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The Dancer and the Dream Thief
A young dancer finds herself at the center of a bootlegging scheme run by elfin creatures and is forced to rely on one them to escape in this sweeping prohibition-era historical fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill.
Working as a dancer in the Palace Ballroom, Evelyn Pulaski has become familiar with the idea of selling dreams. For a dime a dance she allows men to imagine her a partner in their lives, and then returns to the comfortable independent life she’s made for herself. When a group of nix, strange elflike creatures who moonlight as bootleggers, start to hang around the Palace, Evelyn and her friends grow wary. Several dancehall girls have disappeared and the nix are the prime suspects.
Raife is also in the business of selling dreams. One of the nix bootleggers working at the Palace, he is part of an operation stealing dreams from humans and selling them in the elfinlands, the formless void the nix emerge from. With nothing tangible in their world, the nix rely on human dreams to thrive and human. Raife takes a shine to Evelyn suspecting her to be a type of vivid dreamer especially coveted by the nix.
When Evelyn's best friend disappears, she is forced to work with Raife to find her. But their rescue mission sets of a chain of events that forces Evelyn to trust Raife if she wants to save herself.
Working as a dancer in the Palace Ballroom, Evelyn Pulaski has become familiar with the idea of selling dreams. For a dime a dance she allows men to imagine her a partner in their lives, and then returns to the comfortable independent life she’s made for herself. When a group of nix, strange elflike creatures who moonlight as bootleggers, start to hang around the Palace, Evelyn and her friends grow wary. Several dancehall girls have disappeared and the nix are the prime suspects.
Raife is also in the business of selling dreams. One of the nix bootleggers working at the Palace, he is part of an operation stealing dreams from humans and selling them in the elfinlands, the formless void the nix emerge from. With nothing tangible in their world, the nix rely on human dreams to thrive and human. Raife takes a shine to Evelyn suspecting her to be a type of vivid dreamer especially coveted by the nix.
When Evelyn's best friend disappears, she is forced to work with Raife to find her. But their rescue mission sets of a chain of events that forces Evelyn to trust Raife if she wants to save herself.
398 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Rating: 2.5
The Dancer and the Dream Thief is a historical fantasy taking place during the prohibition era. We follow a taxi dancer, Evelyn, and her encounters with a nix bootlegger, Raife. The nix subsist on dreams and Raife is working with a group of bootleggers attempting to infiltrate the dreams of young women in her town. Evelyn finds herself front stage and center of this plot when Raife takes an interest in her - thinking she is a rare, strong dreamer.
For me, this was definitely not one of my favorite reads of the year. I felt like the beginning of the book was rather slow paced and I found the world building a little boring. I found myself dragging through the first part, trying to get to the more interesting parts. It does start to pick up towards the end of part one where both Evelyn and Raife find out more information about the girls going missing and turning up dead around the city. Unfortunately, it felt like some of the information Raife finds feels forced and not natural to the story - with very little to entice the reader with deeper information.
Part two kept me a little more entertained because it was a little more high fantasy in the dreamworld. The story definitely picked up pace as the stakes were raised and the characters felt the pressure of outside forces. Unfortunately, I just felt a little out of the loop when it came to functions of the dream world and the nix. We get little bits and pieces from Raife talking to Evelyn or when we’re in his POV, but I feel like I would have liked more information about the mechanics. (And that could just be me, I like the nitty gritty of magic systems and magical worlds like this.)
This was a dual POV book that certainly threw me for a loop on the choices the author made about them. In part one and three, Raife is in first person and Evelyn is in third person. In part two, they are both in first person. I do understand that once we are in Evelyn’s dream that it’s interesting to have her POV - but after reading the epilogue and post script, it doesn’t make a ton of sense. I feel like there were a few parts where things happened and then we were given a reason that was more “told” than “shown.” I was also not a huge fan of the post script and the implications that made for the rest of the story. Especially for the purposes of the POVs.
The writing overall was good. The writing was very flowery which lends itself to the style of the story. The imagery was nice and did help to flesh out the vividness of the dreams and how Evelyn viewed the world versus Raife.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, OrbitBooks, and Rowena Miller for this advanced copy of The Dancer and the Dream Thief in exchange for my honest review.
The Dancer and the Dream Thief is a historical fantasy taking place during the prohibition era. We follow a taxi dancer, Evelyn, and her encounters with a nix bootlegger, Raife. The nix subsist on dreams and Raife is working with a group of bootleggers attempting to infiltrate the dreams of young women in her town. Evelyn finds herself front stage and center of this plot when Raife takes an interest in her - thinking she is a rare, strong dreamer.
For me, this was definitely not one of my favorite reads of the year. I felt like the beginning of the book was rather slow paced and I found the world building a little boring. I found myself dragging through the first part, trying to get to the more interesting parts. It does start to pick up towards the end of part one where both Evelyn and Raife find out more information about the girls going missing and turning up dead around the city. Unfortunately, it felt like some of the information Raife finds feels forced and not natural to the story - with very little to entice the reader with deeper information.
Part two kept me a little more entertained because it was a little more high fantasy in the dreamworld. The story definitely picked up pace as the stakes were raised and the characters felt the pressure of outside forces. Unfortunately, I just felt a little out of the loop when it came to functions of the dream world and the nix. We get little bits and pieces from Raife talking to Evelyn or when we’re in his POV, but I feel like I would have liked more information about the mechanics. (And that could just be me, I like the nitty gritty of magic systems and magical worlds like this.)
This was a dual POV book that certainly threw me for a loop on the choices the author made about them. In part one and three, Raife is in first person and Evelyn is in third person. In part two, they are both in first person. I do understand that once we are in Evelyn’s dream that it’s interesting to have her POV - but after reading the epilogue and post script, it doesn’t make a ton of sense. I feel like there were a few parts where things happened and then we were given a reason that was more “told” than “shown.” I was also not a huge fan of the post script and the implications that made for the rest of the story. Especially for the purposes of the POVs.
The writing overall was good. The writing was very flowery which lends itself to the style of the story. The imagery was nice and did help to flesh out the vividness of the dreams and how Evelyn viewed the world versus Raife.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, OrbitBooks, and Rowena Miller for this advanced copy of The Dancer and the Dream Thief in exchange for my honest review.
October 11, 2026
2.5 stars. this author's concept of nixies is so fascinating to me. i really enjoyed what we were given of it, but i wish the explanations and lore had gone a bit deeper. the POV changes in this were a bit jarring. Raife is always in first person, but Evelyn's goes between third person and first person, depending on if she's in the dreamscape or not. it's a bit disorienting to read. i also didn't buy the romance between Raife and Evelyn. their chemistry felt barely there and almost nonexistent and i just wasn't very invested in them. i was on board with the majority of this book but the ending really disappointed me. bittersweet endings are fine, but the way this one was written, primarily the post script, just rubbed me the wrong way. the writing was great. i enjoy flowery styled writing and this gave that and more. the imagery was nice and it helped make Evelyn and Raife's perspectives distinct from one another. the POV changes are explained in the epilogue, which i appreciated, but i didn't enjoy this as much as i wanted!
thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for this ARC.
1.5 stars
I previously tried another book by Rowenna Miller that came highly recommended but left feeling whelmed. However, I was willing to give them another chance and when I saw The Dancer and the Dream Thief I jumped on it. Unfortunately, this missed the mark entirely.
Part of the problem is that 1930s is not an era I am a big fan of. Granted, learning about the dime-a-dance and taxi dancers definitely piqued my interest -- just the way it was presented within this book felt bland and lifeless. Sure the Great Depression is depressing, but there was no real soul to the characters within the world. It certainly wasn't helped by our narrator Raife's voice.
Let's back up to explain: Raife is a Nix, which from what I was able to gather are beings from nothing loosely based on Fae. I am not sure exactly what they are, as Raife isn't very good at explaining his own world. Miller does take the time to try to explain, but the explanation is never satisfying and the way they just conveniently do whatever to make the plot work undid any worldbuilding they tried with the Nix.
Not only is Raife's inner thoughts dull and boring, he shares the limelight with Evelyn who I will admit is a much more intriguing protagonist. Her motivations-- at least at the start-- are more intriguing to read about, but towards the end of the novel she starts to lose her uniqueness and turns into a pawn. This is especially prevalent in part two when they enter the dream world.
The dream world is both an important and unimportant part of the plot. The Nix are specifically here to run an illegal bootleg operation of getting people drunk and selling their dreams back to their homeland because that's their version of sustenance. When Raife met Evelyn, he knew for a fact that she was a "mapmaker" or someone with dreams powerful enough to shake the Nix dream economy. At first, Raife tries to sell out Evelyn to his employer as this was the big bucks, but due to politics that aren't explained until WAY too late, the risk outweighs the benefits and he lets it go.
Except when the government equivalent of the Nix caught wind of Evelyn and then they had to escape to the dreamworld. At this point, I lost the plot as it was no longer interesting, just convenient. Especially since Raife took this to be the time to confess that this is when they fell in love. Never did Miller convince me that this was a couple in love. They knew each other for too short a time, and their differences in their nature made it super difficult, as I feel that racism is a tough hurdle to overcome. Evelyn began to trust Raife after he helped her rescue her best friend, however the trust didn't really feel earned. It's hard for me to put my finger on it exactly, it unfortunately felt like plot conveniences and not fully fleshed out.
At the end of it, the trusting nature of our two leads just felt so opposite to what they started as. Raife was originally penned as naive, but he understood his boss 100%, meanwhile Evelyn started the novel with immediate distrust. So when the personalities flipped, I could only question Miller's decisions.
Not only did it continue to rush towards the ending, it felt like Miller wanted to be done with the story and didn't know how to make the reader care more about the conclusion. In fact, when I finally arrived at the epilogue, I felt a little disgusted and off put. Miller did explain why the prose felt super jilted and disconnected, I will grant them that. However, for me it is always a personal ick when it comes down to a man's perspective controlling the narrative on the women's thoughts and emotions. We've spent the vast majority of history rewriting the narrative on women, is it too much to ask of that to stop in our fiction?
1.5 stars
I previously tried another book by Rowenna Miller that came highly recommended but left feeling whelmed. However, I was willing to give them another chance and when I saw The Dancer and the Dream Thief I jumped on it. Unfortunately, this missed the mark entirely.
Part of the problem is that 1930s is not an era I am a big fan of. Granted, learning about the dime-a-dance and taxi dancers definitely piqued my interest -- just the way it was presented within this book felt bland and lifeless. Sure the Great Depression is depressing, but there was no real soul to the characters within the world. It certainly wasn't helped by our narrator Raife's voice.
Let's back up to explain: Raife is a Nix, which from what I was able to gather are beings from nothing loosely based on Fae. I am not sure exactly what they are, as Raife isn't very good at explaining his own world. Miller does take the time to try to explain, but the explanation is never satisfying and the way they just conveniently do whatever to make the plot work undid any worldbuilding they tried with the Nix.
Not only is Raife's inner thoughts dull and boring, he shares the limelight with Evelyn who I will admit is a much more intriguing protagonist. Her motivations-- at least at the start-- are more intriguing to read about, but towards the end of the novel she starts to lose her uniqueness and turns into a pawn. This is especially prevalent in part two when they enter the dream world.
The dream world is both an important and unimportant part of the plot. The Nix are specifically here to run an illegal bootleg operation of getting people drunk and selling their dreams back to their homeland because that's their version of sustenance. When Raife met Evelyn, he knew for a fact that she was a "mapmaker" or someone with dreams powerful enough to shake the Nix dream economy. At first, Raife tries to sell out Evelyn to his employer as this was the big bucks, but due to politics that aren't explained until WAY too late, the risk outweighs the benefits and he lets it go.
Except when the government equivalent of the Nix caught wind of Evelyn and then they had to escape to the dreamworld. At this point, I lost the plot as it was no longer interesting, just convenient. Especially since Raife took this to be the time to confess that this is when they fell in love. Never did Miller convince me that this was a couple in love. They knew each other for too short a time, and their differences in their nature made it super difficult, as I feel that racism is a tough hurdle to overcome. Evelyn began to trust Raife after he helped her rescue her best friend, however the trust didn't really feel earned. It's hard for me to put my finger on it exactly, it unfortunately felt like plot conveniences and not fully fleshed out.
At the end of it, the trusting nature of our two leads just felt so opposite to what they started as. Raife was originally penned as naive, but he understood his boss 100%, meanwhile Evelyn started the novel with immediate distrust. So when the personalities flipped, I could only question Miller's decisions.
Not only did it continue to rush towards the ending, it felt like Miller wanted to be done with the story and didn't know how to make the reader care more about the conclusion. In fact, when I finally arrived at the epilogue, I felt a little disgusted and off put. Miller did explain why the prose felt super jilted and disconnected, I will grant them that. However, for me it is always a personal ick when it comes down to a man's perspective controlling the narrative on the women's thoughts and emotions. We've spent the vast majority of history rewriting the narrative on women, is it too much to ask of that to stop in our fiction?
October 12, 2026
Many thanks to Redhook/Orbit Books and Netgalley for sharing this ARC with me!
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
The story in The Dancer and the Dream Thief starts off in the Great Depression, taking us back to the time of the Prohibition but with a fantasy twist. Our protagonist, Evelyn, works as a dancer at the Palace ballroom until she crosses path with Raife, an elfin-like being called a “nix” who steals dreams from humans to sell in the elfin lands. Could the nix be behind some of the dancers who’ve gone missing, including a friend of Evelyn’s? Our two leads become unlikely allies to find out, but quickly discover that they’re in more trouble than they realized.
My favorite part of the story was the setting; a fantasy set in the Great Depression doesn’t make sense at first blush because that time was, well, depressed. But here it seemed to play really nicely into the theme of dreaming and a rich inner life. The idea of this bummer Midwestern town, where Evelyn and her friends are trying to make ends meet, contrasts well with the world of dreams where Raife and the other nix characters operate. Framing the intersection of the two, the dancehalls and speakeasys where glamour, hopes, dreams, and reality are all sort of meshed together, makes total sense in the concept of the story.
This premise starts off strong with some interesting worldbuilding potential behind it. Unfortunately, many ideas are introduced and then not fully fleshed out. The backstory of Raife’s boss, Liae, was a bright spot, as well as the evil nix antagonists, but neither felt fleshed out fully enough in the story. There were also some pacing issues, with the beginning being very slow and oddly sloggy. The ending seemed a bit rushed as well. Despite these shortcomings, I did like Evelyn and Raife as individual protagonists. Their chemistry together as a couple was just okay, and its slow development contributed to the slogginess in the beginning.
All in all, this wasn’t my favorite book because of the reasons mentioned above, but I did like it overall. The book is “PG-13”, so it would be totally appropriate for a teen/YA reader who might get more enjoyment out of it. For me, the concept was there, but it just needed a little more “oomph” to really bring it home.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
The story in The Dancer and the Dream Thief starts off in the Great Depression, taking us back to the time of the Prohibition but with a fantasy twist. Our protagonist, Evelyn, works as a dancer at the Palace ballroom until she crosses path with Raife, an elfin-like being called a “nix” who steals dreams from humans to sell in the elfin lands. Could the nix be behind some of the dancers who’ve gone missing, including a friend of Evelyn’s? Our two leads become unlikely allies to find out, but quickly discover that they’re in more trouble than they realized.
My favorite part of the story was the setting; a fantasy set in the Great Depression doesn’t make sense at first blush because that time was, well, depressed. But here it seemed to play really nicely into the theme of dreaming and a rich inner life. The idea of this bummer Midwestern town, where Evelyn and her friends are trying to make ends meet, contrasts well with the world of dreams where Raife and the other nix characters operate. Framing the intersection of the two, the dancehalls and speakeasys where glamour, hopes, dreams, and reality are all sort of meshed together, makes total sense in the concept of the story.
This premise starts off strong with some interesting worldbuilding potential behind it. Unfortunately, many ideas are introduced and then not fully fleshed out. The backstory of Raife’s boss, Liae, was a bright spot, as well as the evil nix antagonists, but neither felt fleshed out fully enough in the story. There were also some pacing issues, with the beginning being very slow and oddly sloggy. The ending seemed a bit rushed as well. Despite these shortcomings, I did like Evelyn and Raife as individual protagonists. Their chemistry together as a couple was just okay, and its slow development contributed to the slogginess in the beginning.
All in all, this wasn’t my favorite book because of the reasons mentioned above, but I did like it overall. The book is “PG-13”, so it would be totally appropriate for a teen/YA reader who might get more enjoyment out of it. For me, the concept was there, but it just needed a little more “oomph” to really bring it home.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Evelyn is a "dime-a-dance" girl in Prohibition era America, selling cheap fantasies for cheap pay, but she's not the only one—Raife is a nixie, a much-maligned faelike creature, in the trade of dreams in a more literal sense. While humans are bootlegging moonshine, the nix are bootlegging elfinshine, a special drink that allows them to take the resulting dreams and sell them back to nix. When Raife's racket starts threatening Evelyn's community, she's forced to put her trust in him if she wants to save them.
The tone is a really fun sort of hardboiled detective "the broad walked into the room. I knew she'd be trouble..." monologue in Raife's POV, which I found very charming. It wasn't in a parody or overdone way, just enough to have a strong voice. Evelyn had her own less distinctive but still very likeable writing style. There were some interesting POV techniques—I went back and forth on whether or not I liked them, deciding at the end that I did, until one single line in the epilogue made them make no sense and the book on a whole much worse. However, since it was one line, it was easy to ignore. Your mileage may vary on this.
Evelyn is easy to sympathize with and like. Her stifled dreams of being a dancer, her supportive friendship with Ruth, her suspicion of Raife warring with her growing sense of kinship with him, all of things makes her feel like a real person. Raife is so obviously not, which is a fun contrast. He comes at things from an entirely alien perspective that is well-informed by the way the nix work. He's a very sort of "sopping wet pathetic alley cat" kind of character which makes him easy to root for. He's so lame, I like him a lot. His and Evelyn's dynamic is very influenced by how they're both outsiders—her, as a Polish-American in a time when America was very stratified, and him, as a non-human in a human world. The world this book takes place in is essentially our own, if our stories of things like fae and spirits were true but not very impactful on our everyday lives. It's a unique take, that results in a small setting at once cozy and dreary.
The middle section does drag a little bit, and again, the ending could be a big turn-off to a lot of people. But it wasn't to me, and I'd recommend trying this out and seeing for yourself!
Evelyn is a "dime-a-dance" girl in Prohibition era America, selling cheap fantasies for cheap pay, but she's not the only one—Raife is a nixie, a much-maligned faelike creature, in the trade of dreams in a more literal sense. While humans are bootlegging moonshine, the nix are bootlegging elfinshine, a special drink that allows them to take the resulting dreams and sell them back to nix. When Raife's racket starts threatening Evelyn's community, she's forced to put her trust in him if she wants to save them.
The tone is a really fun sort of hardboiled detective "the broad walked into the room. I knew she'd be trouble..." monologue in Raife's POV, which I found very charming. It wasn't in a parody or overdone way, just enough to have a strong voice. Evelyn had her own less distinctive but still very likeable writing style. There were some interesting POV techniques—I went back and forth on whether or not I liked them, deciding at the end that I did, until one single line in the epilogue made them make no sense and the book on a whole much worse. However, since it was one line, it was easy to ignore. Your mileage may vary on this.
Evelyn is easy to sympathize with and like. Her stifled dreams of being a dancer, her supportive friendship with Ruth, her suspicion of Raife warring with her growing sense of kinship with him, all of things makes her feel like a real person. Raife is so obviously not, which is a fun contrast. He comes at things from an entirely alien perspective that is well-informed by the way the nix work. He's a very sort of "sopping wet pathetic alley cat" kind of character which makes him easy to root for. He's so lame, I like him a lot. His and Evelyn's dynamic is very influenced by how they're both outsiders—her, as a Polish-American in a time when America was very stratified, and him, as a non-human in a human world. The world this book takes place in is essentially our own, if our stories of things like fae and spirits were true but not very impactful on our everyday lives. It's a unique take, that results in a small setting at once cozy and dreary.
The middle section does drag a little bit, and again, the ending could be a big turn-off to a lot of people. But it wasn't to me, and I'd recommend trying this out and seeing for yourself!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
***I received an ARC form Net Galley in exchange for my honest review
Evelyn Pulaski spends her evenings working at the Palace Ballroom, a dime-a-dance hall. It isn't what she wants to do, but options are limited. Lately though, dance hall girls have started disappearing, & a mysterious group of elfin bootleggers is the prime suspect. Raife is in the business of selling dreams. He is part of an operation that steals dreams from humans and then pedals them in the elfinlands. Raife takes a shine to Evelyn, telling himself his interest is purely professional, but there is something…entrancing about her that attracts him. When Evelyn's best friend, Ruth disappears, she is forced into an uneasy alliance with Raife. Together they'll discover the power of dreams to change, or even remake, the world.
I have really enjoyed previous books by this author, so I was excited to read this one as well. This one started out as a bit of a slow burn, and I had a hard time getting into it. I didn't know anything about taxi dancers or dime-a-dance halls, so that was interesting, and the author was meticulous with their world building. Despite that complexity and attention to detail, she kept dancing around one fact, which I thought was just weird. Raife was a nix, and it never explained what a nix was. Nix were mentioned frequently, but it never said it exactly what they were, so I couldn't get a mental picture of those characters, which was frustrating. Also, the pacing was up and down. It started out really slow, then it sped way up until it was a whirlwind, and then ended slow again. The storyline itself was good, it was fresh & original. Overall this was a solid 4 out 5.
Evelyn Pulaski spends her evenings working at the Palace Ballroom, a dime-a-dance hall. It isn't what she wants to do, but options are limited. Lately though, dance hall girls have started disappearing, & a mysterious group of elfin bootleggers is the prime suspect. Raife is in the business of selling dreams. He is part of an operation that steals dreams from humans and then pedals them in the elfinlands. Raife takes a shine to Evelyn, telling himself his interest is purely professional, but there is something…entrancing about her that attracts him. When Evelyn's best friend, Ruth disappears, she is forced into an uneasy alliance with Raife. Together they'll discover the power of dreams to change, or even remake, the world.
I have really enjoyed previous books by this author, so I was excited to read this one as well. This one started out as a bit of a slow burn, and I had a hard time getting into it. I didn't know anything about taxi dancers or dime-a-dance halls, so that was interesting, and the author was meticulous with their world building. Despite that complexity and attention to detail, she kept dancing around one fact, which I thought was just weird. Raife was a nix, and it never explained what a nix was. Nix were mentioned frequently, but it never said it exactly what they were, so I couldn't get a mental picture of those characters, which was frustrating. Also, the pacing was up and down. It started out really slow, then it sped way up until it was a whirlwind, and then ended slow again. The storyline itself was good, it was fresh & original. Overall this was a solid 4 out 5.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In Hebron Falls, a small Midwestern town, Prohibition and the Great Depression are taking a toll. Evelyn Pulaski is a taxi dancer, dancing with lonely men and selling the illusion of company at the Palace Ballroom. The nix have infiltrated town with their elfinshine and have made their way to the Palace. What the girls don't know is that a sip of elfinshine lets the nix into their dreams to tether and sell them in the elfinlands, where they are extremely valuable. Raife, a nix who is part of the racket, takes a shine to Evelyn and suspects her dreams are of a special variety. Can he protect her from his boss, Liae, and the nix government?
I was drawn in by the promise this book held, from the blurb, the setting, and the themes, but I feel it didn't exactly hold up. My favorite part of the story was the trip into Evelyn's dreamscape. I thought that world was very interesting and dynamic. Otherwise, I found the story to be a little bleak and lacking in color and emotion. I felt more could have been done with the characters and the world-building. I feel that the elfinlands reduced to nothingness was a missed opportunity to bring some more life to the story. The ending brought me out of the fantasy of the story a bit; I think the ending made perfect sense, but I wished for a happier one for Raife. All in all, the book was a fairly easy read, just not the most engaging for me. I don't think I will be recommending this one.
Thank you to the author and Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I was drawn in by the promise this book held, from the blurb, the setting, and the themes, but I feel it didn't exactly hold up. My favorite part of the story was the trip into Evelyn's dreamscape. I thought that world was very interesting and dynamic. Otherwise, I found the story to be a little bleak and lacking in color and emotion. I felt more could have been done with the characters and the world-building. I feel that the elfinlands reduced to nothingness was a missed opportunity to bring some more life to the story. The ending brought me out of the fantasy of the story a bit; I think the ending made perfect sense, but I wished for a happier one for Raife. All in all, the book was a fairly easy read, just not the most engaging for me. I don't think I will be recommending this one.
Thank you to the author and Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Huge thanks to NetGalley & Orbit for a chance to review this arc!
I was really excited for this as it follows a fmc who is a dancer in the prohibition era & a mmc who is a dream thief.
I was just left really unsure about the execution & I don’t really know how to rate this. It was a really heavy historical fantasy and I get that the era it was set in was depressing but it made it hard for me to be invested. The writing was very flowery and this is usually something I like but coupled with the setting - it just made it easier for me to snap out of it. It did feel very one dimensional & superficial, so I also struggled in my interest to the characters. Some elements didn’t necessarily mix well together & there’s a huge personality shift at some point for the two mc’s that was jarring. The characters didn’t have any chemistry and it just felt very forced. I just believe that there was a lot of lost potential here and I expected something a bit more magical/whimsical but the depressing setting made that quite impossible. I also had issues with the ending as those types of endings always make me wonder what was the point of reading all of this.
Overall, a confusing reading experience for me. I didn’t hate it, which is why i’m settling on a 3 stars rating but I also didn’t like it.
I was really excited for this as it follows a fmc who is a dancer in the prohibition era & a mmc who is a dream thief.
I was just left really unsure about the execution & I don’t really know how to rate this. It was a really heavy historical fantasy and I get that the era it was set in was depressing but it made it hard for me to be invested. The writing was very flowery and this is usually something I like but coupled with the setting - it just made it easier for me to snap out of it. It did feel very one dimensional & superficial, so I also struggled in my interest to the characters. Some elements didn’t necessarily mix well together & there’s a huge personality shift at some point for the two mc’s that was jarring. The characters didn’t have any chemistry and it just felt very forced. I just believe that there was a lot of lost potential here and I expected something a bit more magical/whimsical but the depressing setting made that quite impossible. I also had issues with the ending as those types of endings always make me wonder what was the point of reading all of this.
Overall, a confusing reading experience for me. I didn’t hate it, which is why i’m settling on a 3 stars rating but I also didn’t like it.
September 22, 2026
This has been a fantastic year for historical fantasy, so I was eager to check out this one as well!
The Prohibition era setting is evident immediately, with vibes akin to the musical Chicago, but with added faeries. You can tell the author really did their research.
I appreciated that this wasn’t immediately info dumpy, although there was some infodumping in Raife’s subsequent chapters. I could relate to Evelyn’s loneliness and introvertedness, and I’m sure many readers will appreciate her dyslexia!
Unfortunately, I didn’t find this as charming and engaging as I hoped it would be, despite it being a quick and easy read. The worldbuilding of the nix and dreaming could have used more specificity, and I thought the chunk of the book where Raife and Evelyn were traveling through dreams went on too long. Those looking for a happily ever after will not find it here.
Trigger warnings for historical racism and misogyny, childhood bullying, religious trauma.
Many thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for my free e-ARC! It has not affected my honest review.
The Prohibition era setting is evident immediately, with vibes akin to the musical Chicago, but with added faeries. You can tell the author really did their research.
I appreciated that this wasn’t immediately info dumpy, although there was some infodumping in Raife’s subsequent chapters. I could relate to Evelyn’s loneliness and introvertedness, and I’m sure many readers will appreciate her dyslexia!
Unfortunately, I didn’t find this as charming and engaging as I hoped it would be, despite it being a quick and easy read. The worldbuilding of the nix and dreaming could have used more specificity, and I thought the chunk of the book where Raife and Evelyn were traveling through dreams went on too long. Those looking for a happily ever after will not find it here.
Trigger warnings for historical racism and misogyny, childhood bullying, religious trauma.
Many thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for my free e-ARC! It has not affected my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The Dancer and the Dream Thief has an incredible, imaginative concept. Combining a 1920s jazz-age dance hall with elfin bootleggers who harvest and sell human dreams is pure genius. The atmospheric prose beautifully captures the smoke, music, and underlying danger of the Palace Ballroom.
However, the execution feels unevenly paced. While the uneasy alliance between dancer Evelyn and the mysterious dream-thief Raife starts strong, the narrative stalls in the middle. The investigation into the missing dancehall girls takes a backseat to repetitive world-building explanations. Furthermore, the romantic chemistry between the two leads lacks the magnetic spark needed to make their dangerous journey truly gripping.
Ultimately, it is a decent, highly original fantasy with a gorgeous setting. It just lacks the tight pacing and emotional stakes required to make it a standout.
However, the execution feels unevenly paced. While the uneasy alliance between dancer Evelyn and the mysterious dream-thief Raife starts strong, the narrative stalls in the middle. The investigation into the missing dancehall girls takes a backseat to repetitive world-building explanations. Furthermore, the romantic chemistry between the two leads lacks the magnetic spark needed to make their dangerous journey truly gripping.
Ultimately, it is a decent, highly original fantasy with a gorgeous setting. It just lacks the tight pacing and emotional stakes required to make it a standout.
August 18, 2026
This book was so magical and whimsical and I have not read anything like it before. The way the Depression and Prohibition are juxtaposed against these glittering and sweeping dreams was incredible.
I loved Raife and Evelyn. This story builds their relationship up in such a sweet and tender way. Every part of their chemistry and the choices they made in this felt so real and raw.
This was so incredible. If you like mystical whimsical fantasy, and a-moral characters that have to learn and experience human ethics and emotion in real time, you will love this one.
I loved Raife and Evelyn. This story builds their relationship up in such a sweet and tender way. Every part of their chemistry and the choices they made in this felt so real and raw.
This was so incredible. If you like mystical whimsical fantasy, and a-moral characters that have to learn and experience human ethics and emotion in real time, you will love this one.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book starts strong with an atmospheric Prohibition era setting and an intriguing look into the world of 1920s taxi dancers. The mystery of the missing girls keeps the first half genuinely engaging.
However, the second half loses momentum as it shifts focus to the mapmaker dream world, where confusing magic and world building make it hard to stay invested. While the historical elements and initial suspense shine, the disjointed fantasy turn makes the ending a bit of a slog to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.
However, the second half loses momentum as it shifts focus to the mapmaker dream world, where confusing magic and world building make it hard to stay invested. While the historical elements and initial suspense shine, the disjointed fantasy turn makes the ending a bit of a slog to finish.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.
September 1, 2026
This is a solid historical fantasy novel that I would highly recommend getting from the library if you like dream magic and Prohibition. If you like the dime dancers of prohibition, bootlegging, and those ideas being applied to dreams and Faerie, you'll like what you find here. Unsure if this is just general genre fatigue (historical Fae) or the book just not hitting for me. I do like the plot twist of the epilogue, though, and wish we had gotten more about that.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received this book from NetGalley. Final rating 2.5.
I feel like the book had a lot of potential but it fell flat for me. I could not get hooked and struggled to finish it. The book follows a dancer during the prohibition era and a fae that steals dreams. The world building was hard to follow and I didn’t feel a connection with either the FMC or MMC.
I feel like the book had a lot of potential but it fell flat for me. I could not get hooked and struggled to finish it. The book follows a dancer during the prohibition era and a fae that steals dreams. The world building was hard to follow and I didn’t feel a connection with either the FMC or MMC.
October 13, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and RedHook for a free digital ARC!
I think if someone went into this book blind it may not be for them, but I’ve already read several other novels so I knew I would like it. I wish we spent more time on the world building/lore and a little bit less time on some of the inner thoughts of the characters.
I think if someone went into this book blind it may not be for them, but I’ve already read several other novels so I knew I would like it. I wish we spent more time on the world building/lore and a little bit less time on some of the inner thoughts of the characters.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Pacing was too slow, world building didn’t get fully established until halfway through.
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