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rollforlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I found this in the adult section of the library but it was really more YA - not that I mind it, there's some great YA out there.
I'd like to give this 3.5, it just wasn't quite up with the books I've given four stars in the past but it was still worth the read.
I'd like to give this 3.5, it just wasn't quite up with the books I've given four stars in the past but it was still worth the read.
aandriot's review against another edition
4.0
Picked this up ages ago because I love this author’s adult novels. This one is good too. The world is so creative. And detailed. I got the sense that there was so much more worldbuilding that the author did but didn’t make it into the books, which gives it a wonderful sense of realness.
magicacat's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this, looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy!
moirwyn's review against another edition
5.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/01/15/dreamwalker-by-c-s-friedman/
I was so blown away by C.S. Friedman’s Magister Trilogy that when I heard she was trying her hand at a young adult series, I couldn’t help but get excited. I love her writing so much, and I like the way that she considers the realistic consequences of her characters’ actions.
Dreamwalker is the story of Jessica, a teenage girl dealing with some difficult issues in her personal life. Her father walked out on the family when she was little, and he claimed that she wasn’t really his child and that Jessica’s mom was having an affair. Even though her mother reassures her this isn’t true, she can’t help but wonder. When the paternity test finally comes back, it shatters Jessica’s world forever. Not only does her DNA not match her father, but it doesn’t match her mother either. Her genetics seem to indicate that she is a freak of nature.
Jessica’s brother Tommy is a gamer and spends most of his time playing World of Warcraft. I empathize with him quite a bit, as I went through my own WoW phase for several years until Blizzard decided to ruin my epic fantasy with pandas (/endrant), and he’s easily my favorite character in the story. Jessica really doesn’t understand Tommy, but she makes the effort to be a part of his life, and he uses stories from her dreams as inspiration in some of his online games. One night, Tommy is kidnapped by strange creatures from a parallel world. It is up to Jessica to rescue him, and in the process, find out what she really is.
One of the strengths of young adult writing is its ability to address the issues that teenagers are dealing with in their own lives. Friedman does a fantastic job of portraying a messed up family that still has an anchor of love and support, even though Jessica’s father’s actions have left lasting emotional scars on everyone in the family. Her family isn’t perfect, but they’re trying, and Jessica will stop at nothing to save Tommy’s life.
I enjoyed the fact that Friedman decided to use a diverse cast of characters. Jessica is accompanied on her rescue mission by two friends that she met online, both of whom have similar DNA anomalies. Devon is black, and Rita grew up on the streets. Their differing racial and socioeconomic backgrounds play important roles in the story, and each character has to rely on their own unique life experiences to survive in another world.
Oh, and then there’s the romance! Friedman does a perfect job here. Jessica is too busy rescuing her brother to have long romantic entanglements, and there’s no insta-love in this book. Instead, there are crushes on two different characters, but both of those crushes would come with real-life consequences that would get in the way of Jessica’s mission, and so she doesn’t really act on them so much as daydream and wonder about what might be. This is a far more realistic approach than most young adult novels, and I love it.
I get the feeling that a lot of long time fans of C. S. Friedman’s writing aren’t going to like this book, not because it isn’t good, but because it’s such a departure from her usual style. Readers, don’t expect epic and twisted sagas in the style of the Magister or Coldfire trilogies. That’s not what this book is supposed to be. It’s a young adult contemporary fantasy story, and Friedman does an excellent job exploring a new genre. I look forward to reading the next installations in the series.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/01/15/dreamwalker-by-c-s-friedman/
I was so blown away by C.S. Friedman’s Magister Trilogy that when I heard she was trying her hand at a young adult series, I couldn’t help but get excited. I love her writing so much, and I like the way that she considers the realistic consequences of her characters’ actions.
Dreamwalker is the story of Jessica, a teenage girl dealing with some difficult issues in her personal life. Her father walked out on the family when she was little, and he claimed that she wasn’t really his child and that Jessica’s mom was having an affair. Even though her mother reassures her this isn’t true, she can’t help but wonder. When the paternity test finally comes back, it shatters Jessica’s world forever. Not only does her DNA not match her father, but it doesn’t match her mother either. Her genetics seem to indicate that she is a freak of nature.
Jessica’s brother Tommy is a gamer and spends most of his time playing World of Warcraft. I empathize with him quite a bit, as I went through my own WoW phase for several years until Blizzard decided to ruin my epic fantasy with pandas (/endrant), and he’s easily my favorite character in the story. Jessica really doesn’t understand Tommy, but she makes the effort to be a part of his life, and he uses stories from her dreams as inspiration in some of his online games. One night, Tommy is kidnapped by strange creatures from a parallel world. It is up to Jessica to rescue him, and in the process, find out what she really is.
One of the strengths of young adult writing is its ability to address the issues that teenagers are dealing with in their own lives. Friedman does a fantastic job of portraying a messed up family that still has an anchor of love and support, even though Jessica’s father’s actions have left lasting emotional scars on everyone in the family. Her family isn’t perfect, but they’re trying, and Jessica will stop at nothing to save Tommy’s life.
I enjoyed the fact that Friedman decided to use a diverse cast of characters. Jessica is accompanied on her rescue mission by two friends that she met online, both of whom have similar DNA anomalies. Devon is black, and Rita grew up on the streets. Their differing racial and socioeconomic backgrounds play important roles in the story, and each character has to rely on their own unique life experiences to survive in another world.
Oh, and then there’s the romance! Friedman does a perfect job here. Jessica is too busy rescuing her brother to have long romantic entanglements, and there’s no insta-love in this book. Instead, there are crushes on two different characters, but both of those crushes would come with real-life consequences that would get in the way of Jessica’s mission, and so she doesn’t really act on them so much as daydream and wonder about what might be. This is a far more realistic approach than most young adult novels, and I love it.
I get the feeling that a lot of long time fans of C. S. Friedman’s writing aren’t going to like this book, not because it isn’t good, but because it’s such a departure from her usual style. Readers, don’t expect epic and twisted sagas in the style of the Magister or Coldfire trilogies. That’s not what this book is supposed to be. It’s a young adult contemporary fantasy story, and Friedman does an excellent job exploring a new genre. I look forward to reading the next installations in the series.
kodermike's review against another edition
3.0
Don't make my mistake. I came to this book having read Friedman's other books and loving them. I missed the hidden note that this was very much a YA book. As a YA novel, it was fine, a little predictable but interesting enough. For adult readers looking for more books like a Madness Season, This Alien Shore, or the Coldfire books, this is probably not where you want to be.
djinnia's review against another edition
4.0
I won this ARC book for free from Goodreads First Read.
This was a good book. I found the characters to be interesting. I've always loved alt. world adventure.
The main character, Jesse, has problems at home. She comes from a broken home. Her mother works long, long hours and her father has left the picture.
She is an artist and she uses her dreams to fuel her art. One day, her art teacher wants her to meet a person that wants to buy her paintings.
Jesse's spidey senses go off and she pulls all her art from school.
Soon after, the weird starts and her family is endangered. Plus, her brother is taken by a strange being.
So she must travel through a portal to rescue him with the help of two others with similar weird happening in their lives.
There she meets a plethora of characters and beings in a world so unlike her own.
As I said this was good. Every once in a while, there were some bits that were too out there in my opinion. Also I did get lost in a couple of places.
But the kicker that just tore up my reading jive of the book was the first paragraph in chapter 12. It completely went second pov. You this and that. WTH?! I was totally into the book and then that happened. It felt like my brain hit a wall with that sudden shift. Jarring is a mild term.
Other than that, the world was interesting, the people were pretty unique. I wonder if Isaac will make another appearance? I really like him. He had that dash of villainy that I like characters to have.
This was a good book. I found the characters to be interesting. I've always loved alt. world adventure.
The main character, Jesse, has problems at home. She comes from a broken home. Her mother works long, long hours and her father has left the picture.
She is an artist and she uses her dreams to fuel her art. One day, her art teacher wants her to meet a person that wants to buy her paintings.
Jesse's spidey senses go off and she pulls all her art from school.
Soon after, the weird starts and her family is endangered. Plus, her brother is taken by a strange being.
So she must travel through a portal to rescue him with the help of two others with similar weird happening in their lives.
There she meets a plethora of characters and beings in a world so unlike her own.
As I said this was good. Every once in a while, there were some bits that were too out there in my opinion. Also I did get lost in a couple of places.
But the kicker that just tore up my reading jive of the book was the first paragraph in chapter 12. It completely went second pov. You this and that. WTH?! I was totally into the book and then that happened. It felt like my brain hit a wall with that sudden shift. Jarring is a mild term.
Other than that, the world was interesting, the people were pretty unique. I wonder if Isaac will make another appearance? I really like him. He had that dash of villainy that I like characters to have.
bobf2d33's review against another edition
2.0
Friedman is an excellent sci-fi / fantasy writer. This one disappoints because it is too young adult.
vaderbird's review against another edition
4.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
ladynik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
beckylej's review against another edition
3.0
Jessica Drake's fairly normal life is about to take an unbelievably odd turn.
When Jesse's father begins to question her paternity, Jesse's mother is adamant about the fact that she's his child but agrees to a DNA test anyway. The results are more than a little shocking. Turns out Jesse's results don't match her father after all. Nor do they match her mother!
The test results come at the same time Jesse's brother has noticed a strange woman watching their house. When the very same woman shows up at Jesse's school asking questions about her dreams and artwork, Jesse becomes convinced something fishy is going on. Then she connects with a group of others who have discovered the same DNA issues Jesse has and learns that someone has been killing them off one by one. And apparently Jesse is next on their list!
Jesse's house is burnt down, her mother is left fighting for her life in the hospital, and her brother has been kidnapped! Now it's up to Jesse to save him and hopefully avoid getting herself killed in the process.
Dreamwalker is a bit of an odd read. First, it's a bit all over the place. It starts rather slowly with Jesse's fairly mundane family life, but we do know that Jesse has dreams. And it's those dreams that inspire her artwork and some of her brother's gaming creations. The artwork that catches the weird woman's eye. Somehow Jesse knows that's it's important to keep her dreams secret, she's even sworn her brother to secrecy on the matter as well. But the significance of her dreams isn't revealed until well into the story.
This is the first in a new series so I can definitely understand why Friedman would take her time to develop the story and the world, but (and this is rare for me to admit) it almost develops a bit too slowly for my taste. I spent a good third of the book completely confused about EVERYTHING!
I did soldier on, and I'm glad that I did. By the time Jesse sets off to try and save her brother things do pick up and we start to get at least an inkling of an idea about what's going on. Honestly I think the fact that I have the second book in hand already was a pretty big push to continue reading.
I do love the idea of the parallel worlds and I think (I hope) Friedman has big plans for the series and how the story/worlds will further develop. From what I understand, this is C. S. Friedman's first foray into YA, in spite of my issues with it I did find the book entertaining enough as an adult that I think it has fair cross over appeal.
Book two in the series releases this week and I'll be posting a review tomorrow (along with a giveaway). I'm hooked enough to continue but do hope that the second book is a bit more rewarding than this first outing.
When Jesse's father begins to question her paternity, Jesse's mother is adamant about the fact that she's his child but agrees to a DNA test anyway. The results are more than a little shocking. Turns out Jesse's results don't match her father after all. Nor do they match her mother!
The test results come at the same time Jesse's brother has noticed a strange woman watching their house. When the very same woman shows up at Jesse's school asking questions about her dreams and artwork, Jesse becomes convinced something fishy is going on. Then she connects with a group of others who have discovered the same DNA issues Jesse has and learns that someone has been killing them off one by one. And apparently Jesse is next on their list!
Jesse's house is burnt down, her mother is left fighting for her life in the hospital, and her brother has been kidnapped! Now it's up to Jesse to save him and hopefully avoid getting herself killed in the process.
Dreamwalker is a bit of an odd read. First, it's a bit all over the place. It starts rather slowly with Jesse's fairly mundane family life, but we do know that Jesse has dreams. And it's those dreams that inspire her artwork and some of her brother's gaming creations. The artwork that catches the weird woman's eye. Somehow Jesse knows that's it's important to keep her dreams secret, she's even sworn her brother to secrecy on the matter as well. But the significance of her dreams isn't revealed until well into the story.
This is the first in a new series so I can definitely understand why Friedman would take her time to develop the story and the world, but (and this is rare for me to admit) it almost develops a bit too slowly for my taste. I spent a good third of the book completely confused about EVERYTHING!
I did soldier on, and I'm glad that I did. By the time Jesse sets off to try and save her brother things do pick up and we start to get at least an inkling of an idea about what's going on. Honestly I think the fact that I have the second book in hand already was a pretty big push to continue reading.
I do love the idea of the parallel worlds and I think (I hope) Friedman has big plans for the series and how the story/worlds will further develop. From what I understand, this is C. S. Friedman's first foray into YA, in spite of my issues with it I did find the book entertaining enough as an adult that I think it has fair cross over appeal.
Book two in the series releases this week and I'll be posting a review tomorrow (along with a giveaway). I'm hooked enough to continue but do hope that the second book is a bit more rewarding than this first outing.