macrosinthemitten 's review for:

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks

3.0

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It's been a long time since I read a Nicholas Sparks novel, so I had high hopes that this story would be classic Sparks. In some ways it is - North Carolina, love story. But in other ways it was very different. There are two parallel stories that don't really connect until very late in the book, and I found the connection confusing and implausible. Colby Mills owns his grandparent's farm in North Carolina but leaves for several weeks to do a gig in Florida. There he meets Morgan Lee, who is a TikTok dancing star and the two connect almost instantly. Morgan has her own dreams of moving to Nashville to sing and perform, and while Colby has those dreams, too, he is the only family member responsible for his farm and he can't leave it behind to pursue his own dream. Meanwhile, Beverly and her son are on the run from her abusive husband. Truly the stories are so different and separate. Beverly was so intense and anxious, reading her story made ME anxious. When the two story lines connect, it was a bit surprising/shocking, but just very awkward. It didn't really make sense to me. Additionally, the writing in this was just simply awful! So plain, basic, and BORING. It seemed like a high schooler had written it. I feel like I know what I'm getting when I pick up a Nicholas Sparks novel, but this was even more lacking in depth and clarity than most of his.