Dream Strider
Lindsay Smith
Saved from a life of servitude, Livia can walk through dreams to use other people’s bodies. While this makes her a valuable operative in spying to protect her country, she is filled with doubts about how valuable she really is. When her newest mission detects the biggest threat yet, it is up to Livia to break through and save them from Nightmare.
The whole time I was reading this novel, I was disgusted with Livia and her character development. Come on girl, grow some spine! Oh wait, no, you have grown one… and you getting to that point was completely unexpected and unrealistic. The ‘Incident’ that is referred to the whole way through should help with this development, but I just felt frustrated rather than intrigued.
I received this novel as a Christmas present because I had enjoyed Kit Alloway’s Dreamfire and Dreamfever. Sadly, this novel didn’t offer the same rich world building and atmosphere. Those two dreaming books are ‘real-world’, yet the threats seemed more deadly. Walking in dreams is obviously something that can be written well, or written poorly. This novel is not one for me.
I appreciated that sneaky twist at the end, but felt that there wasn’t enough leading up to it. Additionally, it wasn’t really clear how the armies could have possibly saved anything. I can’t say too much here without giving it away, but seriously? No way that could happen, even with the Tunnelers’ help.
This ‘espionage’ novel as it calls itself reminds me of Embassy Row, and not in a good way. I’m excited by secrets, but only if they make sense and I get a backstory as to why they are important to me as a reader. The same goes for confusing dreams and memories.
3 stars from me. I was so hopeful that it would improve, and then at the ending? The last couple of paragraphs couldn’t save the novel.
Maybe I missed something major by not having read the first book in the series. I felt like I had been dropped into a very slow plot that nevertheless didn’t build anything for me, and then the second half couldn’t get my attention despite moving more quickly.
Flora, you’re a little naive, and I can understand why your parents want to protect you. Ok, so you are a lot naive. What is to say bad things haven’t happened? I’m not sure you would have remembered, and so as an unreliable narrator, we would never hear about it.
Seneca! I love you! And best of all, your characterisation is very human and not as if you are a saint. I could have had more of you, and way less of all the other characters who mainly seemed to be concerned with who they were kissing next. That’s not to say that Seneca didn’t also have that problem, but she seemed to have her feet firmly on the ground and some guts to go with it.
Ollie isn’t introduced until mid-way through the novel, and by then I was already too attached to the Erin-Joe relationship to give him any time. Ollie, you are boring and you can’t redeem yourself in my eyes. Self-centred bastard who can’t see past his own guilt.
Ok, so Stephanie is pretty dumb. And her friends are even dumber (except that sexy beast of Ranger). They are all caracatures of American cliches with an equally cliched environment. Seriously? Filming naked in the streets is pretty easy to get away with… and so is naked bungie jumping.
With gorgeous illustrations and catchy little bits of story about mythical creatures, this large format children’s book is going to suit a range of fantasy enthusiasts. Perhaps you aren’t ready to read a big book of mythology? Perhaps you just want to have a taster of it? This is the book for you.
The interlocking character storylines at first seem like they have nothing in common. For the majority of the novel, you wonder why the author has even paired the two together, but eventually it becomes clearer and this is very apparent by the second book. The blurb on the novel put me off reading it for a long time – but not long enough with no release date of the final novel available!
A fantasy twist on a bullying story, Frank is a character that you will love and want to protect in the beginning. By the end, you might wonder a bit where her spunk has come from, but I personally think it rubbed off from Nick. An innocuous missing cat can start off a range of interworld connections that lead to a better end than could have been imagined.
Plenty of ooze, vomit, snot and gore in this novel, but with epic illustrative depictions that make you feel like you are right there on the scene. Yes, some parts of it were completely overboard, but I just rolled with it. It had the immediacy of action that I missed from