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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Dreamstrider by Lindsay Smith
3.0
Initial Impressions 8/2/15: I'm so sad I didn't love this one. The whole time I just kept hoping for more world-building to help establish more about Oneiros, the Dreamer, and Nightmare but the plot kept progressing and I still didn't feel like I had a grip on the whole concept of the book.
The pros: I loved the dream world. I really enjoyed the interactions there and the mechanics of how dreamstriding worked. It was interesting to see how special Livia's gift was and how the details progressed. SOME of the characters were really dynamic. I guess I really enjoyed the ones that made their presence known. Edina and Vera were really great and I kind of loved Marez and Kriza. Brandt and Livia were fairly decent characters and I did like the tension between them.
The cons: I just really needed more world-building, when it comes down to it. Could be a personal preference but I just wanted to know so much more about this world before the plot took off. There was a prologue which provided some details of Livia's life before she started dreamstriding and while I appreciate the fact that the book didn't need to spend an inordinate amount time setting everything up, I think it would have benefitted from spending a bit more time establishing exactly what this fantasy world was and how it worked. I didn't really know what the Dreamer and the Nightmare were or how they fit into the world and dictated societal and religious rules.
The combination of a sort of science-fiction aspect like delving into dreams and the setting in a fantasy world felt like a bit much. I adore both concepts and ideas but they didn't quite seem to mesh well. I supposed they could have but I didn't feel like enough time was spent with either concept to really establish them individually and then really bring them both together. I felt sort of thrown into dreamstriding and into the fantasy world in which the book was set and didn't quite feel grounded in either.
I felt abruptly introduced to characters as well. I knew that Livia was important of course being the main character but I wished I could have known a bit more of her past aside from the short prologue. I also felt like I was just thrown into meeting Edina and Vera and wished I could have gotten to know them a bit better before they became more crucial to the plot.
The plot was interesting but I also still wasn't quite hooked throughout the book. The book felt a bit long and I just wish things had shaped up a bit differently. Again, this could all just be a personal preference since I haven't really read any other reviews for the book yet. I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say! I thought the concept was just fantastic but the execution didn't quite work out for me.
Full review as originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 9/7/15: I’ve been so excited for DREAMSTRIDER since I first heard about the book and the concept so this was a book I didn’t want to wait too long to read. I was in a particularly picky mood and wanted something totally different when I started it and I will say that I think DREAMSTRIDER fit that bill for the most part but overall, it was a bit of a choppy read for me.
The book is a sort of mash-up between science-fiction and fantasy to me. Livia is a dreamstrider — a person who can inhabit someone’s body by delving into the depths of their subconscious — and the concept of dreamstriding felt very sci-fi to me. I suppose it could be more fantasy since it’s not an actual science and more of an ability, but it was reminiscent of what the characters could to in Inception (although it is quite different) so it felt more like a mash-up of genres rather than just fantasy. The book also takes place in a fantasy world which actually sort of reminded me of the worlds in The Lies of Locke Lamora and Six of Crows so the overall feel for me was mostly fantasy-based, but I do think I had a hard time separating myself from that science-fiction feel or rather, I don’t think I really felt grounded in either science-fiction or fantasy and I had a hard time blending the two when it should have felt like a natural part of the world and totally seamless.
The concept and the world were both incredibly interesting but overall, I really wished both of them had been a bit more developed. I loved the idea of dreamstriding but I wish there had been more of an introductory phase or an earlier explanation — and same for the world-building as well. This was another book where I wish I had more explanation earlier on in the book instead of introducing large concepts rather quickly. It wasn’t really a bad thing but I think getting a better grip on the feel and the setting right of the bat would have helped me fall into the book as a whole much easier. I struggled more with understanding the backstory and the sort of mythology of it all (Mythology? Religion? History? They all kind of seem to be one in the same here) and I really would have benefited from having more knowledge of The Dreamer, Nightmare, and Oneiros much earlier in the book. It was really interesting once hints were dropped, things were learned, and the characters began digging but it sometimes it was hard to understand why things were important without knowing what the foundation of this fantastical world was.
I did really enjoy the dreamworld of Oneiros. It was so visually appealing and incredibly interesting and I liked exploring that world with Livia. I do wish I had understood more about it’s construction but at the same time, it’s a dreamworld so things are not quite so concrete there. I also actually wanted to spend much more time exploring everything about it!
Livia was a hard character for me to connect to for some reason and I seemed to have that issue with most of the characters, actually. She was the main character so of course the reader spends the most time with her and yet I never quite got a grasp on her personality or how I felt about her. I also wanted so much more out of any of the secondary characters because I felt like they were quickly introduced and all of a sudden it was like I was supposed to know them. I kept confusing two girls until I finally got more of their backstories and was able to keep them apart. I did enjoy Brandt but again, wanted to see him have even more interactions with Livia. He kept flitting in and out and I couldn’t get a grip on their relationship. I knew what it was supposed to be but never felt it myself.
Marez was the one stand-out character for me. I do love a scoundrel and he was always sharp-tongued and quick-witted. I actually sort of loved him and maybe he was supposed to be a little bit of a question mark but I enjoyed that. I liked that his presence was questionable but he really pushed Livia to get outside of her shell and drop some of her guard.
Somehow this book was 400 pages and yet I had trouble with the development of everything and really wanted to be so much more grounded in each concept and each character. I’m not sure exactly how since it was already a slightly hefty novel for YA (not too bad but 400 pages starts to toe the line of a longer book) but I couldn’t help but feel like I needed more plot, more explanation, more world-building, and more character development. The pacing started to feel like it was dragging towards the middle and right before the end so I found my mind wandering instead of being sucked into the pages. Maybe it was just a personal issue but I had trouble making those connections and this was a book whose concept should have struck chords with me all around.
The pros: I loved the dream world. I really enjoyed the interactions there and the mechanics of how dreamstriding worked. It was interesting to see how special Livia's gift was and how the details progressed. SOME of the characters were really dynamic. I guess I really enjoyed the ones that made their presence known. Edina and Vera were really great and I kind of loved Marez and Kriza. Brandt and Livia were fairly decent characters and I did like the tension between them.
The cons: I just really needed more world-building, when it comes down to it. Could be a personal preference but I just wanted to know so much more about this world before the plot took off. There was a prologue which provided some details of Livia's life before she started dreamstriding and while I appreciate the fact that the book didn't need to spend an inordinate amount time setting everything up, I think it would have benefitted from spending a bit more time establishing exactly what this fantasy world was and how it worked. I didn't really know what the Dreamer and the Nightmare were or how they fit into the world and dictated societal and religious rules.
The combination of a sort of science-fiction aspect like delving into dreams and the setting in a fantasy world felt like a bit much. I adore both concepts and ideas but they didn't quite seem to mesh well. I supposed they could have but I didn't feel like enough time was spent with either concept to really establish them individually and then really bring them both together. I felt sort of thrown into dreamstriding and into the fantasy world in which the book was set and didn't quite feel grounded in either.
I felt abruptly introduced to characters as well. I knew that Livia was important of course being the main character but I wished I could have known a bit more of her past aside from the short prologue. I also felt like I was just thrown into meeting Edina and Vera and wished I could have gotten to know them a bit better before they became more crucial to the plot.
The plot was interesting but I also still wasn't quite hooked throughout the book. The book felt a bit long and I just wish things had shaped up a bit differently. Again, this could all just be a personal preference since I haven't really read any other reviews for the book yet. I'm curious to see what everyone else has to say! I thought the concept was just fantastic but the execution didn't quite work out for me.
Full review as originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 9/7/15: I’ve been so excited for DREAMSTRIDER since I first heard about the book and the concept so this was a book I didn’t want to wait too long to read. I was in a particularly picky mood and wanted something totally different when I started it and I will say that I think DREAMSTRIDER fit that bill for the most part but overall, it was a bit of a choppy read for me.
The book is a sort of mash-up between science-fiction and fantasy to me. Livia is a dreamstrider — a person who can inhabit someone’s body by delving into the depths of their subconscious — and the concept of dreamstriding felt very sci-fi to me. I suppose it could be more fantasy since it’s not an actual science and more of an ability, but it was reminiscent of what the characters could to in Inception (although it is quite different) so it felt more like a mash-up of genres rather than just fantasy. The book also takes place in a fantasy world which actually sort of reminded me of the worlds in The Lies of Locke Lamora and Six of Crows so the overall feel for me was mostly fantasy-based, but I do think I had a hard time separating myself from that science-fiction feel or rather, I don’t think I really felt grounded in either science-fiction or fantasy and I had a hard time blending the two when it should have felt like a natural part of the world and totally seamless.
The concept and the world were both incredibly interesting but overall, I really wished both of them had been a bit more developed. I loved the idea of dreamstriding but I wish there had been more of an introductory phase or an earlier explanation — and same for the world-building as well. This was another book where I wish I had more explanation earlier on in the book instead of introducing large concepts rather quickly. It wasn’t really a bad thing but I think getting a better grip on the feel and the setting right of the bat would have helped me fall into the book as a whole much easier. I struggled more with understanding the backstory and the sort of mythology of it all (Mythology? Religion? History? They all kind of seem to be one in the same here) and I really would have benefited from having more knowledge of The Dreamer, Nightmare, and Oneiros much earlier in the book. It was really interesting once hints were dropped, things were learned, and the characters began digging but it sometimes it was hard to understand why things were important without knowing what the foundation of this fantastical world was.
I did really enjoy the dreamworld of Oneiros. It was so visually appealing and incredibly interesting and I liked exploring that world with Livia. I do wish I had understood more about it’s construction but at the same time, it’s a dreamworld so things are not quite so concrete there. I also actually wanted to spend much more time exploring everything about it!
Livia was a hard character for me to connect to for some reason and I seemed to have that issue with most of the characters, actually. She was the main character so of course the reader spends the most time with her and yet I never quite got a grasp on her personality or how I felt about her. I also wanted so much more out of any of the secondary characters because I felt like they were quickly introduced and all of a sudden it was like I was supposed to know them. I kept confusing two girls until I finally got more of their backstories and was able to keep them apart. I did enjoy Brandt but again, wanted to see him have even more interactions with Livia. He kept flitting in and out and I couldn’t get a grip on their relationship. I knew what it was supposed to be but never felt it myself.
Marez was the one stand-out character for me. I do love a scoundrel and he was always sharp-tongued and quick-witted. I actually sort of loved him and maybe he was supposed to be a little bit of a question mark but I enjoyed that. I liked that his presence was questionable but he really pushed Livia to get outside of her shell and drop some of her guard.
Somehow this book was 400 pages and yet I had trouble with the development of everything and really wanted to be so much more grounded in each concept and each character. I’m not sure exactly how since it was already a slightly hefty novel for YA (not too bad but 400 pages starts to toe the line of a longer book) but I couldn’t help but feel like I needed more plot, more explanation, more world-building, and more character development. The pacing started to feel like it was dragging towards the middle and right before the end so I found my mind wandering instead of being sucked into the pages. Maybe it was just a personal issue but I had trouble making those connections and this was a book whose concept should have struck chords with me all around.