Quick Synopsis – The headlines are calling it the “summer of exsanguination” in LA—girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season. More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part time at the family store, and contending with her mother’s disdain for the acting career Anya knows she’s destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.

It’s in this suffocating late summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA’s most influential film dynasties. Soon, she’s spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood Hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family’s heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.

In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil. When Anya comes face to face with a devil of her own, she’ll learn just how far she’s willing to go to get everything she’s ever wanted.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Staring Back at Me by The All American Rejects

Publication Date – Aug. 11, 2026

Bookshop Link – Dreamland by Olivie Blake (I get a small commission if you purchase using my link)

Content Notes – There is blood, gore, violence, violence against women, fetishism, racism, child neglect, child abuse, and gun violence.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – I’ve only read one other book by this author, and I was worried that I wouldn’t like this book. However, this book really surprised me. I love a good gothic story, and this really reminded me of Mexican Gothic. Except in Dreamland, Anya the main character, is very much going to down the rabbit hole willingly. The first couple of chapters were a little jarring for me to get through. This is a dual POV story, but in the first part of the story I hard time determining who was narrating at all. It took me a minute to catch on to the flow.

I will say this is a novel of no good characters, every character is a little morally grey. Anya seems to be a little bit of a sociopath, always talking about inhabiting a character in order to be able to relate to other people. She also has to repeatedly deal with misogyny, casual racism, and feeling like every relationship she has is purely transactional. I’d be a little detached from my emotions too. Anya is an aspiring actress and when she sees a man hit by bus that seems traumatizing enough. But then he pulls himself from under the bus and somehow manages to survive. Oh, there is also a serial killer on the loose exsanguinating and killing women.

When Anya gets the chance to work for an esteemed Hollywood family, she leaps at the chance to further her career. When the job seems to be basically babysitting a 20 something year old man, she’s less then excited. Of course, everything isn’t as it seems. Julian, the man she’s now babysitting, is also the man she saw walk away from being hit by a bus. Dun dun dun! I thought this book had a fun plot. Gruesome, but honestly fun. I liked the murder mystery of not really knowing until the very end who was committing the crimes. This is a very violent book, but there is still some humor and weirdly I was rooting for Anya and Jude.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.