Inception meets The Magicians in this wildly imaginative story about what happens when the secret worlds people hide within themselves come to light.All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can’t remember anything since an accident robbed him of his memories a few weeks ago. And the world feels different—reality itself seems different.So when … world feels different—reality itself seems different.
So when three of his classmates claim to be his friends and the only people who can tell him what’s truly going on, he doesn’t know what to believe or who he can trust. But as he and the others are dragged into unimaginable worlds that materialize out of nowhere—the gym warps into a subterranean temple, a historical home nearby blooms into a Victorian romance rife with scandal and sorcery—Kane realizes that nothing in his life is an accident, and only he can stop their world from unraveling.
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(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)
Ryan la Sala’s debut novel, ‘Reverie,’ reads like a dream. Not simply due to the fact large portions of the story take place in the walking fantasies of East Amity’s citizens.. born into alternate realities with all the fervor of New Year’s Eve fireworks, but because he writes as Van Gogh painted.. in rich strokes and vivid colors, textures you can feel even without being able to touch them.
A love story to the stargazer.. an encouragement to throw off all bonds.. and live boldly and brightly in all things, the novel feels as if its full to bursting with hope. Settle for nothing, fight for what you want.. for what you believe in.. and make sure above all else, that you believe in yourself.
Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about ‘Reverie.’ It’s wildly imaginative, the prose is melodious, the characters are each deeply layered. Though it centers around a group of teens, they often feel ageless, as the focus is really on doing what’s right.. on persisting.. and learning to see others beyond the surface. The development of the new worlds that periodically just materialize is elegantly scripted. No matter how outrageous the manifested story may seem, there’s reason to it. Rhythm.
It’s a wonderful story. The comraderie between the main character, Kane, and his friends.. is reminiscent of the greatest coming of age stories of literature and film — The Goonies, The Outsiders, Stand By Me.. you name it. They fight, they lash out, run or push each other away, yet when all is said and done, they continue to show up for one another. Much of the time is devoted to Kane trying to regain his memory, lost during a horrific accident that leaves him brutally scarred at some point before the opening of the story, as he tries to understand what happened and who he can trust. And this too is fascinating. The mystery is woven almost delicately throughout the daily goings-on of the characters. At times, it almost feels secondary to the sheer experience, but it is not.
Of course, there are pairings within the group, but really only one romance throughout the pages. And it’s beautiful. It’s tender.. fragile at times.. then warming.. and swelling like a symphony at others. Even more that the resolution of the reveries, this is what I found myself cheering for.. hoping for, invested in. This glimmer of connection that appears, constantly threatening to wink out.
Numerous times I found myself worriedly leaning into the pages or caught off guard when I’d allowed myself to relax, only for some potentially disastrous incident to occur. Sometimes my worst fears seemed to be realized and others, I didn’t know enough to worry about the right things.
I didn’t want to put this book down once I started it.. and though I was delayed by other deadlines, I was constantly desperate to return to ‘Reverie’ and see where everything was going to end up. Ryan is a truly gifted writer and I expect great things are ahead yet for him.
After listening to the book for a few minutes I already knew this was a book I’d want to reread physically and after finishing I still stood by that. Reverie is such a magical story, with a really unique plot. It was super YA, but it wasn’t cheesy or cliche and I loved that so much. The characters were super fun and I loved the POV character a lot.
Regardless of how much I enjoyed it and all the good points I mentioned, it fell a little short here and there, making a four star rating feel a little more reasonable than five.
Once I have put a little bit of a dent into my owned-tbr, I’ll be getting myself a paperback of this book and enjoy it all over again. And I am also super excited to read Ryan La Sala’s sophomore book, Be Dazzled, because I just love how he writes.
5 likes
I finished this book and then just sat for a long time… thinking about what I had just read. It’s hard for me to figure out how to “rate” it because it was so many different things that are hard to explain without getting into spoilers. I decided to go with a solid 3.5 rounding up to 4 because the cover snd blurb are so great they deserve half a star all on their own. As for the story itself, it’s twisted and I don’t just mean in an oh there’s a twist ending sort of way. Everything about this book twists what you think you know, even the things it’s just told you, flips it on its head and gives you something wholly unexpected. I almost quit reading around chapter 4 or 5 because I was confused about everything going on but I pushed through and I’m glad I did. I feel like this is one of those books I’ll have to read again to really decide if I love or hate it haha.
Reverie is fun, imaginative, exciting, and fresh.
Is it perfect? What is. It is however, perfectly itself.
You can feel Ryan’s enthusiasm and passion in every chapter, sense it in every characters exchange. There is plenty to love about this book. It is original, enjoyable, and unabashedly queer. Now more than ever, we need new story tellers. Story tellers who can lead the changing world on adventures that they can see themselves in, and awaken an element that so many people have been denied for too long. Own voices can never be too loud, and this book screams its arrival like… well, like a egomaniacal drag queen set on world domination. Somewhere between ‘Flatliners’,’Inception’, and ‘Dragula’, Reverie is a special debut that shows that Ryan is an author to be excited about. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Highly recommend Ryan LaSala’s weird and wonderful world. You’ll have to read it twice to get all the nuances, and it’s fiendishly twisty, and therefore unputdownable.
This was a snoozefest and that’s putting it mildly. If you weren’t already able to tell by the rating, “Reverie” was a huge disappointment for me, which nearly breaks my heart because from the get-go (the cover, blurb and everything in between) left me enthusiastic to dive into this read and within a span of a few chapters, it almost pained me to say that this wasn’t what I had expected. The plot was too confusing and overwhelming, the author’s writing style that was featured was too dry, mediocre and lame for such a large concept in which failed to meet all expectations and didn’t have that wow factor to win me over.
I will give kudos to the author for the originality, queer inspired tale that pulled me to this read at the beginning. Sadly it just didn’t do much for me and it’s better for me to drop this now before I get too deep. Let’s just hope the next one is a keeper.
I really enjoyed this book. I was pulled into the magical world that the author creates and I really enjoyed getting to know all of the characters.
It kept me entertained from beginning to end and I will definitely read more from this author.
This was a darkly cool tale about the importance of dreams – and the way they can take over our lives. The writing was evocative, the plot well-paced, and the drama was just the right amount of overblown to keep pace with the magnificently horrifying world(s) on display. There are drag queens on a mission, teenagers with super (scary) powers, and more worlds-within-the-world than one book should be able to safely hold. There are secrets and lies and secret lies. And there is an overarching tale about growing up and getting out of our own way long enough to realize who we are and who we want to be.
It is, in a word, fantastic.
***
“Just because something is imagined doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. Sometimes the things we believe in are the most dangerous things about us. That’s why people build entire worlds in their minds. Because they think they’re safe, but they’re wrong. Dreams are like parasites. They grow up in the dark within us, and they grow deadly.”
***
In this truly imaginative tale, La Sala crafts a world that is manipulative AND manipulated in equal parts. There is magic here, and much of it lies in the characters and their quirks, foibles, and hidden depths. The story includes some heartache-inducing realizations about identity, self-awareness, and self-actualization. They are well-presented in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or Hallmark-movie-of-the-week, but instead ring with a clarity that I found quite resonant. As with so much YA fiction, there’s a lot of truth feathered into the dramatic story arcs in such a way that they further the story while simultaneously providing guidance and direction. It’s a tough dance but La Sala does a masterful job with it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one and will definitely be on the lookout for more from this creative and clever author!
My review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. The title will be released on January 7, 2020.
3.5*
When I say authors are my rockstars, I really mean it-especially when it comes to books like this. I’m in awe of someone who can create a world like the one found inside the pages of Reverie. While at times I found it a bit slow going, and even a little confusing at first, I ended up really enjoying it. Reverie is imaginative, unique, and quite compelling. It’s mysterious, with such incredible world building. I could definitely see the story being brought to life on the big screen.
I really liked Kane’s character, but he was a bit of a contradiction. Although losing your memory would probably do that to a person. He had to learn who he was, how he thought, what he knew, all over again. And we got to learn right along with him. He fumbled along for awhile, unsure of what was expected of him- is it wrong to say I found his struggles endearing? Kane has a lot to live up to and I enjoyed being there as he rediscovered who he was.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the villain in this story- probably one of the most unique and entertaining ones you’ll ever come across! They’re one of those characters you love to hate and hate to love.
I’m having a hard enough time trying to put my feelings down, that I’m not even going to try to go into detail about the story itself- because honestly, how can you really explain something like this? You just need to experience it. And this book is definitely an experience.
Considering this is Mr. La Sala’s debut novel, color me impressed! I look forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future.
In a world where anything is possible, Kane wakes up with no memory of certain people and events in his life. What’s more, he lands himself in a reverie, a daydream made possible by magic. He and his friends, the Others, work together to keep the reverie as calm as possible before unraveling it. But there are people that are interfering that don’t have Kane’s best interest at heart. Who can he trust when he can’t remember anything about what he used to do and it seems that everyone has lied to him?
So I know advanced reader’s copies usually go through a final round of editing before publication, but this one had more than the usual amount of errors in an ARC. Also, some of the sentences were just poorly written. “It smelled like her smell…”. Also, we’re told that the reveries tend to be mild, and then they are anything but. I liked that La Sala was inclusive in the characters, but I felt Sophia’s interest in females felt forced next to her brother.
There was a big cast of characters who all had very unique talents in working with the reveries, though outside of Kane, I don’t think we got to know too much about them outside of the reveries. Kane himself was a very angry person, which I can understand because of him having no memory, but I don’t think that’s a justification for how he treats people and expects what he does. The reveries themselves were colorful and highly imaginative.
This has a bit of a slow start, but once the book started to pick up, there was always something going on to hold your interest. I think with some editing this book could be turned from an okay book to something really great.