You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
I enjoyed reading this (except for the last fifty pages) but I also kept going "...really?" as I was reading. Rosie is going to a performing arts boarding school that is also a reality show (...really?) which people watch for twelve hours a day (...really?). At night, the students are willingly drugged into super deep sleep (...really?). Rosie skips her pill one night and sees a classmate being studied and medically tested, but doesn't worry all that much, because she likes making movies and this school is maybe the only way to do that (...really?).
Reading the last fifty pages was less "...really?" And more "... So, you're not going to resolve or explain anything at all? Like at all?" 2.5 stars for me.
Reading the last fifty pages was less "...really?" And more "... So, you're not going to resolve or explain anything at all? Like at all?" 2.5 stars for me.
The Vault of Dreamers starts out with the strong reality TV theme where participants compete for viewer attention and the first 50 most popular students will remain to go through an experimental program designed to boost the creativity and brain power, while the latter 50 participants will be cut from the program. The main protagonist opens the last day before cut off with a low score of 95. After witnessing an incident where a staff member was being abused, Rosie Sinclair expresses her concern over his well being. He provides a few hints how to increase her popularity on the screen, her score jumps to 50 and she manages to stay in the program. Dissatisfied with some of the parameters of the program, Rosie starts investigating. She gets so involved in what is going on behind the screen that she becomes a victim of the program. Just when she thinks she has found a way to freedom, the novel ends.
By this time the reader is already caught up in the lives of the characters and must know if Rosie is successful or not and what comes next. Personally I am ordering the 2nd and 3rd installment today because I must know. Usually this type of ending would drive me crazy enough to drop the series, but this one is too good to forget.
By this time the reader is already caught up in the lives of the characters and must know if Rosie is successful or not and what comes next. Personally I am ordering the 2nd and 3rd installment today because I must know. Usually this type of ending would drive me crazy enough to drop the series, but this one is too good to forget.
The Vault Of Dreamers is a pretty good read. It was better than I had expected. Read my ENTIRE review here
I've always wanted to read a book about dreams. Nothing too specific – but the synopsis for O'Brien's latest novel piqued my interest because it was just that. Dreams. A book on dreams may have been on my reading bucket list of unique books, and now I can happily cross it off. An impossible bucket list item is to complete my TBR pile. If not, at least 50% – that'll only happen if I add no more books, which isn't happening anytime soon.
The Vault of Dreamers had a completely different concept that I had been dreaming of, but despite the fact I was thinking of something else entirely, the idea behind The Vault of Dreamers was perfect. Dreams = Hope. What better way than placing that in a prestigious school of art, competition, and to top it off – a reality show? Definitely a dream come true for some – as much as I want to try my hand in acting one day, a camera stalking my every move 24/7 is NOT my dream come true.
Rosie Sinclair is one of the students attending the school – called the Forge School, and the show is called the Forge Show. Not exactly a creative name in my opinion (Forge???). Though, as you read the book and as Rosie finds out what's really happening at night at the Forge School, the name makes a lot of sense. Especially when you take a peek at forge's etymology.
Rosie's sort of different from other characters I read – she's rebellious from the start. She doesn't find anything amiss among the school at first, so her breaking rules straight from the beginning is simple – she misses night. Most I come across are say... going with the flow. Everything's happy until something sinister happens or said character finds something sinister about something. Rosie, well, she's all "I'm a rebellious person, and I'll be breaking rules after laying low for awhile."
The voices Rosie has is really weird as well. O'Brien writes those as though Rosie is two people – she even replies with her thoughts to that voice! If that's not odd, I don't know what is. Actually, I can think of a lot of other things that can be more odd, but that's beside the point.
What I still don't get, however, is why Rosie went to the Forge School when a) she hates cameras and prefers being behind them instead and b) she knew full well when she applied that she would be watched 24/7. The Forge Show isn't one of those shows that go blah – it's widely popular. And with the Internet still existing in Rosie's world, why isn't there a YouTube of sorts? Is everyone that addicted to The Forge Show that there's nothing else to watch? Or is it just the thrill of watching 12 hours – even AGT isn't that long! – of students in grades 10-12 competing for fame? No wonder reality shows are flying up the charts – guys, what happened to the wondrous days of Code Lyoko? :p
As much as I enjoyed following Rosie around as she tries to find out what's going on at night at The Forge School, I was sort of disappointed in the ending. Well, the last chapter, which technically counts as the end. The run down?
The Vault of Dreamers will most likely appeal to those interested in reading about a reality show where everything is not what it may seem behind cameras. I may look into O'Brien's other works.
------------------
Advanced review copy provided by Macmillan for review
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Original Review posted at Bookwyrming Thoughts
The Vault of Dreamers had a completely different concept that I had been dreaming of, but despite the fact I was thinking of something else entirely, the idea behind The Vault of Dreamers was perfect. Dreams = Hope. What better way than placing that in a prestigious school of art, competition, and to top it off – a reality show? Definitely a dream come true for some – as much as I want to try my hand in acting one day, a camera stalking my every move 24/7 is NOT my dream come true.
Rosie Sinclair is one of the students attending the school – called the Forge School, and the show is called the Forge Show. Not exactly a creative name in my opinion (Forge???). Though, as you read the book and as Rosie finds out what's really happening at night at the Forge School, the name makes a lot of sense. Especially when you take a peek at forge's etymology.
Rosie's sort of different from other characters I read – she's rebellious from the start. She doesn't find anything amiss among the school at first, so her breaking rules straight from the beginning is simple – she misses night. Most I come across are say... going with the flow. Everything's happy until something sinister happens or said character finds something sinister about something. Rosie, well, she's all "I'm a rebellious person, and I'll be breaking rules after laying low for awhile."
The voices Rosie has is really weird as well. O'Brien writes those as though Rosie is two people – she even replies with her thoughts to that voice! If that's not odd, I don't know what is. Actually, I can think of a lot of other things that can be more odd, but that's beside the point.
What I still don't get, however, is why Rosie went to the Forge School when a) she hates cameras and prefers being behind them instead and b) she knew full well when she applied that she would be watched 24/7. The Forge Show isn't one of those shows that go blah – it's widely popular. And with the Internet still existing in Rosie's world, why isn't there a YouTube of sorts? Is everyone that addicted to The Forge Show that there's nothing else to watch? Or is it just the thrill of watching 12 hours – even AGT isn't that long! – of students in grades 10-12 competing for fame? No wonder reality shows are flying up the charts – guys, what happened to the wondrous days of Code Lyoko? :p
As much as I enjoyed following Rosie around as she tries to find out what's going on at night at The Forge School, I was sort of disappointed in the ending. Well, the last chapter, which technically counts as the end. The run down?
Spoiler
Rosie gets caught breaking the rules twice, finds out the actual truth of what's going on, dean and co tries to stop her, which results in her being whisked away from the world forever. Essentially, Rosie is dead, yet not dead. Until she's 18, but how much time passes between getting caught and the last chapter, I have no clue. The ending's all very open-ended – which CAN have it's perks – but I don't know what's going to happen with Rosie. However... it's rare the villain wins.The Vault of Dreamers will most likely appeal to those interested in reading about a reality show where everything is not what it may seem behind cameras. I may look into O'Brien's other works.
------------------
Advanced review copy provided by Macmillan for review
Original Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Original Review posted at Bookwyrming Thoughts
Graded By: Mandy W.
Cover Story: Eye Turn My Camera On
BFF Charm: Maybe
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: The Future Is Now
Bonus Factors: Fine Arts School, Reality TV, Sleep
Relationship Status: Successful First Date
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Eye Turn My Camera On
BFF Charm: Maybe
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: The Future Is Now
Bonus Factors: Fine Arts School, Reality TV, Sleep
Relationship Status: Successful First Date
Read the full book report here.
3.75 stars
I'm not sure what that ending was. I mean what the what??? Review to come.
I'm not sure what that ending was. I mean what the what??? Review to come.
I definitely liked Birthmarked, the first book by this author, but never really felt compelled to finish the series. Seeing a new book form the author come up on NetGalley, I opted to give it a shot and, even with some quibbles about certain choices made, I'm ultimately glad I did.
The book throws a curve from the start, in that a girl is in a school environment complete with futuristic pods and such. We quickly learn that it is the future, and it's also part of a reality program of sorts for very creative types. Rosie skips her sleeping pill for the pod one night, however, and finds what she believes to be the true happenings and purpose of the school. It quickly becomes a story of perception and reality with some hints of future tech.
The ideas? Wonderful, and really advanced for a YA book in a lot of ways. I loved the choices and chances made, except for the end of the book where things quickly start to fall apart at the seams. The ending in particular outright angered me, and while I shouldn't judge a book so much by my disliking of an ending, there is something to be said about the ending fitting everything else.
All said and done, though, I did like this and would recommend. It's a strange trip, for sure, but one I'm glad I went on, all things considered.
The book throws a curve from the start, in that a girl is in a school environment complete with futuristic pods and such. We quickly learn that it is the future, and it's also part of a reality program of sorts for very creative types. Rosie skips her sleeping pill for the pod one night, however, and finds what she believes to be the true happenings and purpose of the school. It quickly becomes a story of perception and reality with some hints of future tech.
The ideas? Wonderful, and really advanced for a YA book in a lot of ways. I loved the choices and chances made, except for the end of the book where things quickly start to fall apart at the seams. The ending in particular outright angered me, and while I shouldn't judge a book so much by my disliking of an ending, there is something to be said about the ending fitting everything else.
All said and done, though, I did like this and would recommend. It's a strange trip, for sure, but one I'm glad I went on, all things considered.
I picked up this book based on the the short description on the back. I enjoy thrillers and realistic science fiction, so I figured that I would enjoy this book as well. And for the most part, I did. I really liked Rosie as a character and how she didn't pretend that she was like the other students, particularly the popular ones. I also enjoyed how she cared more about others than herself, though that sometimes got her into some trouble with trying to figure out her relationships with Linus, Burnham, and the other students, especially as she continued to discover more and more about the secrets of the school. Some of her choices I didn't quite understand. There is one in particular, toward the end of the book, where she trusted a complete stranger over a friend. I didn't understand why she thought that would be a good idea.
O'Brien's way of writing was pleasant to read and kept my attention, causing me to become invested in the characters. There were some annoyances though. One such annoyance was her overuse of "I said"/"He said"/etc. When reading a conversation between two people, the inclusion of the saying tags isn't always necessary and, sometimes, even distracts from the conversation. The biggest annoyance was the ending of the book. I had to re-read the last chapter to figure out exactly what happened. It didn't make me throw the book across the room as O'Brien said it made other readers (as stated in her interview included in my copy of the book). However, it didn't feel like a satisfactory ending. To be honest, I would have preferred the original ending she mentioned in the interview.
Overall, I liked The Vault of Dreamers, but the ending did not leave me feeling fulfilled, but rather like "Oh, that's it? It's done? *Shrugs* Okay, I guess." And while I know there is a sequel, the ending seemed pretty finite and hasn't made me what to find out what happens next.
O'Brien's way of writing was pleasant to read and kept my attention, causing me to become invested in the characters. There were some annoyances though. One such annoyance was her overuse of "I said"/"He said"/etc. When reading a conversation between two people, the inclusion of the saying tags isn't always necessary and, sometimes, even distracts from the conversation. The biggest annoyance was the ending of the book. I had to re-read the last chapter to figure out exactly what happened. It didn't make me throw the book across the room as O'Brien said it made other readers (as stated in her interview included in my copy of the book). However, it didn't feel like a satisfactory ending. To be honest, I would have preferred the original ending she mentioned in the interview.
Overall, I liked The Vault of Dreamers, but the ending did not leave me feeling fulfilled, but rather like "Oh, that's it? It's done? *Shrugs* Okay, I guess." And while I know there is a sequel, the ending seemed pretty finite and hasn't made me what to find out what happens next.
Caragh O’Brien’s upcoming novel, The Vault of Dreamers touches on the modern obsession with reality television as well as the importance (and current undervaluation) of art in our lives and especially the lives of children. The Vault of Dreamers begins with a strong and intriguing premise but slowly loses traction as it progresses to its vague and uncertain, albeit action-packed climax, leaving the novel rife with unfulfilled potential.
Rosie is part of the incoming sophomore class at the prestigious and famous Forge School. Each year one hundred students with hopes for specializing in different artistic disciplines from performing arts like acting and music through visual arts like painting, photography, and film making are narrowed down to fifty in front of a nation of viewers. With one day to go before the fifty cuts are made, Rosie’s ranking with the audience is unimpressive and it looks like she’ll be going home. So she skips the mandatory sleeping pill and sneaks out of bed, only to see things that make her wonder whether the school’s staff is up to something during those hours when the viewers aren’t watching.
For the complete review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-z5
Rosie is part of the incoming sophomore class at the prestigious and famous Forge School. Each year one hundred students with hopes for specializing in different artistic disciplines from performing arts like acting and music through visual arts like painting, photography, and film making are narrowed down to fifty in front of a nation of viewers. With one day to go before the fifty cuts are made, Rosie’s ranking with the audience is unimpressive and it looks like she’ll be going home. So she skips the mandatory sleeping pill and sneaks out of bed, only to see things that make her wonder whether the school’s staff is up to something during those hours when the viewers aren’t watching.
For the complete review, please visit my blog:
http://wp.me/pUEx4-z5
Vault of Dreamers ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 stars.
My sister bought me this book a couple years ago and I kept putting off reading it. Now that I’m 20 I assumed I would not enjoy it or finish the series but wanted to try it out. I was really pleasantly surprised. While I assumed it would be one of those books that so many authors wrote post-hunger games era that is a washed out badly written dystopian this book was really interesting to me. This book is about, Rosie, a girl in high school that has a poor family and was given a scholarship to go to an immensely popular art school called the Forge School that is also a reality show. The show is 12 hours straight and records all the students at every moment and the audience can choose which person to watch and the least popular students will have to leave. The other 12 hours of the day is spent sleeping and it is required that everyone takes a sleeping pill and doesn’t leave their sleeping pod until morning. Rosie realizes by skipping her pill that there is something going on with the school at night and the reason they are all given sleeping pills may not just be to improve their work ethic as they’re told. I really enjoyed the plot of this book and found it to be so interesting and loved the idea. I will definitely be reading the next two books and am excited for what’s to come. I rated this book only 3.5 stars though because although I enjoyed the plot I felt little connection to the characters and most of the character interaction seemed one dimensional and stale. I hope in the next two books the characters are more developed and personable. I definitely recommend this to teen readers as the main character is 15 and it is a young adult dystopian but some trigger warnings are⚠️: serious injury, passing out, suicide, graphic scenes, child abuse.
My sister bought me this book a couple years ago and I kept putting off reading it. Now that I’m 20 I assumed I would not enjoy it or finish the series but wanted to try it out. I was really pleasantly surprised. While I assumed it would be one of those books that so many authors wrote post-hunger games era that is a washed out badly written dystopian this book was really interesting to me. This book is about, Rosie, a girl in high school that has a poor family and was given a scholarship to go to an immensely popular art school called the Forge School that is also a reality show. The show is 12 hours straight and records all the students at every moment and the audience can choose which person to watch and the least popular students will have to leave. The other 12 hours of the day is spent sleeping and it is required that everyone takes a sleeping pill and doesn’t leave their sleeping pod until morning. Rosie realizes by skipping her pill that there is something going on with the school at night and the reason they are all given sleeping pills may not just be to improve their work ethic as they’re told. I really enjoyed the plot of this book and found it to be so interesting and loved the idea. I will definitely be reading the next two books and am excited for what’s to come. I rated this book only 3.5 stars though because although I enjoyed the plot I felt little connection to the characters and most of the character interaction seemed one dimensional and stale. I hope in the next two books the characters are more developed and personable. I definitely recommend this to teen readers as the main character is 15 and it is a young adult dystopian but some trigger warnings are⚠️: serious injury, passing out, suicide, graphic scenes, child abuse.