Inception meets The Magicians in this wildly imaginative story about what happens when the secret worlds people hide within themselves come to light.
All Kane Montgomery knows for certain is that the police found him half-dead in the river. He can't remember anything since an accident robbed him of his memories a few weeks ago. And the world feels different—reality itself seems different.
So when three of his classmates claim to be his friends and the only people who can tell him what's truly going on, he doesn't know what to believe or who he can trust. 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 only he can stop their world from unraveling.
I came across this one on my library's ebook app, Libby/Overdrive. It was part of their Big Library Read event, which picks one book every few months and makes it universally available to as many people who want to check it out. They then hold discussions and author chats, basically bringing everyone together for one big book club. And since November's selection was a stand-alone YA fantasy novel with a drop-dead GORGEOUS cover, I figured I had to pick it up. And I'm glad I did...even if it did set my brain on fire for a bit.
First, I want to start off with some good stuff. Reveries were amazing. Imagine if your dreams were suddenly made real—awesome and terrifying, right? Well, that's what's happening periodically all over this small Connecticut town: people's dreams are becoming real and sweeping up everybody nearby as unknowing participants. But Kane and some other kids he knows are not only able to stay lucid during these dreams-made-real, but they're able to help them resolve, unravel whatever magic started them, and restore normalcy afterwards. I'll admit, the whole 'science' of the reveries was never made super clear, but the ideas behind them were fantastic.
Kane was a believable protagonist, even with all his memory issues. I never felt like he was acting stupid or petulant just to move the story forward. All of his actions seemed genuine and usually done out of concern for his or another's well-being. I would have liked to have seen more of his relationships developed, especially those with his friends. We got a lot out of a little with the shorthand between him and his sister—just that joke of, "Just gay enough to work!" was enough to convey so much—such that I wish more could have slipped through the amnesia barrier.
I will admit, I wasn't a huge fan of the amnesia storyline. The story focuses on Kane figuring out what's going on, who's on his side, what happened to his memories, who he can trust, etc. and I felt like it never got a proper resolution. There's no aha moment, or regaining his memories—rather, he's told what he needs to know about what's happening right that second, and the story moves forward. Meanwhile, I wanted to know about the initial adventure of The Others first discovering reveries, their powers, their teamwork, instead of the breadcrumbs of information we wound up with. Heck, they talk about having gone through 3 separate werewolf reveries before—I want to see those!!! But really, in terms of characterization, we got a lot more told to us instead of shown because we had to progress the current plot and it wouldn't make sense to have the non-amnesiac characters redo their character growth for Kane's sake.
Maybe it would have worked better for me if the book had dropped the whole mystery about who Kane could trust in exchange for a longer book where Part One detailed the backstory of the group. Kane first discovering reveries, recruiting The Others, forming friendships, approaching the amnesia-causing event...then flash to Part Two, which would be where this book starts. Whether you'd include the dreadmare in Part One or not I don't know, though if not I feel like there'd have to be some recollection on Kane's part in Part Two, a triggering of lost memories, since I felt like the explanation we got was lacking.
I realize there is a danger of frustrating readers with characters retreading ground they've already covered, but I feel like if you're going to treat Before-Kane and After-Kane as two separate people, as this story did, then at least give us the chance to know what/who we've lost the same way the other characters have. As it stands, we're given a shell of a story that others have to explain to us instead of getting to experience it firsthand, along with a mystery that only serves to tug the reader along a path we never get to see the details of. I want to know these characters more intimately, and not just their sexuality.
Interestingly enough, the synopsis/back cover blurb from GoodReads doesn't include the same text found in the e-book synopsis from the title page, which outs Kane as a gay teenager. It's not like it's a secret or anything, it's brought up in the first chapter or two, and apparently everyone in town knows already. But you'd think that with this book being lauded as some revolutionary LGBT+ fantasy novel that that would be mentioned in the synopsis? Or maybe they wanted to sneak it past bigots who might unknowingly buy it for their kids? I don't know whether to praise their cunning or shame their closeted-ness.
And that's kinda how I am with a lot of the book. On the one hand, I want to praise the fact that main characters present as each of the initial letters of the LGBT+ moniker, but I'm also a bit bothered by the representation of the trans character. As a cis woman, I know I can't speak as an offended party, and just because I have a trans sibling doesn't mean I can act like an authority or expert on the situation. Still, these concerns have stuck with me for a few days now, so I feel like I need to at least put them out there to start/join the discussion of trans representation in this story. There will be some spoilers ahead since the character in question is a bit of a mystery for over half of the book, so read ahead at your own risk.
Poesy is introduced early on as both mysterious and fantastical. When Kane is brought to the police station for a psych evaluation, he is immediately struck by Poesy:
[Poesy] wore a fitted suit sashed at the waist and sleek pants trimmed in satin, all of their outfit rendered in a rich, golden fabric that revealed an elusive pattern beneath the lamplight. Even their skin glowed with a gold luster, shifting as they sat. Kane sat, too, a bit dazzled by the person's faultless face, which would not allow him to answer the question as to whether this person was a man, a woman, both, or neither.During the rest of their interaction, Kane is struck by the similarities Poesy seems to have with him. He feels lucky to have found someone seemingly as queer as himself in such a small town, someone he thinks he can confide in, find support from in this odd situation. Poesy seems intelligent, conspiratorial, friendly, but somewhat threatening, too. Whether this is intentional on Poesy's part or some sort of gut instinct from Kane is up to interpretation, though I see it as Poesy being playful and somewhat overconfident. Regardless, Kane and Poesy part ways with the agreement to meet up again after keeping a journal.
They slipped a pad of paper from their bag and peered at Kane through curled lashes.
“What, you’ve never seen a man in mascara?” he said, answering the question on Kane’s face.
“I’m sorry.” Kane’s cheeks burned. How often had this man caught people staring? How many times had he been asked that question? How many more times had he answered it without being asked, just for the sake of people uncomfortable with ambiguity, who ignored what this person had to say while instead wondering viciously at his identity? [5% Kindle Edition]
After some reverie shenanigans go down, Kane meets with Poesy again, this time in a private place. And this time, in what we are to assume is their 'true form', Poesy is dressed as a drag queen. For the rest of the book Poesy is referred to as she/her, despite Poesy not actually stating this pronoun preference, and is referred to more than once as a "drag queen sorceress". This assignment of gender isn't completely out of the blue, since Poesy did share a great quip about witches during their first meeting:
“Witches interest me,” Dr. Poesy said. “If you look at most female archetypes—the mother, the virgin, the whore—their power comes from their relation to men. But not the Witch. The Witch derives her power from nature. She calls forth her dreams with spells and incantations. With poetry. And I think that’s why we are frightened of them. What’s scarier to the world of men than a woman limited only by her imagination?” [6% Kindle Edition]So referring to Poesy as female based on their apparent preference of appearance and their seeming to distance themself from 'the world of men' earlier isn't completely unjustified. I just wish I could remember Poesy actively adopting their own pronouns instead of having them assigned by others. (As I don't have access to the copy I got from the library, I can't check my memory. If I'm wrong, please correct me.)
Since the novel has changed Poesy from male to female within its own narrative, it is safe to assume Poesy is meant to be a trans representative. And that in and of itself is great, inclusion is great. We (and Kane) later learn that Poesy is also involved with reveries, but instead of working through them and unraveling them like Kane and crew, Poesy steals the reveries and plans to use them to make her own new reality. Again, this isn't automatically troubling. After all, Kane himself bemoans his lot in life at the beginning of the story, stating how horrible it is to be the one out gay kid in an unforgiving society that constantly looks down on you. So it seems only natural that a trans character might want to set forth a new reality to make things better, make things right.
But Poesy never gets a chance for sympathy. Her methods of stealing the reverie's energy involves not only stealing the dreams (which would leave the host as a husk) but the hosts themselves, transmogrifying the whole into a charm-bracelet trinket. She keeps her dreadmare employed under duress. She goes after Kane's sister without a second thought. Poesy is evil, no ifs, ands, or buts, and that's what I have a problem with. For all Kane sees of himself in Poesy, there's no room for any sympathy once we learn her master plan. In fact, we don't even learn of her plans from her, but rather from others. She's never given a chance to explain herself, her goals, her justifications, her dreams—no, she's just a selfish, power-hungry witch who doesn't care about the consequences. And, oh yeah, don't forget she's a drag queen (which is mentioned twice in the final chapters)! I just wish Poesy had been given more nuance in the text, rather than me having to assume her motivations after the fact because she wasn't given the voice to do it herself.
Okay, so those were a lot of negatives... I did enjoy this book as I read it, I swear, but it left a lot in my mind afterwards that kept churning the more I thought about it. In that respect, it's great to have a story that starts a discussion. Inclusion really is important to have outside of stories where they're set as the downtrodden. Having LGBT+ voices in fantasy isn't something I'm familiar with, and I'm excited to experience more of them. The romance Kane experiences in this really did tug at my heartstrings, as well as the romances that develop with the other characters. I just wish more voice had been given to all of the LGBT+ characters, especially those reprising a role they'd long been stereotyped.
Overall, Reverie was an imaginative debut featuring a diverse roster, but was not without its faults. I think my general complaint centered around not having quite as much as I wanted, which in and of itself is good—there wasn't anything included which made me rage, rather it was what seemed omitted. If this is ever adapted into a visual medium (I had an anime running through my head), perhaps more can be done with it there, though I won't hold my breath. I'd still recommend it for any readers who enjoy YA, fantasy, existential quandaries, and a hint of romance at the end. Seeing the author's next book set for next month, I'm excited to see what "Project Runway goes to Comic Con" will offer us, so you can bet I'll be back with La Sala soon. And if anyone has any thoughts on the LGBT+ issues I raised, please comment and let me know.
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