Dream Me – Book Review (Spoiler-Free)

I was provided with a copy by NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you to Amberjack Publishing for the opportunity.

Hey guys, happy Monday! 🙂

First of all, let me apologize for my absence… It’s been a tough few weeks in which I haven’t had the time or the mood to spend on blogging. But I’m trying to get back on track, so let’s hope it goes well!

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This review is completely spoiler-free.

• Title: Dream Me
• Author: Kathryn Berla
• Publisher: Amberjack Publishing
• Publication Date: July 11^th, 2017
• Page Count: 175

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Babe is, once again, the new girl in town. Her father’s job forces the family to move around constantly and Babe just wishes she could find a place to call “home”, for once. Zat is from the future, where Earth is close to inhabitable. His dreams are the only thing giving him hope. His dreams and the redheaded girl in them…

 

 

I did like Zat as a character. He was extremely down-to-earth and thoughtful, especially when compared to Babe. I don’t think we are told his age, though, so maybe he’s a lot wiser and mature because he’s older (and also because he comes from a different time).

I also enjoyed the little clues the author left here and there. There were some really great details that were, unfortunately, not enough to make this any close to a cohesive story.

 

It was nice to read about Babe’s everyday life at first, but it quickly became boring beyond belief. Nothing – and I mean, absolutely nothing – happened. Every single day was basically the same routine.

I dreaded reading the comments on Babe’s blog. They were so awkward and cringy, and Babe was so rude replying to them. She just sounded very entitled most of the time, and like she was completely different person.

I couldn’t care less about Zat and Babe’s relationship. It could have been sweet, at one point, but it quickly turned into an obsessive, kind of messed up connection. I didn’t really understand what they saw in each other, or where these feelings were coming from. I mean, it’s a peculiar relationship, sure, but come on. I could kind of see why he had fallen in love with her, as it’s explained, but Babe? It was basically instalove for her.

It wasn’t very consistent, either. Sometimes Babe would be all for the independent lifestyle, hanging out with friends and trying new things in this new town; then, she would spend her days obsessing over her dreams and Zat.

Finally, there were at least three random subplots that served no actual purpose in the story. One of them just very much grossed me out. And Babe’s reaction to it? Ugh, what was that all about…

 

 

Being a “sci-fi” kind of romance, I expected way more from this. Sure, there wasn’t a lot to pack up in 175 pages but when you waste 50% of the book talking about Babe and her friends eating grilled fish or playing tennis, you get no excuse.

There were some really interesting concepts in this, but they were a) not explored enough and b) all pretty jumbled and not making much sense when put together. There was also a lot left to the imagination, which is usually fine but didn’t actually work here.

I was thoroughly bored and very simply put, uninterested in this story. It was so short yet it took me nearly a month to finish it just because I didn’t feel like picking it up. And when I did, it felt syrupy sluggish.

I really wanted to like Dream Me. It sounded so interesting and had such a pretty cover. But overall, I just can’t recommend it.

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***

Thank you so much for reading and until next time!

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What did you think of my review? Do you plan to read Dream Me? ｡^‿^ ｡