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thecatochronicles's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but it didn't blow me away or get me too excited. The concept of dreaming of viable alternate realities was interesting and I like how it played into video games, but the story really read more like your standard fantasy world-hopping. I enjoyed this book, but I won't be reading any further sequels.
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the concept of DREAMWALKER but the execution of it left me wanting.
Right from the beginning Jessica’s voice irked the hell out of me. She was student with an emphasis on art but when the three of them got into a situation she always had an incredibly scientific answer for things, as if she were a walking text book. On top of that everything going on in her situation here she related back to something happening in a TV show or movie. Seriously. Every damn time. Except for the one pivotal moment at the end and she expressly said THIS ISN’T THE MOVIES CAN’T TREAT IT LIKE THE MOVIES and I wanted to scream BUT THAT’S HOW YOU’VE BEEN TREATING THIS ENTIRE DAMN PLOT. It was infuriating. Not to mention every time the sensible solution of going to the authorities came up she would have this long, drawn out, elaborate excuse as to why it was a bad idea and why they wouldn’t believe her and how it would be a waste of time let’s just do it ourselves. This happened at least four different times before she even got to this new world. So by the halfway point of the book. Plot device. Over and over again.
Back to the Rain Man source of random knowledge on things, like types of rocks, for instance (like obscure science words that probably only geologists would know), I can usually pass that along because at the height of high school if you’re even half paying attention you have a collection of random shit in your head and you end up being able to wing out random knowledge. But Jessie’s voice was inconsistent at best. Where she shot out random knowledge she could barely string a sentence together. One such instance was where they had the risk of something being broken but she referred to it was go and get broke. It was so incredibly jarring I audibly WTFed. Whether that’s editing or not, I don’t know.
Jessie just doesn’t seem like a real character to me, one that isn’t all that fleshed out. Her brother was fine, the two friends were okay, but it’s her story and I got stuck in her head most of the time and it was a pedantic, immature, nonsensical place to be.
As for the world . . . eh. I wish there was more of it. I liked the idea of a parallel earth existing along ours and this more superior race taking advantage of resources and whatnot. But seeing everything through Jessie’s head just sucked the fun out of life. I was so put off by her voice that I couldn’t get into anything else. And anything that did happen outside of her POV, like Tommy’s little spurts or some of the alternate world people getting a say in there, those were all far more interesting to me than anything Jessie had to say. Not to mention the dreamwalker bit, while it fueled everything that was going on, didn’t really show up in the story. We saw a little bit with Jessie and her dreams but nothing was really explained beyond dreamwalkers destroy worlds and drive people crazy BE AFRAID. It wasn’t enough for me to get hooked into the premise in that regard.
This is one of those situations where I’m probably being harder on the character than what’s actually rendered but down to my gut I did not like Jessie as a character. At all. And it soured the whole reading experience for me. I didn’t like her approach to life, how she compared everything to the TV she watched, how she only had answers for things when it was convenient to have answers, and how the author kept coming through the character when the situation called for more information than what the character would rightly know (that leads back into the Rain Man random information moments). The book as a whole just rubs me the wrong way. It’s probably wholly irrational but that’s what’s going on.
I didn’t like it. I have the sequel and I’m not going to read it. I can’t get far enough away from Jessie. She’s just an incompatible character for me.
2
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Right from the beginning Jessica’s voice irked the hell out of me. She was student with an emphasis on art but when the three of them got into a situation she always had an incredibly scientific answer for things, as if she were a walking text book. On top of that everything going on in her situation here she related back to something happening in a TV show or movie. Seriously. Every damn time. Except for the one pivotal moment at the end and she expressly said THIS ISN’T THE MOVIES CAN’T TREAT IT LIKE THE MOVIES and I wanted to scream BUT THAT’S HOW YOU’VE BEEN TREATING THIS ENTIRE DAMN PLOT. It was infuriating. Not to mention every time the sensible solution of going to the authorities came up she would have this long, drawn out, elaborate excuse as to why it was a bad idea and why they wouldn’t believe her and how it would be a waste of time let’s just do it ourselves. This happened at least four different times before she even got to this new world. So by the halfway point of the book. Plot device. Over and over again.
Back to the Rain Man source of random knowledge on things, like types of rocks, for instance (like obscure science words that probably only geologists would know), I can usually pass that along because at the height of high school if you’re even half paying attention you have a collection of random shit in your head and you end up being able to wing out random knowledge. But Jessie’s voice was inconsistent at best. Where she shot out random knowledge she could barely string a sentence together. One such instance was where they had the risk of something being broken but she referred to it was go and get broke. It was so incredibly jarring I audibly WTFed. Whether that’s editing or not, I don’t know.
Jessie just doesn’t seem like a real character to me, one that isn’t all that fleshed out. Her brother was fine, the two friends were okay, but it’s her story and I got stuck in her head most of the time and it was a pedantic, immature, nonsensical place to be.
As for the world . . . eh. I wish there was more of it. I liked the idea of a parallel earth existing along ours and this more superior race taking advantage of resources and whatnot. But seeing everything through Jessie’s head just sucked the fun out of life. I was so put off by her voice that I couldn’t get into anything else. And anything that did happen outside of her POV, like Tommy’s little spurts or some of the alternate world people getting a say in there, those were all far more interesting to me than anything Jessie had to say. Not to mention the dreamwalker bit, while it fueled everything that was going on, didn’t really show up in the story. We saw a little bit with Jessie and her dreams but nothing was really explained beyond dreamwalkers destroy worlds and drive people crazy BE AFRAID. It wasn’t enough for me to get hooked into the premise in that regard.
This is one of those situations where I’m probably being harder on the character than what’s actually rendered but down to my gut I did not like Jessie as a character. At all. And it soured the whole reading experience for me. I didn’t like her approach to life, how she compared everything to the TV she watched, how she only had answers for things when it was convenient to have answers, and how the author kept coming through the character when the situation called for more information than what the character would rightly know (that leads back into the Rain Man random information moments). The book as a whole just rubs me the wrong way. It’s probably wholly irrational but that’s what’s going on.
I didn’t like it. I have the sequel and I’m not going to read it. I can’t get far enough away from Jessie. She’s just an incompatible character for me.
2
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
peregrineace's review against another edition
4.0
This was markedly better than some reviews made it out to be. It does help if you start it with the mentality that it's a YA-level book; adults are not the intended audience but are not excluded from enjoying it. It's no where near as dark as Friedman's other fantasy works, although it's certainly not a "light" story and has the potential to grow into something more characteristic of her earlier works.
It does have the "which boy do I like!?!" triangle of YA novels (although, two great choices... can't really argue against either one at this point and I like the reality of lacking an obvious option). My biggest qualm was the obviousness/repetitiveness of parts of the world-building and that some of the references in the plot (Kindles, iPhones, Twilight, etc.) are going to be dated in a very short time. Again though, this reflects the YA nature of the novel; it's just not geared for readers like me who like lasting subtlety and suspension of disbelief.
However, the world-building set up has an interesting premise. There is lots more Friedman can do with this universe. This book lays the groundwork well and I would certainly pick up the next couple of books to find out more. The lead characters are also likeable, their emotions are relatable, their situation compelling. This was a fast read and the pace was steady throughout.
If you like YA fantasy done well, this is your book. If you've sworn off YA entirely, I would still encourage trying it out, although I wouldn't insist; Friedman has lots of amazing adult fantasy and science fiction stories that are ripe for re-reads. I enjoyed this one as a YA read and look forward to the next book.
It does have the "which boy do I like!?!" triangle of YA novels (although, two great choices... can't really argue against either one at this point and I like the reality of lacking an obvious option). My biggest qualm was the obviousness/repetitiveness of parts of the world-building and that some of the references in the plot (Kindles, iPhones, Twilight, etc.) are going to be dated in a very short time. Again though, this reflects the YA nature of the novel; it's just not geared for readers like me who like lasting subtlety and suspension of disbelief.
However, the world-building set up has an interesting premise. There is lots more Friedman can do with this universe. This book lays the groundwork well and I would certainly pick up the next couple of books to find out more. The lead characters are also likeable, their emotions are relatable, their situation compelling. This was a fast read and the pace was steady throughout.
If you like YA fantasy done well, this is your book. If you've sworn off YA entirely, I would still encourage trying it out, although I wouldn't insist; Friedman has lots of amazing adult fantasy and science fiction stories that are ripe for re-reads. I enjoyed this one as a YA read and look forward to the next book.
aunt_t's review against another edition
2.0
Not a series that I will go out of my way to make sure I read.
amdame1's review against another edition
3.0
Although catalogued as adult, it could easily work for teens as the main character is 17-year-old- Jessica.
Jessica has dreams of other places, worlds, and people; she transforms these into her art, and her younger brother Tommy incorporates them into his computer game scenarios. A mysterious woman starts asking questions, Jessica's house burns down, and Tommy disappears!
Very interesting world-building.
Jessica has dreams of other places, worlds, and people; she transforms these into her art, and her younger brother Tommy incorporates them into his computer game scenarios. A mysterious woman starts asking questions, Jessica's house burns down, and Tommy disappears!
Very interesting world-building.
bookadventurer's review
3.0
Not really the story I thought I wanted to read, but turned out to be un-put-downable. Fascinating with amazingly sharp, clear, vivid prose.
The universe was intriguing, relationships and characters often glossed over or two-dimensional. Too much to resolve by the end of the book - the ending seemed rushed, the resolution pat.
Nevertheless, a mostly fast-paced teen adventure in a frightening foreign parallel world.
My favorite part was definitely the author's style of writing, skill with description, overall her way with words, and I will be checking out her other novels/series for that reason.
The universe was intriguing, relationships and characters often glossed over or two-dimensional. Too much to resolve by the end of the book - the ending seemed rushed, the resolution pat.
Nevertheless, a mostly fast-paced teen adventure in a frightening foreign parallel world.
My favorite part was definitely the author's style of writing, skill with description, overall her way with words, and I will be checking out her other novels/series for that reason.
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