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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
I’m not a big fan of paranormal YA, but I enjoyed the unique premise of this story. I actually disliked Annabelle when she met Martin and trusted him so quickly. I also didn’t like her treatment of Will when he first met Martin. However, I do understand the motivation behind her actions—she had been dreaming of Martin and then, suddenly, there he was. I think the authors effectively depicted how teen girls can get caught up in their dreams of “the perfect guy.” There were definitely creepy twists and turns, and though it was a little scary for me (I’m super sensitive) I think those who enjoy horror, would definitely appreciate this unique narrative. Definitely like the emphasis on dreams and their significance and I think there’s certainly spiritual depth to the story. (3.5 stars!)
Dream Boy was an interesting YA read with a great premise. I loved the idea of dreams coming to life and it’s not something I’ve seen a lot of in young adult books. I particularly enjoyed the mystery aspect of the book and I also liked the will they or won’t they between Annabelle and her love interests.
Annabelle was a good narrator and I found her to be a likable and a strong female lead. Annabelle also has a great set of friends and the authors did a terrific job at developing the secondary characters. I found all of the characters relatable and it really drew me into trying to figure out along with them why their dreams were entering their reality.
Dream Boy felt a little younger than other books in the genre I have read lately, but as an adult I was still able to enjoy Annabelle’s story. I think younger teens will especially like the romantic angst between the characters. The relationships were all very sweet and I loved Annabelle’s best friend Will.
Dream Boy was a quick and captivating read. I liked that it was a standalone and all the plot points were neatly resolved at the close. I’m looking forward to reading more of the authors’ works.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!
Annabelle was a good narrator and I found her to be a likable and a strong female lead. Annabelle also has a great set of friends and the authors did a terrific job at developing the secondary characters. I found all of the characters relatable and it really drew me into trying to figure out along with them why their dreams were entering their reality.
Dream Boy felt a little younger than other books in the genre I have read lately, but as an adult I was still able to enjoy Annabelle’s story. I think younger teens will especially like the romantic angst between the characters. The relationships were all very sweet and I loved Annabelle’s best friend Will.
Dream Boy was a quick and captivating read. I liked that it was a standalone and all the plot points were neatly resolved at the close. I’m looking forward to reading more of the authors’ works.
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!
I received an ARC of this book, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This book was everything that a YA novel should be! There was a perfect balance between action, witty banter and fantasy. I thought the concept of dreams coming to life was unique and interesting. The characters were strong and well rounded, and felt realistic. The only drawback was that plot was easy to follow, and while it wasn't incredibly obvious, it was predictable. Overall, I thought this was a great, fun read.
This book was everything that a YA novel should be! There was a perfect balance between action, witty banter and fantasy. I thought the concept of dreams coming to life was unique and interesting. The characters were strong and well rounded, and felt realistic. The only drawback was that plot was easy to follow, and while it wasn't incredibly obvious, it was predictable. Overall, I thought this was a great, fun read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I would say the reason I picked this book up was because of the cover and the title. Just reading the title, I knew it was going to be about a boy that came real from someones dreams. I didn't expect that this book be really anything more than that! It had much more of a background and story that I did not expect which made it a little different.
Dream Boy by Mary Crockett is about a girl named Annabelle that dreams about a boy named Josh. She dreams about him often and he is sort of her "dream boy" (Ha, hence the title). Annabelle is a normal girl stuck in a small town in Virginia. She has a best friend named Will and lives with her mother and brother, Nick. Annabelle's father just left them a couple years ago to move to Alaska and they never really hear from him.
One day while at school, Annabelle lays eyes on her dream boy. Alive and in person as he walks into her chemistry class. She finds out that he is a new student named Martin who just got here from Philly. Although from other books, he actually knows of her and not because they are both real people on this Earth that just remember each other from dreams. No, Annabelle actually took him from the dream world and made him real.
[ WARNING THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ]
This book was pretty interesting. It is obvious that Will has feelings for Annabelle but now he has this wall between them that is Martin. Right away Martin and Annabelle pretty much take their dreams to real life. He is a little off though since he doesn't really understand the real world and how he should act. It takes time to get to that level of understanding. I was on Will's side the entire time throughout the book. I hoped Will and Annabelle would end up together.
We learn that Annabelle has been having these dreams where a girl is present. She seems to be making her dreams into nightmares and apparently wants to kill her or be her. Annabelle is worried and tries to get Martin to help her understand her dreams. He finally tells her about the nightmares in the dreaming world. This specific girl wants to become real though. She wants Annabelle to make her real like she did with Martin.
Overtime, you find out there are a lot of people in this town that are taken from the dreaming world. Including a lot of Annabelle's friends and people she knows at her school. Annabelle finds out through a dream that this girl is going to try to come to life during Homecoming. Everyone goes to homecoming to try and get this girl to go away. During the hunt of this girl, Will finally tells Annabelle how he feels about her and she realizes that she loves him too. When getting rid of the girl, all of the dreams that Annabelle has thought of need to go away and back to where they came from. This caused some to almost get pushed back into the dream world but when Will tries to save a dog that was dreamed of.
This is when Martin finally tells Annabelle that Will was her dream. That was a twist I sort of saw coming but not really. Now Annabelle needs to get him back and the ending was kind of a closing but not really. I don't think there is going to be another book but I would of liked an ending where Annabelle and Will actually talked after he was found. I truly enjoyed this book and actually read the entire book during one slow shift at work. I would recommend this book to someone that wants a twist on dreaming books. It was a simple read. The world wasn't that complex but I wasn't expecting much complexity.
Dream Boy by Mary Crockett is about a girl named Annabelle that dreams about a boy named Josh. She dreams about him often and he is sort of her "dream boy" (Ha, hence the title). Annabelle is a normal girl stuck in a small town in Virginia. She has a best friend named Will and lives with her mother and brother, Nick. Annabelle's father just left them a couple years ago to move to Alaska and they never really hear from him.
One day while at school, Annabelle lays eyes on her dream boy. Alive and in person as he walks into her chemistry class. She finds out that he is a new student named Martin who just got here from Philly. Although from other books, he actually knows of her and not because they are both real people on this Earth that just remember each other from dreams. No, Annabelle actually took him from the dream world and made him real.
[ WARNING THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ]
This book was pretty interesting. It is obvious that Will has feelings for Annabelle but now he has this wall between them that is Martin. Right away Martin and Annabelle pretty much take their dreams to real life. He is a little off though since he doesn't really understand the real world and how he should act. It takes time to get to that level of understanding. I was on Will's side the entire time throughout the book. I hoped Will and Annabelle would end up together.
We learn that Annabelle has been having these dreams where a girl is present. She seems to be making her dreams into nightmares and apparently wants to kill her or be her. Annabelle is worried and tries to get Martin to help her understand her dreams. He finally tells her about the nightmares in the dreaming world. This specific girl wants to become real though. She wants Annabelle to make her real like she did with Martin.
Overtime, you find out there are a lot of people in this town that are taken from the dreaming world. Including a lot of Annabelle's friends and people she knows at her school. Annabelle finds out through a dream that this girl is going to try to come to life during Homecoming. Everyone goes to homecoming to try and get this girl to go away. During the hunt of this girl, Will finally tells Annabelle how he feels about her and she realizes that she loves him too. When getting rid of the girl, all of the dreams that Annabelle has thought of need to go away and back to where they came from. This caused some to almost get pushed back into the dream world but when Will tries to save a dog that was dreamed of.
This is when Martin finally tells Annabelle that Will was her dream. That was a twist I sort of saw coming but not really. Now Annabelle needs to get him back and the ending was kind of a closing but not really. I don't think there is going to be another book but I would of liked an ending where Annabelle and Will actually talked after he was found. I truly enjoyed this book and actually read the entire book during one slow shift at work. I would recommend this book to someone that wants a twist on dreaming books. It was a simple read. The world wasn't that complex but I wasn't expecting much complexity.
I had high expectations about this book because it was about dreams and I love dreams and stories about dreams. But this book didn't really give me anything to be excited for. I don't know why, I think maybe because it's a standalone? I thought if it were a series, the authors could elaborate more about the dreams who became real and the nightmares. I felt the book was a bit rush.
Way better and far less cheesy than I thought it would be.
The romance between the main character and her dream-boyfriend was unrealistic—but that made the comparison of her (no longer platonic) love for her best friend Will so much more real.
The characterization was good, the premise interesting, and the writing was well-done and edited.
But most of all, I gave this book the rare five-star review because the author didn't give the story an ending where the file ends up with her "dream boyfriend". I really loved how she ended being with Will in the end.
The romance between the main character and her dream-boyfriend was unrealistic—but that made the comparison of her (no longer platonic) love for her best friend Will so much more real.
The characterization was good, the premise interesting, and the writing was well-done and edited.
But most of all, I gave this book the rare five-star review because the author didn't give the story an ending where the file ends up with her "dream boyfriend". I really loved how she ended being with Will in the end.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book was a fun little mystery with a side of friends to lovers romance.
Release Date: July
Arc provided by Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley
In case the five star rating isn't obvious enough, I loved this story! ~inserts huge grin and lots and lots of fangirling~
It must be difficult being an author in our time and age striving for originality.
Let's face it: The publishing market has been flooded by vampires, demons, zombies, werewolves and so on and on. If it has a paranormal trait, chances are it has been read and re-read by the public.
This one... well some authors have used it as well, but in a dramatically lesser scale.
And as far as everything I've read... never like this.
In the small town of Chilton, Virginia, Annabelle is your typical high school student. She feels trapped in her life. She feels like she's not going anywhere, and only her friends keep her grounded in her life and mostly sane.
Her best friend is Will Connor and... getting into the southern spirit, he's the cool wind to her bigger than life existence. Will is the friend every girl wants to have. He has an incredible mind and just the right dose of wittiness in him.
As you can read, this sounds like a very YA type of story but, the good kind of YA! Where the characters aren't cardboard stereotypes, having instead a life of their own: a chaotic, messy, real teenager's lives.
It was great!
The authors were able to create a vast number of characters, each of them perfectly defined and, most importantly of all, interesting to read about!
There's girl power. There's healthy, normal girls' friendship, which _in case you've been reading the latest YA books_ you know how hard it is to find!!
Annabelle falls in love, but that doesn't mean that that will be the story's single plot, with a whole lot of drama and teen angst.
Definitely not!!
This is one of the sanest YA books I've ever read! And it has a paranormal twist! So yes, this was masterfully crafted!!
The first page is perfect. It sets the tone for what is coming, but it also snares us completely. Please bear in mind that this is an ARC and, as such, susceptible to changes:
"I’ve always been a dreamer. Daydreams. Night dreams. Dreams of grandeur and dreams of escape. If I were an onion and you pulled back the papery outside, you’d find layer after layer of eye-watering dreams. And in the center, where there’s that little curlicue of onion heart? There’d be a puff of smoke from the dreams that burned away."
I dare you to begin this book, and being able to DNF it.
The writing is pretty much perfect.
They may be teenagers, but they do know how to properly speak, and I couldn't help but appreciate the small tidbits that would be "carelessly" thrown once in awhile (lol)... so we could see that these kids have a solid cultural background. Perfect balance between: I'm funny... and smart. Try to keep up with me!
Ever read a story where you feel like the characters of the book you're reading would be BFF with another book's characters?
O_O
Well, I have. The first time was with author Jenn Bennett's character "Jupe (Jupiter)". The kid is so amazing that I couldn't help but think that he would be right at home with Sarah Rees Brennan's The Lynburn Legacy world. And now, for the second time, I find characters so interesting that I couldn't help thinking: Hey, Talon has the potential to be Angela's best friend! They're both secondary characters, but they definitely know how to steal the main character's spotlight.
In case you're not "computing", this means that I really, really like them!!
So, perfect writing, perfect characters, a love interest... with a small dash of love triangle in it (I know!! But it's really small, and it works!), perfect plot!
The plot!
It was so good! And you know why?
Because the characters question what is happening to them, they don't fall into easy plotholes.
Imagine what would happen if your dreams started coming true... if people from your dreams started appearing in real life. After a while would you be able to differentiate reality from dreams?
And what would happen if the same thing happened with nightmares?
Imagine a creepy nightmare stalking you and your friends in our average day routine.
Imagine lots and lots of creepy, slithering reptiles...
Ugh.
The last part is amazing. I honestly couldn't read it fast enough. I wanted to know what was going to happen, while at the same time dreading the outcome!
Perfect.
Oh, and the cover?
Completely enticing, and knowing that the tree with the bottles hanging on its branches plays such a big part on the story, just makes it even more perfect.
Definitely recommended!
The only thing that left me a little... unsatisfied (a tiny little bit) was the ending... I wanted a few more pages!
Something from Annabelle or even Will's point of view, would have been nice.
In the end, everything is pretty much resolved, as much as one can resolve things in a plot with a paranormal setting, but I can't help wondering if there's going to be another book... or books?
Either way I'm happy. Of course having loved this, I wouldn't mind getting back into this world.
Mary Crockett Oficial Site (where you can check the author's happy dance ;) )
Madelyn Rosenberg Official Site
Pre-order "The Dream Boy"
@Bookdepository.com
Arc provided by Sourcebooks Fire through Netgalley
In case the five star rating isn't obvious enough, I loved this story! ~inserts huge grin and lots and lots of fangirling~
It must be difficult being an author in our time and age striving for originality.
Let's face it: The publishing market has been flooded by vampires, demons, zombies, werewolves and so on and on. If it has a paranormal trait, chances are it has been read and re-read by the public.
This one... well some authors have used it as well, but in a dramatically lesser scale.
And as far as everything I've read... never like this.
In the small town of Chilton, Virginia, Annabelle is your typical high school student. She feels trapped in her life. She feels like she's not going anywhere, and only her friends keep her grounded in her life and mostly sane.
Her best friend is Will Connor and... getting into the southern spirit, he's the cool wind to her bigger than life existence. Will is the friend every girl wants to have. He has an incredible mind and just the right dose of wittiness in him.
As you can read, this sounds like a very YA type of story but, the good kind of YA! Where the characters aren't cardboard stereotypes, having instead a life of their own: a chaotic, messy, real teenager's lives.
It was great!
The authors were able to create a vast number of characters, each of them perfectly defined and, most importantly of all, interesting to read about!
There's girl power. There's healthy, normal girls' friendship, which _in case you've been reading the latest YA books_ you know how hard it is to find!!
Annabelle falls in love, but that doesn't mean that that will be the story's single plot, with a whole lot of drama and teen angst.
Definitely not!!
This is one of the sanest YA books I've ever read! And it has a paranormal twist! So yes, this was masterfully crafted!!
The first page is perfect. It sets the tone for what is coming, but it also snares us completely. Please bear in mind that this is an ARC and, as such, susceptible to changes:
"I’ve always been a dreamer. Daydreams. Night dreams. Dreams of grandeur and dreams of escape. If I were an onion and you pulled back the papery outside, you’d find layer after layer of eye-watering dreams. And in the center, where there’s that little curlicue of onion heart? There’d be a puff of smoke from the dreams that burned away."
I dare you to begin this book, and being able to DNF it.
The writing is pretty much perfect.
They may be teenagers, but they do know how to properly speak, and I couldn't help but appreciate the small tidbits that would be "carelessly" thrown once in awhile (lol)... so we could see that these kids have a solid cultural background. Perfect balance between: I'm funny... and smart. Try to keep up with me!
Ever read a story where you feel like the characters of the book you're reading would be BFF with another book's characters?
O_O
Well, I have. The first time was with author Jenn Bennett's character "Jupe (Jupiter)". The kid is so amazing that I couldn't help but think that he would be right at home with Sarah Rees Brennan's The Lynburn Legacy world. And now, for the second time, I find characters so interesting that I couldn't help thinking: Hey, Talon has the potential to be Angela's best friend! They're both secondary characters, but they definitely know how to steal the main character's spotlight.
In case you're not "computing", this means that I really, really like them!!
So, perfect writing, perfect characters, a love interest... with a small dash of love triangle in it (I know!! But it's really small, and it works!), perfect plot!
The plot!
It was so good! And you know why?
Because the characters question what is happening to them, they don't fall into easy plotholes.
Imagine what would happen if your dreams started coming true... if people from your dreams started appearing in real life. After a while would you be able to differentiate reality from dreams?
And what would happen if the same thing happened with nightmares?
Imagine a creepy nightmare stalking you and your friends in our average day routine.
Imagine lots and lots of creepy, slithering reptiles...
Ugh.
The last part is amazing. I honestly couldn't read it fast enough. I wanted to know what was going to happen, while at the same time dreading the outcome!
Perfect.
Oh, and the cover?
Completely enticing, and knowing that the tree with the bottles hanging on its branches plays such a big part on the story, just makes it even more perfect.
Definitely recommended!
The only thing that left me a little... unsatisfied (a tiny little bit) was the ending... I wanted a few more pages!
Something from Annabelle or even Will's point of view, would have been nice.
In the end, everything is pretty much resolved, as much as one can resolve things in a plot with a paranormal setting, but I can't help wondering if there's going to be another book... or books?
Either way I'm happy. Of course having loved this, I wouldn't mind getting back into this world.
Mary Crockett Oficial Site (where you can check the author's happy dance ;) )
Madelyn Rosenberg Official Site
Pre-order "The Dream Boy"
@Bookdepository.com