Eighteen-year-old Brenna Whit is entering college as a freshman and starting to meet new people, but she hides a dark secret. Because of an accident that happened three years ago, her spirit wanders the Fade whenever she falls asleep. It's something she wants to keep hidden from the world, but when she sees someone watching her in spirit form, she fears the secret's out. With new friends, possibly new enemies, school, and a new crush, Brenna has too much to worry about for just her freshman year of college.
This review contains spoilers! Also, it won't make much sense if you haven't read the book.
With that said, let's jump right in!
In a way, this wasn't an easy book to review.
One of the bigger reasons why, is because I was expecting something different. I requested this book for review through NetGalley under the New Adult category. And honestly? Besides the fact the story takes place on a college campus, there were no real elements of NA to be found.
- The characters were freshmen in college, so barely 18 years old.
- Brenna, our MC, didn't really go through any sort of self-discovery journey. At the end of the book she was pretty much the same as she was in the beginning (a sourly, short tempered teenager). No life-changing realizations, no maturing and growing up, no significant life lessons learned... I mean, she made a friend, who then gets a boyfriend who's always hanging around and eventually becomes her friend too (I'm still confused as to why she hated him so much in the beginning). But I don't think that counts as personal growth.
- There was no serious romantic interest (or if I'm being honest, any type of romantic interest at all). At first, I thought maybe there'd be some sort of romantic drama with Damon (the aforementioned BFF's BF). Maybe a little enemies to lovers trope. That, while very overdone, can be quite juicy if done right. But nope. No boys for our girl Brenna.
- I felt like she was way too naive to be a NA character. There was no sexual awareness, no romantic tension, no nothing. The most we got were lukewarm stomach butterflies (which is more suited to a 13 year old MC than one who's already college aged). And most of the time she acted really immature, too.
Most of the characters, in fact, were rather childish. They hated people for no apparent reason, over-reacted to the most silly things, were petty and low-key selfish.
So it's no surprise, really, that I didn't really connect or empathize with either Brenna, Aeria or Damon (also is Aeria pronounced the same as area? Cause I kept thinking of geometry and surfaces when I read her name).
Brenna was an unlikable character who wasn't really justified in how she treated other people most of the time. To me, she came across as really negative, pessimistic and angry. Just plain pissed off at the world, which, like, I get to a certain extent. You died, came back to life, it messed stuff up. I've also read stories with MC's meant to be unlikeable (Tarryn Fisher is an author that does a wonderful job in that regard). But, I don't think that was the idea here. Brenna just needed to chill a little.
By the end of the book I felt especially bad for Erica. In the end, I think the bubbly, flighty, party-girl facade was merely an act to get attention and, in reality, she was a very lonely person just looking for a true friend. Which is super sad when you stop to think how both Brenna and Aeria treated her.
The other category this book is classified under is Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Personally, I think the whole ghosts/demons/fairies(?) aspect makes this more of a Paranormal story, but that's not really all that relevant.
As a whole, I liked the Dead Dreamer premise. It's interesting and fresh. There are some ghosts stories out there, but they tend to revolve around grim reapers, typically.
The thing with there being both the spirits of the deceased, and other non-human spirits roaming around was original and different. I found it weird, however, how there's mischievous ones (the demons), evil/nasty ones (the fairies), but no nice spirits (gotta keep the balance of the universe!).
Sadly the world building and the setting of the premise was done in a way that was rather boring and slowed the pace of the story considerably. And really, plot wise, not much happend this book. The premise of the story was presented, and we were introduced to a group of people that'll act as the antagonists (but not their motives). Maybe now that the boring part is out of the way, some serious plot development will take place. I mean, that last 5-10% of the book was in fact the part I found most compelling. Was that enough to make the rest of the book great? Not really.
In the end, this wasn't a bad book. It was just too slow and bland for me. But I think it could appeal to the Young Adult audiences. So maybe give it a read and judge for yourself!
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
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