I was pretty let down by Dawn of the Dreamer.
*I received this book through goodreads group YA Buddy Readers' Corner for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not altered in any way.*
I'm deciding between 2.75 stars and 3. I actually really liked the book in the first half, but I wasn't as moved in the second half. The story was imaginative and original, and for a while I really liked it but the story started to drag after the 70% mark for me. The reason I am thinking about giving this book three stars rather than 2.75, was because it didn't infuriate me.
The last book that got this low of a rating was Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols, and it had some key issues that infuriated me, but the reason I disliked it so much was because it was so frustrating. Dawn of the Dreamer wasn't making me want to scream in irritation, but it did get on my nerves in the the last fourth of the novel. All in all, the book just didn't hold me and capture me in the story like I wanted it too. There was always something missing that didn't get me fully immersed into the story line and world.
The concept of Dawn of the Dreamer was really original; I loved the idea of it. The execution for the majority was good, but there were some times where the story just fell short. As said above, it never fully captured me. There were some pretty big things that Higgins never fully resolved and were several small plot holes that I kept picking up on.
The main issue I had with the novel were the characters. To be quite honest, Amelia bothered me a lot. It wasn't just one thing that bothered me, but a compilation of a lot of little things. Amelia, Joe, and Cameron seemed to be really the only characters that were not one dimensional. Sarah was the classic old best friend that the main character is drifting from while Rose is the new friend that is a better fit to said main character's growing maturity. Unfortunately, those two characters are always seen in young adult novels and didn't seem as original as the plot.
One thing that was done pretty well was the love triangle. For the first time in a long time, the main character ended up with the person I wasn't expecting her to. I had a feeling it was going differently than I first anticipated about halfway through the novel. It was really refreshing to see that happen. The love triangle was not run of the mill, which I really appreciate. Also, it was wrapped up pretty nicely at the end, so fingers crossed it doesn't come back in the later books of this series. I liked who Amelia ended up with at the end of the novel. The character she was with had more chemistry with her and made a lot more sense.
My other complaint is that the climax seemed a bit too easy. No one truly got hurt to the point it was life threatening. This one character does get shot in the arm, but I think it would have been more moving if she had been shot in the stomach so that I would actually be nervous. I feel like with a mega-corporation take down, people should get out of the fight with more than a couple scratches and bruises.
Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't for me either. Dawn of the Dreamer was just kind of 'meh' in my opinion. I would be interested to see what happens in the upcoming books, because everything wrapped up quite nicely at the end. Who knows if I'll continue this series? If the opportunity presents itself, I just might. I just read the synopsis for the sequel, and it sounds more up my ally than this one did! I don't necessarily recommend this novel, but I don't discourage you from reading this either.
With that, I give this book
3 out of 5 Stars!
That's it for today guys! Have you read or heard about Dawn of the Dreamer? What's your favorite dystopian novel? Mine this year has to be The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of you had a great day, even if you don't celebrate the holiday!
Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you guys soon with another post!
Happy Reading!
Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!
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