The Book:
Book Title: Dreamfall
Book Author: Amy Plum
Genre: YA Horror
Publishing Date: May 2nd, 2017
Publisher: HarperTeen
Date Read: June 5th, 2017
Synopsis: 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 dreamworld 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.
The Review:
I wish I could say that I loved Dreamfall and felt the creep factor of the story. I expected horror along the lines of Nightmare on Elm Street, but I was pretty disappointed. I never experienced the chills I sought after. I never felt like I got in to the story, and I never felt like I connected to any of the characters.
The idea behind the story was promising. I just think that it could have been delivered better. I enjoyed the unique aspect of the plot, and the experiment to treat the insomnia of the patients, thus throwing them in to a continuous nightmare of which they could not escape unless they died. But, that seemed to be the extent of my enjoyment.
I kept reading, hoping I would experience the horror that the characters felt. I never felt it. I didn’t even have creepy dreams after reading. Horror has, and always will be, subjective though, so even though I didn’t feel it, I know others have. I just had really high expectations when I began reading, and they weren’t met.
The characters seemed to fall flat for me, too. I never felt the connection to any of them. The only emotion I felt was toward one particularly character who seemed to enjoy berating the others, and even bullied one of the characters for being a little different.
The story just seemed muddled, and the ending really left me annoyed, partly because I had no idea there was supposed to be a second book, but also because it seemed rushed and felt like it was cut sooner than what it should have been, even for a cliffhanger. I never felt like I got enough of the characters’ personalities, and enough of the actual nightmares. I applaud the author for the unique story premise, but this one just wasn’t for me.
Darque Dreamer
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The Mermaid Behind the Books 
Too bad it was so muddled Adrienne!!!
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Yes. I am still on the hunt for a really creepy YA read.
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i’d talked to a friend once about broadening my reading horizons, and they actually suggested this book to me if i wanted to try horror. i’m a huge scaredy cat so i never really tried it, so what i think is interesting is that my friend took some of the stuff that you’ve said here (about not feeling the chills and whatnot) and spun it into something that was positive.
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Well, I am glad your friend enjoyed it. Horror is definitely subjective, as I said in my review, so what I found to be lack luster could have scared the bejeezus out of someone else. It’s like spiders for me. I am TERRIFIED of them and could probably be diagnosed with a legit phobia, but my husband has no problem with squishing them with his hand when he has to rescue me, lmao.
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Yeah definitely lol i just thought it was interesting how you guys had the same opinion but for one person it was a positive and for another it wasn’t!
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That’s what I love most about books. I always try to point out that my reviews are opinions, because I truly think it is magical that two different people can read the same book and take different things away. I would love to hear your thoughts if you do decide to give it a read.
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I never felt the horror either, but think I liked it a little better than you. I struggled with figuring out who was talking because all the character voices were so similar.
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Yes. I didn’t feel that their voices had enough differentiation for me to get close to any of them.
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