Rebecca A. Rogers

I'm not sure how to review this book. To begin with I quickly connected to the main character and thought I was really going to like it. Then the writing, along with the mother character (seemed to have a bit of split personality disorder to me) started to wear me down. The content is YA, but the writing feels middle grader. I'm not sure if it's the language... It just seemed a bit stilted and simple and a little shallow in parts. However, toward the end I really did get into it and was turning pages fast, then the end. I hated the end. But, that's just me, my preferences.

So, I guess I liked it, then I wasn't too impressed, then I was wrapped up, then I was totally annoyed. All in all, it wasn't bad. I'm not angry about wasted time, but I wouldn't feel compelled to read any further in the story if there was a sequel.

Do I recommend? Meh. If you like YA and you have nothing interesting on deck at the minute and you find it at a good price, it's not bad.… (mehr)

This book is more of the worst parts of book 1. The only rationale given for destroying the Dreamers is that they're pests and that they could have powers that the Realists don't know about. Could, not do. To sum up this book, there's a training montage or two, and Luke I am your father and the villain escapes as you do, leaving everything up in the air yet again.

I found this book more disappointing than the first because the first at least had worlds of imagination in it, while this one has shielded hideouts of imagination -- much less fun. Also, they seem to be relying on the heroine to save them, which is an incredibly ridiculous idea as not even she is sure what she's capable of.

Such a promising premise to this series and oh how it's ruined.

I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)

Okay, wanna know what the one fucking huge flaw in this story is? It never even once tells us what is so bloody bad about having an imagination. Yes, having this gift allows you to create and inhabit imaginary worlds. But who is that hurting? Does it hurt the dreamer? Does it hurt the world as a whole? Is making up new worlds somehow destroying our world? Are all the imaginary worlds real somewhere and thus the dreamers must be stopped because they're abusing real people? What? But, no, the story never says.

Aside from that, the story's rather straightforward. Ordinary girl has the power to create and visit imaginary worlds. A secret agency wants to stop this by completely killing off the imaginations of those who can do so. Naturally, the ordinary girl tries to stop this.

But why is it happening in the first place?! Argh!

I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)

"...but at the end of the day, and on some strange, out-of-this-world level, we formed a connection. A connection which just saved our lives."

Two teenage girls who are just about as opposite as can be have crashed their cars on the perilous 'Death's Cliff.' Flora feels overlooked by her parents, who put all their effort into her athletically inclined brother, Derek. Flora's grades in school are dropping she drinks a lot. Flora's best friend Mia is the only other person who understands her, Mia's parents are away all the time on lavish vacations and seem to care more about her beauty pageant sister, Laney. Flora, who is drunk and Laney, who is too preoccupied with her chapstick crash their cars into one another on Death's Cliff. Their spirits are now stuck somewhere in between, in Lichburn and the Shadowlands. Their bodies are not quite dead, but might be if their spirits cannot get word to their loved ones where their dying bodies are in time. They'll have to work together to find their way back to life.

I probably would have connected more with this story if I were still a teenaged girl. Both Flora and Laney's characters are filled with teen angst and drama. I actually really like the plot of the story, which kept me reading; the characters just fell flat for me. Flora and Laney are opposites in life; however, they both read the same in the book. The point of view in the book also switches back and forth between Flora and Laney, but since their voices are so similar, I would sometimes have to go back and look at who's voice I was reading from. The most interesting character in the book was Sara, a spirit guide in Lichburn. She had a very unique voice and intriguing story. I would love to know more about her life and death. The setting of the semi-afterlife, waiting room areas of Lichburn and the Shadowlands was also a curiosity. I know that Flora and Laney's characters didn't know much about it either, but I could have done with some more explanation. I did enjoy the loop at the end, and there are some good lessons in here for younger readers.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (mehr)