Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The writing of this book is amazing. I loved the story and the lessons throughout however I had trouble connecting to the characters. I just wish there was more depth to the characters. If the book was a little longer then it would of been a lot better. Overall the book was beautiful

What a beautiful book!! I enjoyed it a lot. Wonderful characters, marvelous and highly original setting!! I'm so glad I got to read this!

This unfortunately was a DNF for me. I could not get myself connected with the characters. The fantasy aspect wasn’t as fleshed out as I was looking for based on the mystical feel of the synopsis. Will update if I pick it up again.

This sounded so good but sadly it wasn’t for me. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mindset for it. I didn’t finish it .

I didn't expect to fall in love with this as much as I did. The writing was absolutely incredible and I found myself entranced with each word. The story alone is beautiful and very emotional at times but the element of travelling to another time and place gave me goosebumps because of how much I have always wondered if it was possible to do. Makes you think if your dreams are a portal to another world would it be like the world that was pictured in this book.

Beautifully written with lush worlds. Part fantasy and part mystery. Really enjoyed this one. Thank you for allowing me to read it.

Magical storytelling and full of life lessons, this book is perfect for anyone looking for a light fantasy that reflects on stepping into adulthood.

this was a great scifi read, the characters were what I wanted from this type of book. The characters were well done and felt like real people.

'The Place Beyond Her Dreams' is an extremely interesting concept for a book and I just wish that there could have been a bit more connection with the characters. The came off as almost cold making it hard to really immerse yourself into the story. The overall theme of the story is about finding your true purpose through your day to day decisions and that on occasion you will choose the wrong path but that you can always set things right. I loved that the author merged the fantasy aspect with Ona's real world but I just with there had been more. This story definitely has massive potential,

trigger warnings for domestic violence,

i loved the idea of this book but the reality of it was lacking in my opinion. i loved the characters and their depth but i didn't really connect with the storyline and i found myself getting bored as i was reading. i truly enjoyed the romance and character driven part of this book i just wish we could've explored the land of luenah more and that the story was more action packed and not as dry at certain times.

Loved this read!!! I loved the characters and the setting. I felt completely drawn in the story and I couldn't stop until I was finished. This story has it all: magic, fantasy, action, and romance. My favorite part was the care that the author put into developing her characters. The writing style was just beautiful and whimsical. I cannot wait to read more from the author.

After the sudden passing of her grandfather, Ona realizes she can transport herself into another place called Luenah. There the world is totally different, she can meet her grandfather whenever she’s allowed to, which relieves her pain after his sudden passing, and also gain a lot of wisdom to help her in her everyday life.

This book for me personally has been a roller coaster of emotions. What affected me the most, was the social differences that everyone pointed out between her and Okem. Okem was the poor guy and he was so often called in the book the helper boy, when in fact he has been raised by Ona’s grandparents as her brother, her grandfather loved him as his own son – but people didn’t think the same, so more than often he was made to feel like the last person in the world. The book indeed has triggers, loss of a family, abuse, and depression. While the triggers didn’t affect me per se, it left me to feel very sad from the things Ona had gone through.

While the book is a magical realism I felt the focus was way too much on Ona’s life and very little on Luenah’s world. I felt Luenah was a way of escape for Ona whenever things were bad or she went through a rough patch, Luenah was her safe place to retreat and deal with whatever was going on in her life. That’s not a very bad thing in my opinion, but I wanted to know more about Efi and Luenah and the people that inhabited her, especially since many people from there on her normal world have already passed, she was one of the few people that were granted passing there while being alive – this difference I wanted it more explored.

While I am a religious person, I can’t say I am overly religious, however, this book has touched on some religious things that really made me feel very at peace. The lessons, the wise words her grandfather always had for Ona touched me in ways that I haven’t felt in a long while. I loved the religious lessons behind his stories, the quotes along with the book.

For me, this book has been an interesting journey, and it made me think about a lot of things. For me, this book has been an interesting story, with amazing lessons to re-read and follow when things don’t go as planned. And fill that “box” with horrible things that we go through in order to find the goals we want to achieve, be it happiness or love or just peace.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

weird book. dnfed.

I wanted to love this so much, because the description was amazing and sounded so good. There were moments when that potential was really present and I adored anything where Luenah was involved, but I was disappointed that we didn't see more of Luenah because the other characters didn't resonate with me really.I loved the insight into West African culture , heritage and spirituality and I loved the authors writing , but because I didn’t connect with any characters other than Luenah , it felt so rushed and unorganised, I just couldn’t love it. I think with more work it could be a 5 star read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Book TW: domestic abuse, political conflict

The land beyond her dreams was a slightly mixed bag for me. I really loved the premise and magical realism and portal fantasy? Totally up my alley. Also, having a non-Western setting for a fantasy is always a plus. Even the actual basics of the plot (sort of minus my iffy feelings towards love triangles) were fascinating in combination with the premise and I don’t mind the more fable/morality tale leaning. Papa always made me smile in the story and I loved his connection with Ona throughout the story.

What I didn’t like as much was pacing. This story was just too fast and read like an overview. I wanted Luenah to be fleshed out. I wanted to really see, feel, and understand the world and the characters’ context. It felt a bit like trying to fit a full novel into a novella and I just wanted more time for the characters, plot, and details to be known. There was a lot of details that were relegated to exposition rather than showing and it made what could have been really stunning reveals feel rushed. And there was one random POV switch to Okem, which... if you’ve been here you know that’s not my favorite. If the author wanted to go that route I would have preferred if it alternated between Ona and Okem the whole story or just stuck with Ona and found another way for us to get Okem’s experience. There was just a lot of potential with this story that I felt wasn’t fully explored.
However, since it’s so quick and the premise is unique, if you’re interested you can definitely still have a relatively enjoyable experience. I think i would still be open to reading Aligwekwe’s work in the future as well or reading her Adult reads (this was her YA debut).

This book was an interesting read, I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy and wants a diverse novel!

It was good. Not anything special in my opinion. It was confusing at times what was going on. The love triangle wasn’t the best. And the prince was my least favorite character of all time.

I could not get into this book.

So sorry.
Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

This one wasn't as good as I was hoping for. The fantasy elements were ok but the characters were just kind of meh. I didn't get grabbed by the story so unfortunately this one was put down.

Thank you for the free eARC NetGalley!

I liked this book but it wasn't for me. It's for people who like fast-paced stories. I think the idea of a different world was interesting, the kingdoms were also interesting but this book didn't focus on building the relationships. I wanted more of Ona and Okem together and what really made them fall for each other but didn't get that. Overall, I think it could've been better but I liked it!

3 stars for this!💖