Review: Wake (Dream Catcher #1)

Title: Wake (Dream Catcher #1)
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 210
Challenge: YA Series
 
My Rating:

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime. She can't tell anybody about what she does they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can’t control. Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant. -summary from goodreads.com

I did not think a novel couldn’t be written in the form that Wake is written in. (read the book, you’ll see what I mean) its more like sections than actual paragraphs, but hey, it caught my attention, and FAST! I loved Wake. Janie is a girl who can fall in and out of someone's dream at any given moment; it’s a very refreshingly creative and original storyline (a nice break from so many vampires, werewolves or fairies). Even more so, I enjoyed the fact that it also focused on the humanity of the characters. This is one of those “true” YA book, and it deals with issues that teens these days are currently confronting, with that being said-read with caution. I know a couple of people who stopped reading the book after the first dream scene.

The characters are all very real, they speak like teens do, and they're not all perfect. It doesn't seem like a book that is going to have a "happily ever after" ending which is something I enjoy because it reflects real life, even if it does have a paranormal aspect. Janie is a great heroine. Her ability is something to be admired. She's not proud of it and she certainly wishes she could turn it off. She keeps her secret to herself until she's finally fed up and starts to try and help those that she can. She's no superhero and she knows it.

Cabel; I loved him since the skateboard scene, before he became Mr. Popular. Janie doesn’t fall for him straight away, it wasn't love at first site- it was gradual. When they do come around to listening to their feelings, she is relieved to have someone to share her secret after all these years. Cabel respects her decisions and appreciates her to the fullest. I loved reading about their relationship and seeing it grow… *sigh*

Overall, Wake is a fast paced, thrilling, rollercoaster read. The reader will be sucked into the dreams with Janie and feel what she feels. WAKE is a very inventive story and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.