Review: Compelling YA Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2014
Dream On is a fascinating tale of Emily, a teenager with a unique gift and a terrible secret. Emily and her mother, Lily, are dreamwalkers. They can go to sleep and stay that way for as long as they want. No food, no water, no danger of death.Years ago, Emily's father died in a terrorist attack. Her mother was shattered by the death of her husband and rather than grieve and move on, she chose to spend increasingly more time in her dreams where she could be with him again. This left Emily with the terrible task of keeping them alive and keeping their secret.Fortunately, Lily started to write just before she decided to leave reality behind and Emily took over writing her books halfway through the first story. She sent the manuscript to a publisher and Lily became famous. No one ever suspected that it was really Emily doing all of the writing.As the story begins, Emily meets Gabe, a new kid in town who threatens the safe, if lonely, life she's built for her and her mother. They have an expensive house in a gated community and keep to themselves. But Gabe starts to break down Emily's walls. When he shows up at her house uninvited, things start to get dicey.Emily fears that if the government learned about her and her mother, they'd take them away, dissect them, and study them.When Gabe and Evan, her mother's editor, discover the secret of dreamwalking, Emily must trust them or risk everything.This is a fascinating story and a rich, vibrant world. Since much of it takes place in dreams, the rules of reality don't always apply. The author does a fantastic job of keeping the reader engaged in the dream worlds and invested through the last page of the book.I cannot say enough good things about Kircher's writing. I don't read a lot of YA. All too often the teens are overly angsty (like real teenagers often are) and that angst takes over the storyline. In Dream On, there's certainly angst. Emily fears everything, even as she builds up her own defenses to try to keep her and her mother alive. She has feelings for Gabe, the first boy she's ever let in. But she's also smart and capable and quick thinking. She cares.Gabe is a smart hero who doesn't swoop in and save the day, but helps Emily just enough so she can do what needs to be done.This is a rather quick read and you'll be captured from the first page. I cannot recommend this book enough. Very well done.