March Book: Dream Talker*

This is my first finished book in March and I’m about 30% through with another ebook that I need to finish before the end of March. This was an ebook that I read fairly quickly. It is one of the best books that I have read in a while and I am not just saying this because I am friends with the author over on Goodreads. This is honestly a great book worth the money. I am actually going to purchase another book by this author. That is how much I enjoyed this one.

DISCLAIMER:

I promise to be brutally honest with my opinion, but it should not be taken as fact. Any reader should read it for themselves, before they decide if this book has any merit or not. Do not judge this book biased solely on my opinion. If you do, you might miss out on a great read. You never know. It could happen. My review may contain spoilers, but I really strive to be spoiler-free. I was given this book by the author for reviewing purposes only. This book was not suggested to me by the author. I have no affiliation with the author or his/her publisher, meaning I have nothing to gain by promoting them.

Main Character(s):

I will argue that Adrian is the main lead in this story, although there are different POVs. Adrian is just your average guy trying to hold onto his trust money and please his perky girlfriend. I loved Adrian’s sense of humor and his gullibility. You can see his character develop throughout the novel and he does come out better for it in the end. I also like that he isn’t the strong, heroic male hero in the end. It was a surprising twist that made me like Adrian even more for being a supportive character.
5 out of 5 stars

Evil Antagonist(s):

I really liked that there were a lot of elements and side plots going on within the novel as a whole. It created a depth to the story and the characters. It gave the antagonists a deeper hold on the reader’s attention. I don’t want to give anything away, but the bad characters were very nicely developed and very believable. I just wished that their motives were a bit clearer, but I think it is supposed to keep you guessing.
4 out of 5 stars

Minor Character(s):

I really loved Adrian’s girlfriend, Ella. I loved how Jon turned her character into a heroine in the end and the one with all the power. It turns out that everything is really all about her, the star of her very own show. I thought that Henry was an interesting character, but I thought Ella’s mother came across a bit…a lot flat. I didn’t really care for her. I cared a bit more for Tom, Ella’s father, because he was a bit crazy, hence interesting. To be honest, I kind of speed read past the POVs that weren’t either Adrian’s, Ella’s or O’Brien’s [a bad guy].
3 out of 5 stars

The Plot:

In a nut shell, boy likes girl, whose father hates him. Boy and girl do something naughty and end up paying for it throughout the novel, only to realize in the end that the events were set into motion long before. I thought the plot was very unique in the way that it was written, but the story has been done before in YA fiction.
4 out of 5 stars

The Setting:

This part I loved about the book completely. There were so much detail about everything right down to the mundane that we take for granted. I will never complain about too much detail and this novel delivers. So if you love descriptions as much as I do, you need to go online and buy this book.
5 out of 5 stars

The Dialogue:

I’m not going to lie. There was one point in the story that the jargon was so technical that I skipped a few pages and again at the end. It is a little too much technical stuff for the average person. Otherwise, the interactions to the characters had just the right touch of humor and sarcasm to make the novel funny but heavy at the same time. I’m not sure whether I would label this as regular [the average person] conversing or an amped up/staged interaction for increased drama. It is not unbelievable or far-fetched in any way, but I don’t know a lot of people really clever like these characters in my life.
3 out of 5 stars

Engaging Surprises:

The novel hits you with surprise after surprise and when you think the novel is going on way, it breaks through the wall. It is totally unexpected and refreshing. There was no foreshadowing, but somehow it all works and flows together without seeming awkward or forced. I love it when a novel can surprise and whack me over the head. It is fresh and exciting. It really attracts me to more of the author’s work.
5 out of 5 stars

Climax:

It is frightening and griping with action. This novel satisfies my recent craving for adventure and violence. I honestly could see this story being turned into a block buster movie someday. The action made me feel like I was watching all this action go down right in front of me. I was very interested in the story and how it would turn out in the end. My dad is already reading this book and told me that it was a great alternative to watching an hour of tv. And my dad hardly ever reads/nor does he know the author.
5 out of 5 stars

Emotional Response:

No, I wasn’t moved to tears and I didn’t break out in song at the ending. I was very invested in the characters and blushed a bit at the more romantic scenes. I also winced at Adrian’s harrowing escapes and found myself gripping my Kindle…hard. I was immersed in the story and my world no longer existed. I found myself finding every opportunity to keep reading it.
4 out of 5 stars

Ending:

Can I say that I was slightly traumatized at the ending where Ella transforms into an utter goddess? I was also confused by all the technical jargon at the end, but I got the jest of it. There better be a sequel. That’s all I’m saying, but it better be as good as or better than this one. I want it to be the sequel that ends all sequels.
3 out of 5 stars

The Writing:

I was blown away at how beautifully crafted this story was. I didn’t come across many grammatical mistakes, thanks to a fantastic editor. The story is easy to follow and understand what is going on in the novel [except for the computer genius talk]. The author has a distinct voice and sarcastic humor to his work. I could easily identify this author’s work as his own, because of the unique voice to the story. It is refreshing to have found another author that I can count among my favorites.
5 out of 5 stars

The Artwork:

One of the worst that I have seen. It is plain and boring. It is a letdown. It needs an attractive cover worthy of the story inside. The novel is so good. The cover needs to be invested into. I judge a book by its cover, so if I did not know this author, I probably would not have purchased it on my own. How sad, because this author really does great work.
1 out of 5 stars

Genre:

I would classify this as fantasy, but I cannot pin down anything else specifically. The novel is hard to pin down, because of so many different elements. It could also be considered a romance, supernatural, troubled romance, but it is so hard to just get a single word or type to describe it.
3 out of 5 stars

Title:

Dream Talker suits the story in so many different ways. It is almost as if the novel is divided into three distinct parts and in each one Dream Talker means a slightly different thing. I truly enjoyed the novel along with its very unique title.
5 out of 5 stars

So, there you have it. I give this novel an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars, so this novel is a 4. I think that f the cover was redone, it could be enough to push this novel into a 5 for me. I look at all of the aspects of a book, when I judge it. Not just the material itself, but the whole experience. I hope you guys know that my opinion truly was not influenced by the fact that I know the author and was given the ebook for free. I am being used merely as a beta reader and was not paid to endorse this book. I just really loved it.

With Love,