Super spooky ( )

The Dreaming (Volume 2) by Queenie Chan is the second part of the three-volume story begun in (gasp!) Volume 1. Also note that the blurb and the review contain spoilers for Volume 1.

Greenwich Private College grinds to a complete halt after the discovery of Millie's body. As gloom and despair sets in, most of the students leave the school. But Jeanie's curiosity keeps her on campus, and when she's led down the path of the Greenwich's dark history, has she awakened a ghostly curse?

In Volume 2 the story picks up right where Volume 1 left off. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it mostly serves as a chance for Jeanie to learn more about the history of the school — y'know, the history no one wanted to talk about in the first Volume before everything went wrong. And on top of that, there aren't many students left at the school, to make the building extra creepy.

We are also treated to a build up of creepiness which is obviously setting up the story for the concluding volume. What will happen next? Who will survive? Will anyone get out of the school alive, or will it just merge into the surrounding bushlands, never to be seen again? And what's with the Victorian dresses?

To answer these questions, (and more!) I read on to the last volume...

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog. ( )

Not any better than the first book. Still hard to read in digital format. ( )

The Little Bookworm

When twins Jeanie and Amber are sent to Greenwich Private College in Australia, they expect it will be a regular school. Things quickly turn creepy as the sisters are told to pretend they are not twins and start dreaming the same dreams. As they delved further into the history of the school and the rumors of haunting and missing girls, the twins start to realize that the key might be in their dreams.

I went ahead and read all three since manga are short and it's only a three part series. This is some creepy stuff right here. The first volume is the introduction to the story with one of the twins getting weirded out right away at their new boarding school. Then they have the same dream about the bushland that surrounds the school and girls with knifes. The second and third volume give more history of the school and the disappearances that have happened over the years with the very creepy back story of the vice-principal. At first, it seemed that the story was going to devolve into some lame fairy tale, but then it takes a sharp turn at what? and then stops at nightmarish so I was actually somewhat surprised at the end. Though there was a storyline that feels like it was dropped somewhere along the way and I'm not quite sure what happened there at the end.

As far the artwork, it is typical manga style although with more creepy eyes than I have read before. I had some trouble with who was who until I realized that Jeanie always has a ponytail and then I got it. I think it is hard to draw twins and not have confusion though. The art really did add to the overall effect the story was going for and the paintings inside of the school were majorly horrible (like in scary, not in poorly drawn or anything). ( )

More from twin sisters Jeanie and Amber as things come to be much scarier at the school. After Millie is discovered the school stops it's regular functions and many of the students leave as well as the teachers. Jeanie and Amber stay and while Amber is ill sleeping all the time in bed, Jeanie becomes more curious about the school's history.

She spends time with remaining teacher Miss Anu and finds out that she went to the school when she was younger and her roomate also disappeared mysteriously. She has returned as a teacher so she can investigate the school and Vice Principle Mrs Skeener. She discovers her given name before she was married and the identity of the twins in her photo. The power goes off in the school, the road is flooded and the missing girls from the different ages appear in front of the school in the middle of the night.

Very sppoky, I read this in bed right before I went to sleep and it gave me nightmares oops! I loved the second installment and I am really looking forward to seeing how everything comes together in the final installment. ( )