"The characters were all fantastically real to me... I found myself rooting for them and thinking of them well after the book was closed and finished. The plot was extremely fast paced, suspenseful, and down-right addicting." — Miss Remmers
From Amazon.com...
"Not all dreams are sweet.
For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody — notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime. She can't tell anybody about what she does — they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant... "
Book Trailer I picked this book up simply because it looked good. Then I read the premise and that sounded interesting too. So I put it with the five other "these look good" books at the used bookstore; when I got home I put them on my shelf. Less than 24 hours later I felt drawn to this book, there were loads of other books I needed to get to first but I found myself looking on the shelf for this book in particular after finishing Delirium.
Upon first opening "Wake," I realized that the writing is extremely choppy — and that I liked it that way. The sentences are short and to the point; it's a type of writing style I would normally discourage with my freshmen, but with "Wake" I found that it drew me in and added both mystery and suspense. The choppy writing made the story seem to move faster and with a sense of urgency. Lisa's writing style otherwise was unique and different. The different font for the dreams and the reality were helpful; the dream writing was done so in a way that I felt like I was actually seeing it.
I pitied Janie for her ability, I can't imagine getting pulled into people's dreams without warning. It'd be one thing if she were sleeping too, but that she can be driving, studying, talking, and all of a sudden pass out — not cool. But speaking of cool... Cabel is hot. I've been lucky enough to read two books in a row with fantastically drool worthy male protagonists ("Wake" and "Delirium"). Even when Cabel was being sketchy, I couldn't help but hope he had a plan. On the bus with the McDonalds when he came to her rescue — I almost died of romance! The Snickers bar and the skateboard! This boy has moves and if I weren't engaged to the most romantic man I know (nonfiction wise), I'd let him put his moves on me!
Cabel's "alternate" life was a little hard to buy — but it didn't deter me from reading. Lisa's characters were all fantastically real to me, even with their flaws (especially Janie's a bit unbelievable best friend). I found myself rooting for them and thinking of them well after the book was closed and finished.
The plot, like I said, was extremely fast paced, suspenseful, and down-right addicting. I can't wait to pick up "Fade" and "Gone" from the library today!
Originality: 10/10 Ending: 10/10 Characters: 8/10 Plot: 10/10 My reaction/enjoyment: 9/10 Theme: 10/10 Imagery: 10/10 Setting: 5/5 Voice: 5/5 Style: 5/5 Tone: 5/5 Cover: 10/10 Overall: 97/100 A
To the FTC, with love: Loved and Bought
To find out more about this series and author, visit the following links: -Visit Lisa around the web here: Website | Blog
-BUY THE BOOK: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Random bit of information: Last night I had to extremely awful nightmares that I'm sure Janie is happy she didn't have to witness. Not the kind of nightmare where I'm naked — but the kind where both my parents have died and I didn't get to say good bye. I just remember wallowing in my dream pity. I'm pretty sure my face was contorted to my "crying face" while I was sleeping because now my cheeks hurt. I also dreamt that I was in a play with my three best friends (all drama majors) and I screwed around the whole time and then didn't know my lines when it came to the opening night and I let them all down.
/End Rant