I had high hopes of this promising premise; magical escapism into a Dreamworld, triggered through sensory experiences. However, the narration style sadly did not meet these grand promises. The dialogue and description was stilted and empty; mundane choices of dreams were devoid of the richness and world building which is sorely needed to captivate readers attention within this genre. The self narration of the protagonist lacks depth, and the introspective promise of this story is not fulfilled.

I sadly DNF at 15%

This protagonist is the most boring man I've ever read from, even the ghost of the Marchesa left him to live her afterlife without him in it. How can his dreams be so boring and mundane, lacking any imagination? I really hoped this would be more of a magical realism, but it was just ordinary everyday slice of life even in his dreams.
Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing me with the arc.