Review: Dreamfall by Amy Plum

“When working with an unknown situation, you have to identify known factors and work within their boundaries.”

Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse…but she was terribly wrong.

Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dream world with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

So… I hard a real hard time with this book. I have had it on my TBR list for a long, long time, and I am just now getting around to reading it. I have a lot of issues with this book. First, if you are interested in reading a book in which you NEVER get emotionally invested with any of the characters (aside from the poor tiger RIP), then this is the book for you. A good portion of the time it felt as though the author was purposefully writing all of the characters to be unlikeable, which is sometimes the end goal but I don’t think that was the case with this book. I think she was trying very hard to through readers off of the end twist by making all the characters unlikeable and not pointing out one specific character, but it did not work for me. I’m not going to go into detail about each of the characters because it would be repetitive (sort of like the book!). But I do have to say Remi was purposefully made to be EXTREMELY unlikeable, and I am not here for it.

So, now the story! I felt pretty bored with most of the story, to be honest with you. When I first read the synopsis, I was super excited for this story. I felt like it might have been better if they were purposefully stuck in the dream fall but what can you do. I felt like a lot of the dreams were repetitive, and I almost skipped through some of the book to get to the point. I did enjoy the parts “outside” of the dream fall, with Jamie as our narrator.

Ok so I was going to originally give this book 2 stars, but I felt that was a little harsh so I am changing it mid-review to 3 stars. I do like the twist at the end. I also liked the backstories for some of the characters. I did not appreciate the cliffhanger at first, but now that I know it has a second book, I liked that too. I will probably read book #2 to see what happens.

Review: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

“It’s better to face madness with a plan than to sit still and let it take you in pieces.”

Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.

Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it’s time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat–blindfolded–with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?

You won’t even believe how scary good Josh Malerman is at making you… well, er… scared! I devoured this book. Josh does an excellent job at keeping you wanting more. This book features chapters that alternate from the past to the present, and I am such a sucker for this style! Most of my favs feature it, and Malerman did not let me down. I mean honestly, I would read some while on my lunch break at work, and then have to come back to my office and put the blinds down on my office window. It freaked me out that much. I was a little nervous at first that the author would try so hard to write a well-worded story, that the premise as a whole would get lost, but he knocks it out of the park. When I wasn’t reading it, I would find myself looking forward to the time I would get to read and find out what happens next. I found that I enjoyed the variety of characters. You can glimpse the complexity of Malorie through her inner thoughts. And in turn, you bond with her as a character. I would LOVE IT if Josh wrote more books from different points of views set in this world. (Uh, Don anyone?!?) I really appreciate this read, because it reminds me of why I love reading thriller/horror novels! Now, on to the movie!