I recently had the opportunity to read Ryan La Sala’s Reverie. I have to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an advanced reader copy.
This book has a strong beginning. Kane is trying to piece his life back together after he was found, nearly drowned, near a river. In addition, he may be in trouble with the police. What can be more exciting than that?
As Kane is trying to put his life back together, he discovers that there were people he was close to prior to his memory loss. Or at least, that’s what they tell him. He’s having difficulty figuring out who to trust and he’s a big ball of confusion. So far, so good.
Unfortunately, for me, this book then tries to do too much. Kane finds himself in a “reverie”, which is like a dream that’s been turned into reality. Everybody around the dreamer gets sucked into these reveries. Most people don’t realize what’s going on, but Kane (and a few other people) are lucid during these reveries, and have to make sure that they go smoothly. If they don’t, people can get hurt in real life (I think).
The book is very imaginative. It is pretty cool, seeing what sort of dreams people come up with, and how Kane and his friends move them along. However, these reveries start coming while Kane is still trying to figure out what happened, has the police breathing down his neck, and… for me it was a little overwhelming.
The characters in Reverie were well done. Kane isn’t always the nicest guy in the world, but he’s a consistent character. His sister, Sophia, seems like the nosy (realistic) little sister type. Plus there are friends and a main antagonist. One of the characters, Poesy, is quite the interesting addition to the small town where this book takes place.
There were a few loose ends in this book for me. What happened with the police? It didn’t really explain how they stopped pursuing his case. Also, the characters at the end of the book seem to still be in some danger, and I was still a little worried about them.
While this wasn’t the book for me, I do think there will be a lot of people that will like it. It was imaginative and different. Being La Sala’s debut, I think as an author he has a lot of potential. Reverie doesn’t come out until December 3rd, but you can pre-order it now.