I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

All stories come to an end.

Effy learned that when she defeated the Fairy King. Even though she may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and is able to pen a thesis with Preston on the beloved national fairy tale Angharad. She has finally earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first woman in history to enroll.

But some dreams are dangerous, especially when they come true. The entire university—and soon the entire nation—is waiting for her to fail. With the Fairy King defeated and Myrddin’s legacy exposed, Effy can no longer escape into fantasy. Who is she without her stories?

With Effy under threat, Preston is surprised to discover a rage simmering inside him, ringing in his ears like bells. He begins to dream of a palace under the sea, a world where he is king—visions that start to follow him even in waking.

As the war between Llyr and Argant explodes, Effy and Preston find themselves caught in the crossfire: Effy losing her dreams and Preston losing himself in his.

Are dreams ever truly just dreams?

Short and Sweet Review

A Theory of Dreaming picks up shortly after A Study in Drowning, both Effy and Preston are back after defeating the Fairy King and they’re now facing backlash after publishing their thesis about Emrys Meridian. Effy and Preston face new challenges in this book and even though they knew it was going to happen they weren’t expecting it be as bad as it is. After finally being free of the Fairy King, Effy is finding it hard to adjust and we see her become reliant on sleeping pills. Preston on the other hand is helping Professor Gosse with a secret project that blurs the boundaries between realities and dreams.

This sequel to A Study in Drowning is a bit darker. We find Effy and Preston dealing with different struggles. Effy is the only girl attending the Literature college and she already has a mark against her because of her thesis. Preston is from Argant and they’re currently at war with the Llyr so he’s facing prejudice for that. We see both characters try to face the hardships together but eventually we see how they start to drown in them. This book did carry on some things from the first book like Effy and Preston’s relationship, the war, and our two characters studies.

Overall, this was a good sequel, I thought it did a good job at tying up some loose ends from the first book. The tone in this book is a bit darker but I did like seeing Effy and Preston overcome their struggles even though the road getting there was not an easy one.