L. R. W. Lee

Reading this book was an uphill climb - rocky and winding, with fleeting glimpses of beautiful vistas, and three quarters through I wanted to turn around and head home.

Sand Maiden Allisandra flees the Dream realm when her father, a King of Dreams, attacked her for defying his plans to take over the waking world. Injured and stripped of her immortality, Ali appears in Prince Kovis’ bedroom and suffers abuse for being thought a rebel spy. She is saved from torture by her mysterious bond with Kovis, but she has a long way to go before he’s convinced of her tale: of threats, and dreams, and every one of his memories she’s seen while watching over his sleep.

[Note from the official synopsis: “WARNING: This book will empower those who say #MeToo but contains mature content including sexual abuse. Recommended for 18 .”]

For fans of Elise Kova’s Air Awakens or Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses, it is easy to see where Lullaby draws inspiration. Examples include the magical affinities or the way Kovis and Ali communicate via their bond. In an interview, L.R.W. Lee describes how she pays tribute to Kova, Maas, and other inspirational authors in Prince Kovis’ full name: Kovis Rhys Aldrick Desmond Altairn (the interview gives Kovis two additional names which I didn’t catch in the book).

Knowing little about Sandman lore, I was intrigued by the mythological elements and how it was woven into a fantasy setting. Unfortunately, the inventive world-building suffered from contrived conflict, unempathetic characters, and a distracting narrative style. (Unrelated, there is an awesome picture book called Sandbear. Recommend for fans of bears and sand.)

But hey, if I didn’t like it, it’s my fault for keeping on reading. So let’s start with what I did like:
Wholesome Guards: Who doesn’t love a wholesome guard? The guards in Kovis’ personal contingent are diligent, upstanding warriors with a sense of humor and camaraderie only surpassed by their loyalty. The author does a great job bringing them to life with what little page time they’re given.
Good POV Ratio: Ali is the the main narrator, with Kovis’ chapters sprinkled in between. They were just rare enough that I found the switch refreshing.
Magical Innovation: I wish we heard more about the floating cities, they got one page of cool narrative and then nothing.
Training Scenes: Again, who doesn’t love a training montage? Ali’s scenes in the training ring featured the best imagery, conveying the feel and sense of various magics, as well as the thrill of rushing power with a side of casual dialogue.

Here's why this story didn't work for me:
Meh Style: I wouldn’t say the writing made the story worse, but it wasn’t doing it any favors. Word choice, anachronisms, an over-fondness for exclamation points - the fact that I struggled to take off my editorial hat was more telling than the notes themselves.
Contrived Conflict: Much of the character tensions felt introduced purely for the sake of conflict, ending eventually in dramatic over-simplified payoff or no resolution (presumably to be revisited in the sequel). For an example, see Chapter 35.
Unempathetic Characters: I couldn’t get behind Ali or Kovis, especially how they interacted with one another. Despite knowing Kovis’ dreams (and even crying over his memories), Ali continually pushed his emotional boundaries when he clearly indicated he wasn’t ready. For his part, Kovis tells Ali that he knows what’s best for her enough times that eventually she stops disagreeing and rolls with it.
Rebels or Romance: In the opening chapters, Ali was accused of working with a rebellion against the empire. However, the scant information received about these rebels made me question whether or not they were actually a driving narrative force or background decoration. Either would be fine, but it was difficult being led on either way. It reminded me of reading Kiera Cass’s The Selection, in that I wasn’t sure if the lurking threat would ever be more than flavor.

Did the Charlie Bowater cover influence my decision to read Lullaby? Yes.
Did I know Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star has more than one verse? No.
Do I remember how to play Brahms’ lullaby on the piano? Surprisingly yes.
Would I read a spinoff about the wholesome guards? 100%

**Thanks to BookSirens and the author for the free book!**
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