Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free advance copy of this book.

Nalah lives in Mega City, in a world ruled by competing crews of girls and where men are second class citizens. As Chief Rocka of the Las Mal Criadas crew, when she ventures outside the city on a quest for Mega’s ruling queen, she begins to discover that all is not the girl power utopia it seems to be.

DEALING IN DREAMS has one of the coolest gender reversals I’ve seen in awhile. Literal girl gangs rule the streets while men exist only for entertainment in this world. And then, just as I’m thinking to myself “seems like gender and sexuality are still just as rigid in this world” we are taken outside a Mega City and outside the grip ruler Déesse has on her citizens.

I really enjoyed the world of this novel, which felt somewhere between THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR and READY PLAYER ONE. I also loved the central role the bonds of the crew members played. Romantic relationships are just on the edges in this novel - commitment to your crew is paramount (though the problems that can bring are also exposed).

I did feel like it took Nalah a long time to catch on to the idea that Déesse was not a benevolent ruler. You could see every plot development coming a mile away (maybe not unsurprising for a YA novel) but it was also interesting to watch Nalah’s internal conflict as the world she knew, loved, and profited from crumbled.

Despite me saying that, I’m eager for the sequel - there are a lot of plot threads teased at the end, and I’m here for any story that’s about how love and empathy are stronger than hate.