Reverie by Ryan La Sala

Reviewed by Sam!

What I drank prior: it’s the night before inauguration night and Ginny just found out she got an incredible internship offer and I don’t have to work tomorrow so I drank a bottle of wine.

Goodreads Overview:

Inception meets The Magicians in the most imaginative YA debut of the year!

All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can’t remember how he got there, what happened after, and why his life seems so different now. And it’s not just Kane who’s different, the world feels off, reality itself seems different.

As Kane pieces together clues, three almost-strangers claim to be his friends and the only people who can truly tell him what’s going on. 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 when a sinister force threatens to alter reality for good, they will have to do everything they can to stop it before it unravels everything they know.

This wildly imaginative debut explores what happens when the secret worlds that people hide within themselves come to light.

Drunk Overview: so this plot is weird. This kid named Kane wakes up from a coma. Apparently he was involved in an accident that blew up a historical site, the police don’t seem to think it was an accident. There’s this weird person (dresses in drag on occasion but uses all pronouns) who’s all “write down your dreams” and yeah. So he goes to school and he ends up in this weird dream becomes real life thing. Nothing is what it seems. There’s a squad.. sorta. And things go from there.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: this was fine. Super duper bland tbh.

Characters: the characters are there to serve the main character, Kane. This is a supes gay YA fantasy which I love. But what do you think you’re gonna get in a YA urban fantasy? A gay kid. A lesbian BFF. The grumpy guy who hates everyone. The sibling who gets in the way. And the love interest. That’s what you get. And that’s what I got.

Plot: honestly I’ve sort of already forgotten why the conflict mattered. At. All. Like I think the plot was about remembering but it’s really not important. The magic was intended to be important and it just was BLAH.

Writing Style: eh

World Building: I don’t get it. I was explained the magic twice. Mostly cause I listened to it on sleep timer first and then I went back and I still don’t really get it. But usually when I’m confused I crave more, now I just don’t.

What to pair it with: lemon hard seltzer. Tastes like nothing.

Rating: 2/5

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam