The Realm: Mirage by Andrea Myon

 The Realm: Mirage by Andrea Myon | Book Review

A Mesmerizing Dance Between Dreams and Reality

"The Realm Mirage" is a spellbinding tapestry of historical fiction and fantasy. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the 17th century, it follows Annie Glover, a London maid, and Garreth Primm, a man entrenched in the New World.

Their lives intersect not in waking hours but within a vividly conjured dream realm. Here, they flee witchcraft charges aboard a ship to Ireland, navigating tempests of danger, desire, and betrayal—only to awaken to separate, lonely realities. Lonely realities that threaten to pull them further apart. Yet, the connection forged in their dreamscape lingers, compelling them to seek a way to bridge the chasm of their waking lives and reunite in a world where magic and fate intertwine.

The narrative oscillates deftly between two layers. One was the lovers’ shared dreamscape, brimming with swashbuckling peril, and the other was a pansexual captain’s seductive machinations and their grounded, gritty existences.

I was hooked on their dream; their quest to reunite with Annie’s family in Ireland was a bit complicated by Rob Boyle, a figure who injects jealousy into their fragile bond. Yet these adventures were mere illusions. The reality finds Annie scrubbing floors and Garreth scheming as a merchant’s valet to bridge the Atlantic divide. The tension lies in whether their dream-bound resolve can transcend the boundaries of sleep or if the Realm itself will exile them before they meet.

The novel’s greatest triumph is its exploration of love as both a haunting and a salvation. Annie's and Garreth’s chemistry crackles equally in dream and memory, their yearning lending emotional weight to the high-stakes fantasy. The 17th-century setting is richly rendered, from the creak of ship timbers to the claustrophobic superstitions of colonial Boston, grounding the ethereal premise in historical grit.

The author has well penned the characters, and their characterisation is vividly depicted. Standout characters include the pansexual captain, whose morally ambiguous allure adds complexity, and Rob Boyle, whose role as a disruptor forces the protagonists to confront insecurities mirroring their real-world isolation.

The author has blended the themes of identity, self-doubt, and the power of subconscious desire, which resonate deeply. Garreth’s determination to chase a dream (literally) speaks to universal anxieties about love’s feasibility across distance and time. The blurring of reality and illusion prompts reflection on how our inner lives shape our understanding of truth.

While the dual narratives are ambitious, some readers may find the transitions jarring, particularly as the dream sequences escalate into action-packed set pieces starkly contrasting with the protagonists’ quieter, mundane struggles. Additionally, the historical witchcraft elements, though atmospheric, feel underexplored compared to the central romance.

Overall, "The Realm Mirage" is a daring, lyrical ode to love’s tenacity, perfect for readers who crave historical fiction with a metaphysical twist. I feel it would be best for the fans of "The Night Circus’s enchantment" or "Outlander's" time-spanning romance, though the novel carves its own niche with a focus on dreams as both prison and bridge. While not without pacing stumbles, it lingers like a half-remembered dream—achingly beautiful and impossible to shake.

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