This dream will devour us by Emma Clancey

I would recommend this book to most YA readers who are around 15-17 years old and enjoy reading urban fantasy or romance.

Imagine a world where everything you could ever want is only one small pill away.

Unfortunately for her, Nora Blakely doesn’t live in that world.

One simple mouthful of Levic - an extremely expensive magical drug – could save lives.  The problem? The famous Lamours, the richest and most powerful family own all the worlds Levic, and they won’t give it up easily. Clearly, Nora’s luck is running low. Then she mysteriously wins the biggest lottery prize of the year, a free passage into the heart of the Lamour’s most famous gala. She will do anything to convince them to save her sick brother and give her a recommendation to the world’s most prestigious Dream Engineer academy. She’s suddenly the luckiest girl in the world – especially considering she never even bought a lottery ticket.

But everything is not as it seems. In her time with the Lamour family Nora uncovers secrets, enters an unsolved love triangle, and begins dredging up the past to find answers.

This Dream Will Devour Us by Emma Clancey is not one of best books in the world – but also certainly not the worst. The beginning was intriguing and interesting, but the story began to diminish from then. The characters fell flat after the first 100 pages, and the romantic subplot, though some readers will enjoy this aspect, felt like a distraction from the previously introduced themes. The plot itself is very similar to other YA novels, and the author’s voice, though very well written, lacks uniqueness. The plot shows similarities to the well-known book The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, so any reader who has enjoyed The Inheritance Games may find This Dream Will Devour Us to their taste. The book focuses on themes of economic power and inequality, with some LGBTQ+ themes included as well. The book resolves each theme near the ending; however, it doesn’t expand on these ideas. Overall, the book could be a fun read and has great potential but is underdeveloped in some parts.

Themes: Urban fantasy, Romance, Economic power, Inequality, LGBTQ+

Antigone Stanley (Student)