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nasotnychuk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
daphx00's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure what to think of this one. It made me uncomfortable, the decisions of the main character pushing the story into that direction even more. At the same time, it was interesting to read about a dysfunctional relationship and the last 40 pages or so hit home.
Rating and full review to come.
Rating and full review to come.
emldavis001's review against another edition
5.0
I've read this book before, and every time I read it it's like I'm reading it for the first time. I love all of her books and this will always be one of my favorites. It's a great read. Everyone should read it.
itsmetaphysical's review against another edition
5.0
My absolute favorite book by Sarah Dessen. Just when I was getting bore of the typical romance stories, I read this. Mind=Blown.
shelhunterr's review against another edition
5.0
When I picked up Dreamland by Sarah Dessen to read around 9 at night 2 years ago, I didn't put it down until 7:30 the next morning. I'm not sure if I read the synopsis of this book before I read it or not, because the first time Rogerson hit Caitlin, I was not expecting it at all. There were no warning signs--besides Rogerson's abusive father--that would have indicated to me that he would ever hit Caitlin. The thought had never even crossed my mind. I think that's why this book kept my interest--it thoroughly surprised me. This book is my favorite that Dessen has written, as I have read all of her books. It's different than her other creations. If I were to reccomend this book to someone, I would first tell them not to read any synopsis or reviews on this book before reading it.
jgurniak's review against another edition
4.0
3rd time's the charm! Finally a Sarah Dessen novel that held my interest! I tried Along for the Ride and That Summer and neither of them were good to me. Both had bland characters and boring stories, but Dreamland has more depth.
I have a tendency to prefer darker storylines, so it makes sense that the novel following teenage drug addiction would be the more interesting one to me. This type of plot I think is important to have in teen fiction, to showcase the darker side of life and help teens who do face this kind of thing feel seen.
I have a tendency to prefer darker storylines, so it makes sense that the novel following teenage drug addiction would be the more interesting one to me. This type of plot I think is important to have in teen fiction, to showcase the darker side of life and help teens who do face this kind of thing feel seen.
kirstym3692's review against another edition
4.0
I love Sarah Dessen's style, the ending of this book was a little weird though :(
kjerstig's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kayleigh_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
So I started reading Sarah Dessen when I was a teenager and I've basically made it my mission to eventually read all her books. I decided to read this because it was short and I knew Sarah Dessen books were light, fluffy, contemporaries and that's exactly what I was looking for. If you are going to read this don't just assume everything she writes is light and fluffy because this certainly was not.
Personally I just don't think this book was for me. I feel like some of the problem could have been because I truly wasn't expecting what I got from this book. That's completely a me problem and that's on me for not doing my research. Sarah Dessen did a really good job writing the story but I just feel like she should stick to her usual. She really made me like Rogerson before everything changed and I'm hoping that was was the intention. I'm not saying you can never branch out but it just seemed weird coming from her.
My big problem with this book was that this is a book where the main plot is Caitlin being in an abusive relationship and it takes more than half of the book for that to develop. You could argue that she was building up to it and there were subtle things in the beginning but I just didn't see them. I was so bored waiting for the main plot to happen and honestly I thought about DNFing multiple times. Also the abusive relationship felt like it came straight out of left field. It just seemed like Rogerson flipped a switch and it didn't make any sense. I know that this is sometimes the case and maybe that's what we were going for and it was supposed to be like that or maybe once again I missed subtle things in the beginning that would of made it make more sense but I just didn't like it.
This is also one of Sarah Dessen's earlier works and I think that I just prefer her newer books to the older things she has. From what I remember of the books that I've read from her I've enjoyed her newer books a lot more than any of her other books.
Personally I just don't think this book was for me. I feel like some of the problem could have been because I truly wasn't expecting what I got from this book. That's completely a me problem and that's on me for not doing my research. Sarah Dessen did a really good job writing the story but I just feel like she should stick to her usual. She really made me like Rogerson before everything changed and I'm hoping that was was the intention. I'm not saying you can never branch out but it just seemed weird coming from her.
My big problem with this book was that this is a book where the main plot is Caitlin being in an abusive relationship and it takes more than half of the book for that to develop. You could argue that she was building up to it and there were subtle things in the beginning but I just didn't see them. I was so bored waiting for the main plot to happen and honestly I thought about DNFing multiple times. Also the abusive relationship felt like it came straight out of left field. It just seemed like Rogerson flipped a switch and it didn't make any sense. I know that this is sometimes the case and maybe that's what we were going for and it was supposed to be like that or maybe once again I missed subtle things in the beginning that would of made it make more sense but I just didn't like it.
This is also one of Sarah Dessen's earlier works and I think that I just prefer her newer books to the older things she has. From what I remember of the books that I've read from her I've enjoyed her newer books a lot more than any of her other books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use