“The story of relationships built and broken, mistakes inherited and repeated, and the beauty of trying again….already one of the year’s best.”–People

Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her future in-laws’ lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a young doctor with a brilliant life ahead of him. Charlie has asked Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate the ceremony, though Cece can’t imagine anyone more ill-suited for the task—an airport baggage handler haunted by a tragedy from his and Charlie’s shared past. But as Cece spends time with Garrett, his gruff mask slips, and she grows increasingly uncertain about her future. And why does Garrett, after meeting Cece, begin to feel, well, human again? As a contagious stomach flu threatens to scuttle the wedding, and Charlie and Garrett’s friendship is put to the ultimate test, Cece must decide between the life she’s dreamed of and a life she’s never imagined.

The events of that summer have long-lasting repercussions, not only on the three friends caught in its shadow but also on their children, who struggle to escape their parents’ story. Spanning fifty years and set against the backdrop of a rapidly warming Montana, Dream State explores what it means to live with the mistakes of the past—both our own and the ones we’ve inherited.

Written with humor, precision, and enormous heart, both a love letter and an elegy to the American West, Dream State is a thrillingly ambitious ode to the power of friendship, the weird weather of marriage, and the beauty of impermanence.

Literary fiction is hit or miss for me — like, really hit or miss. I want to like it, and I try to like it, but sometimes the books are just too long, too meandering, and I find myself trudging through, mind wandering, considering giving up, but feeling weirdly guilty if I do. A lot of times, I like the characters, but I hate the constant meandering. I’ll keep reading even when I’m bored, but it starts to feel like I’m walking through mud in a rainstorm, and then I end up resenting it and cursing myself for sticking with it. Not exactly the vibe I’m going for when I pick up a book.

That said, this book had the total opposite effect. I picked it up, thinking I’d read a couple of chapters and save the rest for the next day. Instead, I blinked, and suddenly, three hours had passed, and I was somehow halfway through without meaning to be. That’s always the best feeling — when you’re so caught up, you don’t even notice the clock ticking. The next day, I actually switched to the audiobook while I was walking during my lunch break because I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. I needed to be back in their world.

I got so invested in these people’s lives! Garrett, Charlie, and Cece felt so real to me. I love it when a book gives you characters that are messy and layered but not in that forced “look how dysfunctional we are!” literary fiction way. They just felt like actual people. Flawed, yes, but also funny and tender and frustrating in the best way. I knew them. I cared about them. I wanted to shake them sometimes, but I also just wanted them to be okay. The book spans over fifty years, and we also get to meet their kids – who, unsurprisingly, I cared about just as much. Watching how the choices the characters made (and sometimes didn’t make) reverberated through the decades was fascinating and heartbreaking and so well done. Every scene and every decision had a purpose. It was beautiful.

Plot-wise, it’s pretty basic, but then it’s also not. These characters’ lives are forever changed by a chance meeting and a simple decision. Cece is in love and is about to marry Charlie. They’re at his family’s lake house in Montana, getting ready for the wedding, when Garrett, Charlie’s best friend, shows up to officiate. From the get-go, Cece senses that Garrett is carrying way more than his fair share of emotional baggage. As Cece spends more time with him, she starts to question not only her relationship with Charlie but the life she thought she wanted. What I loved is that it’s not just about the romantic tension – it’s about friendship, loss, the weight of our decisions, and how we can’t run from our past no matter how hard we try. It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s complicated – but like I said, it never feels heavy just for the sake of being heavy.

And if you’re into audiobooks, let me just say this one is exceptional. MacLeod Andrews is so good. His narration brought so much depth to the story. I think that’s part of why I felt so attached – the audiobook made the story even more intimate as if I were right there with them.

Overall, I ended up really liking this one much more than I expected. If you like literary fiction that’s character-driven, emotional, a little messy (in the best way), and quietly powerful – give this one a try. And if you’re like me and sometimes feel like literary fiction can get a little too… indulgent? Don’t worry. This one doesn’t do that. I stayed hooked the whole time and, honestly, didn’t want it to end.

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