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A review by mldias
Gone by Lisa McMann
3.0
This trilogy goes fast. I started it after dinner last night and didn't finish before bed only because I decided to take a break and do some writing. The entire series is approximately 600 pages in length -- 600 pages of staccato, sparse prose and generous white space, mind you. Each book took me only an hour or two to read.
If you think your high school job sucked, try being a dream catcher like Janie sometime. The caloric drains, the rapid decline of your eyesight, the forced isolation from others to avoid their dreams and get some sleep once in a while. Your life is on a crash course with "Morton's Fork" (this will make sense to you after reading, I swear). Fortunately, Janie has her boyfriend, Cabe, to keep her warm and fed. Otherwise, she is a lonely sort, functioning as the parental unit at home while her rather hateful mother, Dorothea, drinks herself into a perpetual stupor.
When she isn't stumbling into people's dreams or making out with Cabe, Janie is using her gift to help others and investigate unsolved crimes for her boss, Captain. Her journey as a young dream catcher lands her in the crosshairs of various hazards: illegal drugs and teachers-by-day-sex-offenders-by-night, to name a few. It also, inadvertently, brings her closer to herself as she confronts a huge unknown from her past in the third book.
Because the prose is so bare, the reader must often fill in the blanks. Insinuation, not exposition, presides here -- particularly in terms of characterization. We know why Dorothea drinks on a basic level, but there is never any deep exploration of those emotions. We are told that Janie loves Cabe--and, given his actions, we can certainly understand why--but those feelings might have been explored in more depth. Because the story unfolds so quickly, with very few words to move it along, there is limited time for introspection.
The premise behind this series is fascinating. In a YA marketplace supersaturated with vampires, werewolves, witches, pixies, elves, fallen angels, dragons, leprechauns, and assorted other mythical creatures, a very human dream catcher is a paranormal breath of fresh air. No immortality, no invulnerability. In fact, Janie's gift-slash-curse makes her mortality all too vivid.
Overall, a very enjoyable, quick series. While the execution was far from flawless, it was actually the realistic ending that set it apart from a lot of other paranormal YA narratives. If you're hoping for a deus ex machina plot contrivance to solve all of Janie's problems, or explicit resolution, you won't find it here. That doesn't mean that the series ends badly. It means that it ends realistically.
If you think your high school job sucked, try being a dream catcher like Janie sometime. The caloric drains, the rapid decline of your eyesight, the forced isolation from others to avoid their dreams and get some sleep once in a while. Your life is on a crash course with "Morton's Fork" (this will make sense to you after reading, I swear). Fortunately, Janie has her boyfriend, Cabe, to keep her warm and fed. Otherwise, she is a lonely sort, functioning as the parental unit at home while her rather hateful mother, Dorothea, drinks herself into a perpetual stupor.
When she isn't stumbling into people's dreams or making out with Cabe, Janie is using her gift to help others and investigate unsolved crimes for her boss, Captain. Her journey as a young dream catcher lands her in the crosshairs of various hazards: illegal drugs and teachers-by-day-sex-offenders-by-night, to name a few. It also, inadvertently, brings her closer to herself as she confronts a huge unknown from her past in the third book.
Because the prose is so bare, the reader must often fill in the blanks. Insinuation, not exposition, presides here -- particularly in terms of characterization. We know why Dorothea drinks on a basic level, but there is never any deep exploration of those emotions. We are told that Janie loves Cabe--and, given his actions, we can certainly understand why--but those feelings might have been explored in more depth. Because the story unfolds so quickly, with very few words to move it along, there is limited time for introspection.
The premise behind this series is fascinating. In a YA marketplace supersaturated with vampires, werewolves, witches, pixies, elves, fallen angels, dragons, leprechauns, and assorted other mythical creatures, a very human dream catcher is a paranormal breath of fresh air. No immortality, no invulnerability. In fact, Janie's gift-slash-curse makes her mortality all too vivid.
Overall, a very enjoyable, quick series. While the execution was far from flawless, it was actually the realistic ending that set it apart from a lot of other paranormal YA narratives. If you're hoping for a deus ex machina plot contrivance to solve all of Janie's problems, or explicit resolution, you won't find it here. That doesn't mean that the series ends badly. It means that it ends realistically.