This book only got two and a half stars because of the last half. Disclaimer: the first half sucked. I had so much to make fun of. I’ll just insert some of the “notes” I made while reading this book.
It’s something warm and thick, like mucus. I’m swimming in liquid snot, I think.
First off, this is a group “horror” novel. It’s supposed to have a thrill factor. It’s supposed to scared you, terrify you, give you nightmares. The first half of Dreamfall only succeeded in making me laugh. I mean, that description up there of the “mucus” is just so bland and non-descriptive. I went from reading Daughter of Smoke & Bone that morning with Taylor’s beautiful writing to this. Honestly, I just wish the first half was more descriptive so I could immerse myself more.
Not only that, but I didn’t give a shit about the characters. Plum had a great way of info-dumping characters and describing them by having the MC, Cata, look around and describe her surroundings.
There was this one character named BethAnn who supposedly was scared of swimming or something, but then a few seconds after proclaiming her terror, she jumped into the water to save the boy she’d never met???? OKAY????? That’s so unrealistic! I’m sorry, but if you’re in a near-death situation, you save yourself! NOT RANDOM KIDS YOU JUST MET!
And theeNNNNN, there’s this insensitive as fuck character that I didn’t give a shit about until later on when I heard his “backstory.” He was unnecessarily rude to everybody he came into contact with. Here’s one golden line by asshole:
“Ten minutes in the cave and they’re already best friends. Our goal is to get out of here. Not to pamper this kid who acts like he’s autistic.”
I’m sorry but… WHAT???? Yes, another character berates him a few lines down, but that was so uncalled for. I am extremely sensitive to this topic, as anyone should be, because I know autistic children. There is no good excuse out there to accuse someone of being autistic or faking autism. I’m sorry. Just no.
And I read the whole book okay, there was never a good reason behind why this character was so blatantly rude horrible.
Okay I’m moving on to the good qualities of the book now so I’m not completely shooting it down and giving it two and a half stars.
After about 40% into the book, things got better. I started getting more invested, even though the characters were still pretty dry and boring. My favorite character was Jamie, who is a premed student who is observing the experiment. We get to see outside of the “dream” as to what is going on in the real world, which I thought was a fantastic aspect. Not to mention that the author never specified Jamie’s gender, which I thought was cool, but I don’t quite understand the reasoning as to whys he would do that… Oh well.
Thankfully the dreams started getting scarier and the scenes more intense. I could feel their terror as opposed to the beginning of the novel where it was all very dry and I didn’t really care. Honestly, I didn’t care for any of the characters’ deaths, but that’s expected when you have a group horror novel when it comes to me.
It was a monster, not a man. Although sometimes those can be one and the same.
I thought this quote was fairly insightful. Maybe not beautiful, per se, but it made me think so I added it.
Another quote that made me laugh was one that was apart of one of the dreams involving clowns. (I’m sorry, but I hate clowns. Whether it’s It by Stephen King or Sam Winchester’s fear from Supernatural… I’m terrified.)
Tonight and tonight only we plan to thrill, chill, and possibly even kill.
For some reason, I totally think that’s the coolest line in the whole book. I have to admit the clown scene (or the buried alive one because NO) was the scariest dream just due to my fears prior to the book.
tl;drAll in all, this book was decent.
Dreamfall by Amy Plum
Dreamfall #1
✫✫½
Advertisements Share this: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.
