Tag Archives: heroes and villains

BOOK REVIEW (SPOILERS) – Reverie by Ryan La Sala

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(spoilers!) 

I lost my sense of direction when I read this book. 

3/5 stars from me!

Reading Reverie by Ryan La Sala changed my life — in lovely, strange ways. Reverie, a story about superheroes, amnesia, and a DRAG QUEEN FOR AN ANTAGONIST, wasn’t the worst book I’ve read. 

The story follows Kane Montgomery, an out-and-proud gay teenager who recently lost all his memories. Throughout the story (spoilers), he finds out that he was a superhero… who can shoot rainbows out his hands. I mean, I love the representation, but I guess it feels forced. 

Additionally, there were other things that felt off that are included in this lovely, little list:

  1. The writing style wasn’t great. Many lines from the book were outright cringey, not funny, or just placed really strangely. Hard read.
  2. There was a lack of development both in the plot and characters. The start was long and unnecessarily overdeveloped… the end was bland and just strange (La Sala mentioned someone falling in love… and never brought it back up)… etc. 
  3. The novel felt so very close to an inclusive twist on a children’s superhero show. 
  4. I understand Kane, the main character’s confusion! But let’s not make the reader confused, alright?
  5. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger… and no resolutions.

There were positives from this read, however! Few. 

  1. I have to give props to La Sala for coming up with a wonderfully complicated magic system!! But actually, I really enjoyed the concept of Reveries and dreams, but I feel like it was poorly executed. With a new, broad world of magic, execution is key. The novel lacks development with worldbuilding.
  2. Inclusivity! I enjoyed knowing that Kane was gay every few pages. Overall, Kane is a lovely, somewhat 3D character, but the author was trying so desperately hard to show off this book. Overstating that a character is gay feels like you’re just fishing for money and/or fame. 
  3. The cover and the villain are the best parts of this entire story.

Again, 3/5 stars. The idea is cute, yes. The execution was horrendous, yes. 

Reading this book was like mindlessly wandering through a labyrinth. There was no escape with Reverie.

Reverie by Ryan La Sala is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

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Fresh out of futuristically twisted fairy tales embedded with machinery and metals and lights surges a new novel series by bestselling author Marissa Meyer. The debut novel in the series, Renegades, diverges from Meyer’s earlier works like the Lunar Chronicles and Heartless in nature – instead of exploring the illustrious what-ifs of princesses and queens, it encompasses the adventures of superheroes.

Bear with me here – this isn’t your average comic book. Meyer takes a turn from the conventional and places her two protagonists on opposite sides of the good/evil spectrum. Nova, bitter and brimming with vengeance, marks herself as a villain. Adrian, the spawn of righteousness and leader of a pack of do-gooders, is a hero to his core. It is this tension and star-crossed drama that creates an air of edge-on-your-seat, an aura of suspense.

It’s a fun concept to play around with, the syzygy of right and wrong coupled with the punch and action of prodigies and superheroes. There’s a clandestine nature of Nova’s job as a spy that makes it secretive, and a lightness of Adrian’s good that brings sunshine to the novel. Add the fact that every character you meet is eccentric and unique, and you surely have the recipe for a good novel.

Execution, however, is another story. Meyer’s writing lacks a flow and poetry that I love to read, perhaps due to the fight-and-flight air of the storyline, and some of the characters land on the verge of strange. Yet, altogether, Renegades is a fun little read – it doesn’t have too much substance and is full of cute little cliches – and so if you’re looking for a good way to fill in gaps of free time, this is your perfect book.

-Esther H.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.