Meghan's Reviews > Reverie

Reverie by Ryan La Sala
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really liked it
bookshelves: lgtbqia, fantasy, arcs, netgalley, published-2019, read-2019

Why do you fight for a world that does not fight for you? Why do you fight to save a reality that fails so many, so often?


Reverie

I spent a good portion of 2019 trying to actively read more own voices and more queer books, especially books with queer male leads that are actually written by men. I follow Ryan La Sala on Twitter and adore him, and am thankful to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rants, Raves, and Reviews
I liked this book, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted. And I am wondering if the book had been described as “hey you remember how annoyed you were that it wasn’t okay in Persona to romance someone of the same sex, but it is okay to romance adults as a teenager? This book is Persona but gay” if I would have been able to wrap my head around it more?

Our main character is Kane, who I overall liked. His sense of isolation, not knowing who to trust…all of this I am all about. But all these characters get introduced (Ursula, Adeline, Dean, and Elliot) and none of them ever come across as trustworthy? I mean I get that we aren’t supposed to really trust anyone, and that Kane is an unreliable narrator. But really, overall the book just….feels like an overly complex book with shallow characters? Like the magic system is just overly complex, but the characters just don’t seem to develop much. I almost would have loved it if we had seen more than Kane’s point of view? And it may have helped with explaining the Reveries a little better. I mean, the definition of a Reverie is essentially a daydream, so it shouldn’t be that overly complicated. And because the reveries were complicated, the plot just got even more confusing. There is something about magic systems in YA books that I am just not jiving with anymore.

Final Moments
If you’re looking for a more in-your-face queer book with magic, give this book a shot. And by in-your-face, I mean the main character’s super powers are literally rainbows shooting out of his hands? It wasn’t quite for me obviously, but I am excited to see where La Sala is going in the future.
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Reading Progress

June 3, 2019 – Shelved
June 3, 2019 – Shelved as: long-term-to-read
June 3, 2019 – Shelved as: lgtbqia
June 3, 2019 – Shelved as: fantasy
June 7, 2019 – Shelved as: to-read
June 7, 2019 – Shelved as: arcs
June 7, 2019 – Shelved as: netgalley
September 19, 2019 – Shelved as: published-2019
November 5, 2019 – Started Reading
November 18, 2019 –
page 38
9.57%
November 19, 2019 –
page 76
19.14%
November 20, 2019 –
page 133
33.5% "I have no idea what's going on in this book and I think I like it?"
November 20, 2019 –
page 171
43.07%
November 21, 2019 –
page 208
52.39%
November 21, 2019 –
page 271
68.26%
November 22, 2019 –
page 308
77.58%
November 22, 2019 –
page 333
83.88%
November 23, 2019 – Shelved as: read-2019
November 23, 2019 – Finished Reading

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