(Review) The Dreamer (The Dreamland Series #1) by E.J. Mellow

Synopsis:

It’s night. Always night. Dreams guard against the evil forged by nightmares. Infinite shooting stars illuminate a moonless sky. A city stands alone, surrounded by a darkened field. On its fringes, a man watches one star separate from the masses and fall. What survives the crash will unveil a secret centuries long hidden.

Molly hasn’t slept well since the night of her twenty-fourth birthday. Being struck by lightning might have something to do with it, but then again, her chicken did look a little undercooked at dinner. Whatever the culprit, her life quickly catapults from mundane to insane as, night after night, Molly is transported through her once dreamless sleep to a mysterious land illuminated by shooting stars.

There she meets the captivating but frustrating Dev, and together they discover Molly possesses a power coveted by his people—the ability to conjure almost anything she desires into existence. Seduced by the possibilities of this gift, Molly shifts her attention from waking life toward the man, the magic, and the world found in her dreams.

But Molly must ask herself—does something truly exist if you only see it when you close your eyes?

Faced with the threat of losing everything—her job, best friend, boyfriend, and most importantly, that little thing called her sanity—Molly will learn just how far she’ll go to uncover what is real and what is merely a figment of her imagination.

My thoughts and whatnot

My rating: ★★★★☆ 

Premise: This book has a really fresh plot, for me anyway. I haven't read a book about space travel via dream and it's totally cool. This has a gripping story line that has me reading it from first chapter down to the last. It was a page-turner; it was fast paced but it's not rushed so it developed well.

Characters: The set of characters in this book was really fun to read. Molly, the main character has a really amusing and honest voice. She has this insanely mundane trait, which was far from dull. Dev, was the type of character that's easy to like, he's pretty much the quintessential witty guy. Dev and Molly's relationship were as dynamic as they are, it keeps me guessing what to expect next.

The other characters were pretty great, too but everyone seems too great to be true. In the "Dreamland" realm, no one has a reliable answer, making most of them suspicious to me. There are a lot of characters introduced, that I thought would've played a big part, but half of them were given ample attention [because of Molly's one-track mind.]

Everyone seems so handsome or gorgeous, as Molly have described them, except the "enemies." It would've been great if the enemies weren't so recognizable in first glance, right? It would open a wide opening for plot twists.

Writing technique/style: The book was told from Molly's perspective. This book, of course, has the conversational style. Molly describe everything so vividly, even in state of distress. The author seems pretty biased with Molly, she has it easy. There are some cliched scenes but it was generally written well.

World building: The Dreamland was created pretty great. It was vivid and clear, I could definitely imagine it. I can't find loop holes here. The world built seems pretty intact, to me. It was apparent that E.J. did her research; it was amazing how the world she built was somehow connected to our past, present and future. The way it was done was clever, really clever.

To be honest, I didn't expect to love or even like this book as much as I did; there's just something so hilariously honest about this book that I couldn't put my finger on. I like how it ended though, made me want to read the next book.

About the author:

I'm the author behind the NA Contemporary Fantasy trilogy The Dreamland Series. When I'm not busy moonlighting in the realm of make-believe, I can be found doodling, buried in a book (usually this one), or playing video games.

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