earlier works so memorable. While there are still glimpses of her trademark style, the book just never quite took off for me. It’s disappointing, but I’m hopeful her next one will be more in line with the brilliance I’ve come to expect from her.

Heather O’Neill has blown me away with her writing. The way this book seamlessly integrates folklore and magical realism into an exploration of mother-daughter relationships, girlhood, and war is astounding. Her prose sings. Her descriptions are vivid and one-of-a-kind, leading to a cinematic reading experience that was ethereal and all-consuming. I felt as if I was with Sofia in that forest, traveling with the Goose, desperate to get to the Black Market, to make her mother proud, to survive. It’s a bleak fairy tale, but one that’s told with wit and whimsy and humor. I loved it.

Thank you to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the ARC!

I have been a huge fan of Heather O’Neill’s previous work, but this is…not really up to her usual standards.

There are some things about this that are wildly good (the writing, the world building), but thematically it’s pretty confused and I really did not love the senseless animal violence toward the end that made the entire adventure of the book feel kind of meaningless.

I love the way the author constructed this world, and the book is a really interesting meditation on the meaning of art amid tragedy and violence, but whatever cohesive purpose this was all supposed to have never really comes through.

It’s not set in the real world but it is real world adjacent, which leaves the reader speculating as to what exactly this is supposed to parallel. Is this supposed to be a take on the French Revolution? Is it a speculative cautionary tale about what might happen to the United States in the future? Or is it all just a fever dream with no ties to real world events? That’s unclear, and a problem.

The writing is beautiful and thoughtful, and for that reason this is probably worth reading. But in terms of plot and story detail, it needed better focus and less hopeless aimlessness.

I think my expectations were not set quite right for this book, and had they been more on target I don't think I would have picked it up. The Capital of Dreams is a fable-like tale of how young Sofia deals with the war and subsequent occupation of her home country, Elysia. Sofia's mother is a famous philosopher who seems to only come to care for her daughter once it's too late and Sofia must be sent away "for her safety." Ultimately this decision results in Sofia wandering the ravished countryside alone to avoid capture and death at the hands of the Enemy, a vaguely Russian, possibly German WWII inspired foe. Along the way, Sofia picks up a talking goose and has several fantastic brushes with creatures from local myth. Sofia's travels and reminiscences are tragic at best and outright traumatic at worst, and the entire story is terribly bleak. I did not care for this tale and its heavily pedantic take on womanhood and the inherent trauma of being female. Although the writing style was evocative, dreamlike and uncanny, with sudden switches from current to past events, I could not say I liked reading this. I think this tale has an audience out there for its introspective look at class, privilege, and womanhood, but I was not it.

Elysia, a small, forgotten country ruled by the arts and humanities, is under attack from its greatest enemy. As an outspoken woman of the arts, Sofia's mother has a target on her back. She decides that in order to save her country she must write a manifesto and send it out of the country with Sofia. Then other countries will know what is happening and that it is happening to real people. However, the train carrying the children out of the city makes an unexpected stop and Sofia loses her mother's prized manuscript, leading her to take off in search of the Black Market.

I loved this book! It was whimsical and had lots of important messaging about growing from a girl to a woman, as well as what happens when we fear otherness and become at war against it.