Hmmmm... this is a difficult book to review. On the one hand: the writing was good, the MC was snarky (almost always a plus), there were multiple worlds visited (another surefire point in its favor), the secondary and tertiary characters were engaging and fun and the world(s) building was solid.

On the other hand: the answers sought after in the different worlds (like who was the Dream Master in each world) were easy to suss out. The antagonist was not only wimpy but obtuse to boot. I loved the different incarnations of Lisa/Ilsa... The main questions (why all of this was happening to our protagonist and who exactly was Eddie Raven?) still remain unanswered leaving wiggle room for book #2. Even though we got to visit, and lucid dream through multiple worlds, the pacing felt a bit sluggish at times.

Overall:

I enjoyed this light romp through multiple dream worlds a lot more than I thought I would after reading the first couple of chapters... so if you are floundering a bit, hang on, it gets better.

~ Enjoy

*** I was given a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *** ( )

This was an odd little book. I decided to give this one a try largely because of the cover and the fact that it is the start of a new series. I don't think that I even read the book's summary before diving in since I like to go into most books that I read as possible. Having never read anything by this author before, I didn't have a lot of expectations. This was a quick read for me but one that left me scratching my head at times.

This was a pretty weird story. I like weird so that wasn't a bad thing but it did leave me wondering what was going on more than a few times. Now that I have finished the book, I am still a little confused about the point of some of the stranger elements of the story. Even when the book is at its oddest, I found it to be very readable and was quite curious to see how things would end up.

This book was really imaginative. If you like retellings, this book drops into several very well known stories. These stories aren't quite the way most readers remember though. There's a stop at a bar in Casablanca, a trip to Oz, and some time in Camelot. I was more familiar with some of these than others but had some fun with each one.

The book did start out feeling pretty normal in Manhattan, with Eddie out shopping with his girlfriend, Lisa. I really wish that we had a bit more time with Eddie before he is sent off to different worlds. I liked his character and his sense of humor but I found myself really wanting to get back to the original story.

I am not sure if I will be continuing with this series or not. I am glad that I read this book but I don't know that I am all that eager to jump around through various world with Eddie again. Although I might if I am in the mood for some well-written weirdness.

I received a review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group. ( )