Despite Josh’s reputation as a dream walking prodigy, she’s haunted by her mistakes. A lapse in judgment and the death of someone she loved have shaken her confidence. Now she’s been assigned an apprentice, a boy whose steady gaze sees right through her, and she’s almost as afraid of getting close to him as she is of getting him killed.
But when strangers with impossible powers begin appearing in the Dream, it isn’t just Will that Josh has to protect–it’s the whole World.
It’s not every day that I take it upon myself to read a Sci-Fi novel and, frankly, I’m not really a big fan of the genre. However, there are a few Sci-Fi books that I’ll indulge in such as Dreamfire for its ability to be simple and still entertaining.
From the beginning of the book, readers are thrown into the world of “the Dream” where Joshlyn Weaver is rummaging through a literally nasty nightmare in hopes of finding its dreamer. The thing is Josh is a part of this secret society called “Dream Walkers” which is a group of people who dedicate their lives to ending nightmares. They have the burden of keeping all nightmares in balance. If too many nightmares get out of balance, everything could be shot to shit and the world would be thrown into utter chaos.
The story follows the life of Joshlyn Dustine Hazel Weavaros as she comes-of-age and proves to herself that she’s more than just your average Dream Walker. As much as I loved Josh’s badass character I quickly got annoyed with her tendency to be humble. Normally, I’d think that it’s admirable for a person – even a fictional one – to be humble but Josh was so humble, it hurt. She has always been praised and given special treatment by everyone around her because of the amazing job she does in solving nightmares. However, this leads Josh to internalize every mistake she’s ever made – especially the one where her actions lead to the death of her boyfriend, Ian. This also causes her to make a lot of irrational and reckless decisions later in the story when she is placed under intense stress. I also enjoyed reading about Ian’s character (even though he wasn’t in the novel as much). While he’s described as a knight-in-shining-armor, he came off as arrogant and witty. I definitely have a weakness for characters who go beyond just being one-dimensional. However, the MVC (Most Valuable Character) of the novel has to be Feodorik Jambulari Bronislaworin Kajazkolskiocsi a.k.a Feodor the Villain. He is the perfect example of what can happen when opportunity and madness collide. He is the right amount of cynical without coming off as too cheesy. After reading about his gut-wrenching past, he practically forces you to empathize with him. However, I yearn for a story with a villain whose motives leave me in such a dilemma that I’ll have a hard time choosing between the villain’s purpose and the hero’s chivalry.
Still, I loved the author’s style of writing. She allowed two of her characters to share the narration instead of everything being told from Josh’s point of view. I adored the fact that the author realized some her readers (like me, of course) would have a hard time keeping up with all this information about the world of “the Dream” and added diagrams to aid with the explanation.
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The only thing that truly upset me about this novel was the ending. Throughout the book, it felt as if the story was building up to something awesome but then it just plateaued. It was really disheartening because I was looking forward to an ending that would throw me off the edge of my seat not one that had me swiping through the eBook wondering if that was it.
Rating: 8/10
Book Info:
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Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (February 24, 2015)
Length: 319 pages
Source: Netgalley ARC
Genre: Sci-Fi, Children’s Fiction
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Completed: March 2015
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