Review: Reverie by Ryan La Sala

I have a LOT of feeling about this book. But I want to start with the fact that, as in almost all reviews, this is an account of my enjoyment of this book, and with this book especially, I think there are many things that I didn't like that you might love! It is very relevant to consider that I am 26, and this is YA; I very much think adults can read and enjoy YA (I often do!), but I think at times, some critique of YA comes from being outside the target audience. I don't think the book was juvenile; I just think I might have liked it more when I was newer to this kind of fantasy.

Reverie follows Kane, a gay teen whose memories of the last two weeks (and possibly more) have just completely disappeared from his head after he crashes a car into an old building. He was found covered in burns in a nearby river and shortly after fell into a coma. We enter the story with Kane trying desperately to figure out what happened to him while he was gone with the threat of potential jail time looming. Kane must figure out his past to grapple with the uncertainty all aspects of his life are currently caught in.

What I really truly loved about this book was the beginning 20-25%. It was enthralling, mysterious, and raw in a way I really loved. The mystery immediately captured me; I loved Kane's exploration as a character and how his family relationships were being explored. I was completely invested in how the world was clearly fantastic (in the literal sense), and Kane knew he should know more than he does. I was 100% sure this was going to be a new favorite book.

You can see my rating, you know it wasn't a new favorite, but I don't think the book was bad! (I also very much think that one person's opinion of a book cannot be used to declare a book bad, but I mean that I didn't dislike the book, I just didn't love it either.) There were just many elements of this book that very much did not work for me, as the story continued to unfold. This very much might not be your experience! Don't let me stop you from reading it if you want to do so!

I think my biggest issue with Reverie is tied to what made me love the book's beginning so much. Having Kane not remember any of his previous life gave the beginning of the book wonderful tension, the mystery of putting what happened and his life back together was wonderful. Unfortunately, once we realized that old friends were to be trusted, I just kind of wasn’t as into the plot any longer. The relationships these characters had with Kane just wasn’t developed enough for me to care. And the tension between who Kane is now and who he was before didn’t work for me, mostly because the descriptions of the two seemed eons apart at times. The character development of this book just overall did not work for me. I think this could have been mitigated by either a smaller cast or having this book be a series, but that is obvious just conjecture on my part. And that is just what I think I would have liked it, not necessarily something that would make it objectively better.

I didn’t feel connected to the emotional core of the story, the saving of a sister plot (especially when the first reverie we are introduced to called out how reductive and sexist that hero fantasy was, they were different scenarios, but it just seems a different flavor of the same virgin archetype. And when this is paired with the sister's fantasy involving her overthrowing a sexist world that she feels trapped by, I was just not into it. The book encouraging you to be aware of tropes and archetypes, and critiquing them in the narrative encourages you to look very critically at what you are reading, which is excellent, except that the conclusions I came to with this character were not what the book seemed to want me to conclude. Also, somehow I was less invested in this character as the book progressed. She went from central to peripheral, then was an obstacle, then was a damsel. It just didn’t work for me.

Other aspects of the middle and end of the book that didn't work for me included that I found the book very confusing at times. This could be down to falling interest in the plot while I was listening to an audiobook. Still, I did relisten to about ten chapters just to ensure that I was completely paying attention because I had become confused. I think the set up of reveries (other peoples dream worlds coming lethally to life) was fascinating, but the world outside of the reveries needed more to keep me invested; it was a very cool premise that just needed something else for me.

I thought the twist in the romance was interesting, but I wanted to see that relationship more on the page. Kane's love interest is so rarely interacted with I forgot his name multiple times throughout the book. The main point in most of my critiques is that I wanted more time given to something, and that holds true here.

I genuinely think I would have enjoyed this story way more if it had been a douology. I needed more setup, more time spent in the world, and more character development. I think the container for this story was too small for how much it was trying to accomplish.

There were also some tropes i don’t like. Specifically, I wanted La Sala to do more with the evil gay trope. He subverts the trope a little with the protagonist also being gay and having Kane see himself in out big bad. I liked Kane's exploration of being envious and interested in this character for their ability to be so openly queer, but it was not enough for me to get over my dislike of this trope. I am not saying it was poorly done, just that it is a thing I don't tend to like and that held true here.

I do really think the world was deeply interesting; it was so open and full of potential. There are tons of people who really loved this book, and I completely see why they did. I just became less interested as the book progressed. I found Kane to be a great protagonist; I liked that the book had a strong focus on friendship and family ties. I thought the book was funny!

I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I would recommend this book to people! I would recommend the book to people who really liked Caraval by Stephanie Garber, to people who love fantasy that deals a lot with memories, and to people who are seeking out YA with a largely queer cast.

I reviewed this book as an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.