The descriptive and lyrical way this story is written transports you on to the pages. I was immersed into the Scottish Highlands on a journey to save my friend. I love a story with strong friendships and it was lovely to be on this journey with Sam and all her friends, you couldn't help but root for them!

i have some complaints about this title:
- there were a lot of errors in the text, and twice a chapter was repeated. if that was a deliberate choice, the effect was not felt, i was just annoyed.
- some of the story didn’t quite work with regards to McCulloch and Sam: McCulloch says that no one will ever believe Sam about what happened to Sid, but throughout the book (and before this moment) Sam’s friends are shown to care deeply (through words and actions) about her despite her distancing herself/not sharing about her struggles, so it just doesn’t seem believable. I’m aware that we experience this world through Sam and she is not totally reliable, but it doesn’t work for me to believe that her friends actually think she’s nuts and untrustworthy.
- the prose was too flowery and dense, and i am someone who normally enjoys that kind of writing.
- ultimately however, the ideas and themes of this book were really engaging, very unique, and i did really like the cast of characters. lovely ending, too.

Good but needs some polishing. As a fan of Ava Reid, I could see the similarities but it also felt like it was trying a bit too hard to have a certain style.
It’s still worth a read and think the author will benefit from this process. I think a second book might give us a more solid story. It felt like everything was poured into this book rather than maybe dropping some stuff and keeping some things for a second, etc. if that makes sense.

I was drawn in by the dark academia and magic vibes. I knew this was going to be a bit different but in a good way.

It is definitely confusing at first, the story seems a bit all over the place as we discover what it is to dream and how it works in this magical world.

As the story develops though then so does the intrigue. I did think it would be more dream walking than it actually was but I still enjoyed it. I think its more of an inception style vibe which I got more towards the end of the book.

What I will say is that the characters make it. They are well developed, that found family vibe is perfect and we even get a solid ending.

I also think the writing style really helped me love this book, the author wrote well, kept me intrigued and wanting to know what happened even at the parts I was a bit confused.

SANOPD is a great read, with well developed characters and a very intriguing world. If youre looking something a bit different and quirky, then Id highly recommend.

I have the honor of being friends with the brilliant mind behind this book as well as to have provided edits for her. Some Advanced Notes On Practical Dreamers is a story rooted in dreams and how the act itself is an immersive experience that can sometimes immerse us too deeply. It teaches us that waking up from a dream is not always that bad, and that waking up and facing reality might be the biggest dream of all. With writing that reads like a poem, flashes before your eyes like a movie. SANOPD is a beautiful debut.

This book took me a while to get through, and I found myself reluctant to keep picking it up. This wasn't because of the story, it's a great story! The setting and world-building is fantastic, and the ending was worth the struggle to the end. I think my problem was the style of prose. The sentences are short and punchy, which is great for action scenes or places where you want things to move swiftly, but when an entire book is written in this style, it can become exhausting for the reader. I felt as if I had run a marathon after every chapter. Also, during the first section (about the first 25%), I was having trouble distinguishing the two characters we spend the most time with apart. I think this was because of their names, Sid and Sam; my brain was having trouble separating two, three-letter 'S' names.

This book was so confusing in the best way. I really enjoyed Sam’s character development throughout the book and her acceptance of love by the end. She was someone I think a lot of readers can relate to in one way or another.

I liked the storyline but the pacing was a little off for me. I kept getting confused by larger details in the book that weren’t really explained well and I wish we saw more of Autcher House and how the dreaming worked. We are kind of thrown in with little information and while it is somewhat explained along the way, I still found myself lost in some places.

With all that said, I did like the idea of the book and the writing style this author has. They were amazing at describing feelings and situations in really good detail. The dark vibes and found family aspects were really interesting and enjoyable!

Lovely story idea, I’ve never read anything like this before, the cover art is also absolutely beautiful!

Described as ninth house meets a theory in dreaming this a book that will likely find a good home with fantasy fans. Though I wouldn't agree with the comparison as a firm lover of ninth house and a hater of a theory in dreamings prequel, the mysteries of Auchter house and the unpredictability of dream magic that we seen make for an engaging fantasy meets horror. From the deadliness of nightmares to the twistedness of betrayal and struggles of mental illness there is a lot of darkness in this book but queer found family provides a great support network and female rage is embraced for the beauty in its power.

Our main character sam has historical struggles with her mental health, something the villain of our story loves to take advantage of to make her doubt herself and the darkness sneaking up on everyone confined to Auchter. On a mission to figure out whats going on sam pushes her own boundaries to uncover the truth behind the encroaching darkness and find out why her best friend disappeared.

As an ARC, the story is unique and engaging but I hope there is further editing before the formal release as some parts of the writing really needed work, both with corrections and for better connectivity as it often jumped from setting to setting without clear transition. But overall, with time and commitment I can see this being a new favourite to fans of the genre.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC.

This book SHOULD have been right up my alley. And yet. It just wasn't. I couldn't relate to the characters, the prose was almost trying TOO hard to be "prose" and it was very metaphor heavy. I did end up DNFing, but if you're new to dark academia, this might be right up your alley!

Some Notes on Practical Dreaming offers an ambitious and atmospheric entry into the dark academia genre, set within the eerie halls of Auchter House. Robertson’s prose is often lush and lyrical, with a magic system that is pretty unique! At its best, the novel explores themes of mental health, identity, and found family with depth and tenderness, especially through its central character, Sam, and her complex and loving circle of friends.

However, the novel’s beauty is at times its own stumbling block. The dense, metaphor laden writing (while evocative!!!) can become overwhelming at times, and tends to obscure the plot, making it difficult to follow. Every sentence is overdone, and it made me tired sometimes. The pacing lags in places and I was confused about the rules of the magic system most of the time.

Despite these issues I found the characters reasonably endearing. I think, personally, Sam was not a good lens.

I did enjoy untangling the poetic prose but this is truly not an accessible read (and that's coming from someone who LOVES a challenging read).

I truly thought this would be a book right up my alley, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me. I was initially drawn in by the gothic setting and the promise of a unique magic system—but despite that strong foundation, the characters and plot felt strangely lifeless.

I found myself confused for most of the story. The magic system is never fully explained, and the characters’ motivations remain murky. One moment a character is a friend, the next an enemy, and then suddenly one is dead(?) with little explanation of how or why. Events seem to happen without buildup or clarity, leaving me disconnected and unsure of what was even going on.

This book had a lot of potential, and I really wanted to love it. But at the halfway point, I realized I couldn’t bring myself to continue. I still want to know how it ends, yet I don’t feel invested enough to push through.

Additionally, I’m not sure if this was an error in my ARC on Netgalley, but several pages appeared to duplicate themselves or were possibly out of order. If this was a formatting issue, it certainly added to the confusion.

I couldn't get into the prose of this book and dnf'd. I'm very sorry but this book reads very immaturely. Although an interesting concept, it just wasn't for me. I felt like it tried to be a bit too much like Harry Potter in parts, and personally I just could not get on with the prose which is why I personally dnf'd.

Oh this book was fantastic! Such a good story... I loved every single second of it... 5 star read from me. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.

I went into this book with strong expectations just based off of the description and was NOT DISAPPOINTED. (4.5 stars particularly)

This book offered settings and characters that were beautifully written while the plot and the underlying themes made me feel things. I found the main character Sam to be deeply relatable at times and occasionally that made her character difficult to read about but I very much appreciated how much the author commited to her character. I absolutely loved her and her group of friends. Each one of them felt important to me among their group, I particularly loved her nuanced relationships with Tate and Sid.
The themes that this book sought out to explore with the setting of Auchter House and it's inhabitants were also well written in such a way that it got the point across without shoving it in the reader's face.

The one downside for me was that I wish we spent more time at Auchter House than we did. It would have helped to understand the mystery, intrigue and connections to the characters way better while also playing into the spooky dark academia setting. But I found that this was a flaw I could look past while reading the rest of the book. Additionally, the magic system of this book was also fascinating and I feel like we could have gotten more of that if there had been more time at Auchter House, but I enjoyed what I got of it regardless.

First and foremost I'd like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an eArc of this book.

Some Notes on Practical Dreaming [SMNOPD] was a literature masterpiece weaving lyrical writing and a gripping storyline together seamlessly. Every sentence on every page, nestled into every line of this book transports you into the vast landscape of this amazing book.

Clare Robertson did a wonderful job of successfully showcasing the turbulent and often times exhaustive train of thought that our MC, Sam, has. She created this space where no matter what happened Sam's friends, Bridge, Nina, Sid and ultimately Tate always accepted and loved her for who she was. Not who they thought she was, or they thought she could be, but for who she was in every single moment that they had.

What happens with Sid in this turbulent story feels like a metaphor to me, at least. A disturbing visual of the effort that women expend to make sure everything runs smoothly and how men take advantage of that.

The book felt like something that had a deeper message around every corner just waiting and praying for someone to analyze.

Now onto my rating, while the book is a masterpiece in lyrical writing and evocative imaging, at times it did feel overdone and exhausting to read. Every sense, every emotion was flipped and extrapolated within these dense sentences that made for some morbidly morose settings.

There was also some confusion on my part about what role Sam actually played in the whole scheme of things, why she was important, why she was the turning point, why her? Maybe it did get explained but I couldn't understand it? That's the only thing that left me with a bitter aftertaste.

All-in-all this book was such a good read and I can't wait to read the final copy !!

This has all the hallmarks of a great read for fans of dark academia: an isolated university with magical secrets, dream-based powers, a missing best friend, and a narrator with a fraught past. The concept is intriguing, and there are moments of real atmosphere and tension that pulled me in.

Unfortunately, the plot didn’t fully connect for me. The pacing dragged in places, and I found myself wishing for clearer stakes and a tighter throughline. Sam’s motivations often felt more like they were serving genre expectations than arising from her own internal logic, which made it hard to stay emotionally invested.

There’s definitely an audience for this book, especially readers who enjoy moody settings and themes of found family—but for me, the story didn’t quite land.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Beautiful book that is an absolutely ethereal read. The story itself unfolds like a dream and had the reader questioning what is really happening and what is in the mind of the narrator as she dreams. I found myself drawn into this unique universe and rooting for our main character throughout.

We follow Sam, who is at Autcher House, an elite school with some very unusual studies. Sam and her friends are dreamers and focus on the magic of dreaming things into being. A map, a ticket, or even a weapon. Sam, struggles with accepting herself and has a history of mental ill was which made her feel unworthy of so many things. The school is her favorite place and she has found love and acceptance for the first time.

However, very quickly she realizes that things aren’t always as they seem and her beloved home may not be so safe at all when her friend is taken. She has to fight her own demons and the school itself to get her back.

The journey itself is surreal, and we love that Sam discovers she is so much more capable and loved than she has ever believed possible.

This book is beautifully written but there are so many metaphors that at times it can seem to drag a bit to get on with the story at times. I also feel that some things just aren’t explained well, but that also goes with the dream like quality of the writing and story so I don’t feel like this is a true critique of the book. It’s absolutely a slow burn story, as Sam has so much to figure out as the story goes on.

The author did an incredible job of immersing you in what feels like a dream for the whole novel. I would say that the first third of the book did seem a little slow until I got a better feel for the characters and the magic system. So absolutely buckle up for that slow burn. It totally paid off as the last third was so worth it.

Sam Sheridan estudia en Auchter House, una universidad remota y misteriosa donde los sueños no solo se interpretan: se manipulan, se estudian y se convierten en herramientas tangibles. Sam es una soñadora práctica, capaz de crear objetos reales dentro de sus sueños y traerlos a la vigilia. El problema es que su talento es inestable, su método desordenado y su miedo al fracaso paralizante.

En medio de exámenes que la arrastran al límite, amistades intensas y una creciente sensación de que hay algo profundamente inquietante escondido en los rincones de la Casa, Sam empieza a perder el control. Cuando una puerta cerrada desde siempre comienza a responder desde el otro lado, y los sueños se tiñen de horror y sangre, Sam deberá enfrentarse no solo a la oscuridad que habita en Auchter, sino también a la que vive dentro de ella.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest.

This book is insanely good. All of the characters have depth and they practically sing on the page. The plot has twists and turns and keeps you hooked in. I love the mysterious academy. The world building is done insanely well. The writing itself is stellar.
I was left without words.