Scan barcode
A review by desiree930
Dreamers Often Lie by Jacqueline West
3.0
I do not know what to say about this book. It’s actually really difficult for me to rate it review this, but here goes.
TW: abusive relationship
What I liked:
1. Shakespeare references/metaphors. I love Shakespeare, so this was really fun.
2. The cover. 10/10
3. Unreliable narrator. I don’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers (this is the former, not the latter), but I do enjoy an unreliable narrator when it’s done well. This book was a total mind f&$@ from beginning to end, and I was never quite sure what to believe.
When I started the book, I felt very sorry for Jaye and everything she’s gone through, but as I began to learn the truth of certain events and see her character develop, my feelings for her began to change quite a bit. I still felt sympathy for the fact that she had gone through this accident and was losing time. That would be scary for anyone. But she ends up being a very selfish person. I actually liked the way the author was able to unpack Jaye and make her a three-dimensional character even in the middle of all of the fantastical things she’s seemingly experiencing.
What I didn’t like:
1. The pacing. This book should’ve been about 50 pages shorter. It became quite repetitive in the middle.
2. The ending. I don’t necessarily need a super polished ending where every single loose end is tied up. And I understand that the author was using Shakespeare’s works to inspire her ending. But I am still not sure about what the heck happened.
3. While I personally liked the Shakespeare references, I don’t know how realistic this would be in real life, as far as a head injury causing these elaborate hallucinations. There is a point where we are led to believe that there may be some paranormal aspect to the story (she sees ‘Romeo’ before she ever meets Rob; she randomly knows lengthy monologues from Shakespeare plays she hasn’t studied, etc.) but it is never actually explained or even explored.
I think this book is going to be unhauled, because I know I’ll never read it again, but I could see recommending this to someone who likes slightly confusing, dreamlike stories with unreliable narrators.
TW: abusive relationship
What I liked:
1. Shakespeare references/metaphors. I love Shakespeare, so this was really fun.
2. The cover. 10/10
3. Unreliable narrator. I don’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers (this is the former, not the latter), but I do enjoy an unreliable narrator when it’s done well. This book was a total mind f&$@ from beginning to end, and I was never quite sure what to believe.
When I started the book, I felt very sorry for Jaye and everything she’s gone through, but as I began to learn the truth of certain events and see her character develop, my feelings for her began to change quite a bit. I still felt sympathy for the fact that she had gone through this accident and was losing time. That would be scary for anyone. But she ends up being a very selfish person. I actually liked the way the author was able to unpack Jaye and make her a three-dimensional character even in the middle of all of the fantastical things she’s seemingly experiencing.
What I didn’t like:
1. The pacing. This book should’ve been about 50 pages shorter. It became quite repetitive in the middle.
2. The ending. I don’t necessarily need a super polished ending where every single loose end is tied up. And I understand that the author was using Shakespeare’s works to inspire her ending. But I am still not sure about what the heck happened.
3. While I personally liked the Shakespeare references, I don’t know how realistic this would be in real life, as far as a head injury causing these elaborate hallucinations. There is a point where we are led to believe that there may be some paranormal aspect to the story (she sees ‘Romeo’ before she ever meets Rob; she randomly knows lengthy monologues from Shakespeare plays she hasn’t studied, etc.) but it is never actually explained or even explored.
I think this book is going to be unhauled, because I know I’ll never read it again, but I could see recommending this to someone who likes slightly confusing, dreamlike stories with unreliable narrators.