Review: Dreams so Dark and Dangerous...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2014
Kellison has, since the first book of hers I read (Shadow Bound), convinced me to read all her other books.  Her books tend to be on just this side of too dark and gritty so that I don't feel weird for getting all sigh-y over her male characters, but still full of dangerous things.  In her new series she's playing with the notion of what if there's a trend out there that let's you (essentially) lucid dream as a social activity?  How quickly do you think that got dangerous? (Answer: Before it was introduced!)Jordan is one of the few romance heroines who seems to understand that "new and shiny" does not equate to "safe and responsible".  Safe and responsible is...well safe and responsible.  It doesn't include addictive social activities that are maddeningly expensive and hold the potential to cause your real life to have threatening side effects.  I don't fault her for going with her sister into the Reve, honestly speaking I would have done the same thing for my younger sister (complete with the 'This is a bad idea' statements).  Nor do I fault her for just wanting to forget and move on and deny her life back into normalcy.  These are rational reactions when faced with a dangerous unknown.Rook I didn't trust in the beginning.  He starts the story admitting he has trouble controlling things and struggling to maintain enough so that he doesn't have to be "put down".  These words don't inspire confidence in a romance hero's intentions.  But that's sort of his thing; he's upfront to a certain extent and lives on a need to know basis with everyone in his life.Really my main issue was that the entire romance felt rushed.  It was a case of insta-lust just add love in the worst ways possible.  Jordan doesn't trust Rook, Rook is lying to Jordan about practically everything, Jordan can't stop thinking about Rook, Rook decides that damn the consequences he'll keep Jordan within moments of connecting with her...and at no point does any of that go away.  Up until the very last chapter Rook lied to Jordan, and Jordan didn't trust Rook.There's cute banter--Jordan deciding to remodel Rook's place since it worked better for her artistically and oh he wouldn't mind moving out would he?  Rook's bafflement over how he got talked out of his place (at worst) and sleeping on the floor (at best).  But it doesn't make up for how unequal their knowledge of each other is throughout.The world is intriguing--the dreamwaters, the Reve, the multitude of ways it can be used (though they started getting a bit Inception-y with the 'If you plant a suggestion in someone's mind while dreaming will it catch in reality?' talk) and I had no issue with the other characters.  The story just felt unbalanced between the plot and the romance.