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A review by bimblebop
Reverie by Ryan La Sala
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I think a lot of my opinions of this book can be amended by the fact that perhaps I am simply not the target audience.
It's a YA book, which I don't avoid by any means, but this one seemed a bit typical to me in its implementation sometimes. Or rather, maybe it didn't offer me anything special so I don't have particularly strong feelings about it, positive or negative? Which is interesting, because this is technically a book I should find myself relating to at least in some aspects.
Things I liked: The concept. I tend to like fantasy stories where the premise is encountering various worlds that are manifestations of human imagination (like the Persona video game series, for example), and always wondered how that could be from the perspective of someone who's not your average straight male. This aspect brought colour to this concept, because the LGBTQ+ community is inherently creative (whether it be for survival or otherwise) and the potential for it was sky-high. The ending also wrapped things up better than expected.
Things that could be better: The execution. I think the author was quite ambitious with the idea, but the swaths of teenage drama in-between (which I acknowledge is an essential part of YA) made it difficult to stay immersed for most of the story, because it didn't feel interwoven into the story as well as it could have been. Some of this is likely intentional, as the disconnect is supposed to be part of the protagonist's memory loss, but that went on for much longer than necessary. The story also didn't feel long enough to truly delve into the magnanimity of the concept that the author came up with, and in effect the description of the different reveries teetered more towards theatrical immersion than something more sensible. This also extended to the characters, because it felt like you're just short of feeling any real attachment to any of them.
Things that bothered me: The fate of specific characters.Frankly, I don't understand why Dean survived. I understand that a romance YA needs a happy ending, but tragedy for his fate just would have made more sense, and I rarely ever feel that way. His continued existence just doesn't make any sense and it wasn't explained properly either. We also barely get to know him despite being the main love interest, so there's really not much to go off of. The memory loss of Kane and Dean's time together is felt throughout the story all the way to the end. On the other hand, I feel a little unsure about Poesy's depiction as well. Truth be told, I'm still struggling to understand what the significance of Poesy being a drag queen was to her role in the story. Have I missed some kind of metaphor, is it a choice for diversity, or is it trying to send a malicious message about drag that I truly hope I'm just projecting unnecessarily? The lack of explanation made it seem almost like Kane was postured as a ""good"" gay, whilst Poesy was a ""bad"" one. I honestly think I might be reaching here, but that line in the epilogue about Poesy's 'sisters' potentially seeking revenge for her is just sitting oddly with me now, and there's not much else in the story about this to offer reprieve to these concerns.
Despite the length of my review, all in all it was an alright book. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was maybe ten years younger as my palate has shifted significantly.
It's a YA book, which I don't avoid by any means, but this one seemed a bit typical to me in its implementation sometimes. Or rather, maybe it didn't offer me anything special so I don't have particularly strong feelings about it, positive or negative? Which is interesting, because this is technically a book I should find myself relating to at least in some aspects.
Things I liked: The concept. I tend to like fantasy stories where the premise is encountering various worlds that are manifestations of human imagination (like the Persona video game series, for example), and always wondered how that could be from the perspective of someone who's not your average straight male. This aspect brought colour to this concept, because the LGBTQ+ community is inherently creative (whether it be for survival or otherwise) and the potential for it was sky-high. The ending also wrapped things up better than expected.
Things that could be better: The execution. I think the author was quite ambitious with the idea, but the swaths of teenage drama in-between (which I acknowledge is an essential part of YA) made it difficult to stay immersed for most of the story, because it didn't feel interwoven into the story as well as it could have been. Some of this is likely intentional, as the disconnect is supposed to be part of the protagonist's memory loss, but that went on for much longer than necessary. The story also didn't feel long enough to truly delve into the magnanimity of the concept that the author came up with, and in effect the description of the different reveries teetered more towards theatrical immersion than something more sensible. This also extended to the characters, because it felt like you're just short of feeling any real attachment to any of them.
Things that bothered me: The fate of specific characters.
Despite the length of my review, all in all it was an alright book. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I was maybe ten years younger as my palate has shifted significantly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism