Genre: YA/Paranormal Romance
Published: December 1, 2014
Pages: 266
Ages: 14+
Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Nadia Petrov is an outcast in her tight-knit community of people with special abilities. Nadia must invade people’s dreams to survive. She sneaks into sleeping victims’ rooms, slips into their heads, and then turns their dreams into horrifying nightmares.
When a new girl arrives at her compound, Nadia can’t resist giving the girl a nightmare. In the dream world, Nadia discovers Hunter Sullivan, a soul trapped in the girl’s mind. Intrigued by Hunter, Nadia secretly builds a relationship with him in the dream world, and they find solace through each other.
Unable to accept a love fated for dreams, Nadia must risk losing the safety of her community to help Hunter get back to his body before he’s lost forever.
I bought a copy of this book after reading the first chapter for the video to go with Courtney's review. I was personally intrigued by that chapter and just had to know more and then Courtney got a bit busy, so I stepped in to review, I'd already bought the book anyway.
So this book was like a paranormal Romeo & Juliet. Nadia and Hunter are some seriously star-crossed lovers who's paths only cross because of an extreme twist of fate. Their relationship is very unconventional, and one could argue that it has more than a hint of insta-love to it, but it still doesn't feel unreasonable considering the circumstances.
The story is told in first person and alternates between Nadia and Hunter's perspectives. This got a little confusing for me at times in spite of the fact that it was clearly labeled when a POV shift occurred because Nadia and Hunter have very similar ways of thinking and speaking. The tone of voice wasn't enough to make it clear who's head I was in if I had to put my Kindle down in the middle of a section and then come back to it later. Basically their personalities just kind of blended together for me.
I did love how these characters grew as people through their shared experiences, realizing that everything they thought they knew about each other is maybe not as accurate as it should be. The way they realize that their worlds aren't so black and white after all was done really well.
My major complaint about this book is that the action scenes felt a lot more like telling than showing to me. It made the scenes feel a lot less tense than they should have, and made them a bit boring for me.
Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, because it hooked me with just one chapter and kept me reading (except when my children demanded attention), but it could have been more descriptive during the action scenes. I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much any YA paranormal fan.
So this book was like a paranormal Romeo & Juliet. Nadia and Hunter are some seriously star-crossed lovers who's paths only cross because of an extreme twist of fate. Their relationship is very unconventional, and one could argue that it has more than a hint of insta-love to it, but it still doesn't feel unreasonable considering the circumstances.
The story is told in first person and alternates between Nadia and Hunter's perspectives. This got a little confusing for me at times in spite of the fact that it was clearly labeled when a POV shift occurred because Nadia and Hunter have very similar ways of thinking and speaking. The tone of voice wasn't enough to make it clear who's head I was in if I had to put my Kindle down in the middle of a section and then come back to it later. Basically their personalities just kind of blended together for me.I did love how these characters grew as people through their shared experiences, realizing that everything they thought they knew about each other is maybe not as accurate as it should be. The way they realize that their worlds aren't so black and white after all was done really well.
My major complaint about this book is that the action scenes felt a lot more like telling than showing to me. It made the scenes feel a lot less tense than they should have, and made them a bit boring for me.
Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 stars, because it hooked me with just one chapter and kept me reading (except when my children demanded attention), but it could have been more descriptive during the action scenes. I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much any YA paranormal fan.
Excerpt
This excerpt is from one of my favorite scenes in the novel—when Hunter Sullivan and Nadia Petrov meet for the first time in Hunter’s host, Jacqueline Matthews’, dream world. Hope you enjoy!
I stare over the ledge of a roof of an abandoned building. I don’t really know what Jacqueline dreams about, but it’s easy enough to immerse myself in whatever world she imagines without actually having to talk or see her.
The building shakes and the air shifts. Something’s different. Something has changed. I feel someone else’s presence.
I pull myself from Jacqueline’s dream. “Hello?” I whisper. “Jacqueline, are you messing with me?”
A strange energy sucks me back into Jacqueline’s dream. I try to disconnect, but I’m stuck. I search around the imaginary buildings for misplaced things, but nothing has changed.
I jump from the roof and land on my feet in the middle of an empty street. Jacqueline’s dreams are usually eerily quiet and I wonder if it has to do with the fact that I’m not the one dreaming, so maybe I’m missing big chunks of what goes on. I don’t ask her though. It would make it awkward.
Loud footsteps echo and I jog to the end of the block and press my stomach to the wall of a building. I wait a few seconds, listening as the footsteps move closer, and then I peek around the corner.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s the girl from the club.
Her shimmering, white hair blows behind her and she slides her slender fingers over the red bricks of a rundown building. In their wake, she leaves a burning trail, and it’s like the girl is setting Jacqueline’s world ablaze.
She’s wearing an ivory strapless dress and black lace-up combat boots. She smiles as she looks around, but it’s not happiness. It’s an eerie satisfaction. I count to three before stepping around the corner to face her. She stops and stares at me with a wild glint in her eyes.
My hands shake and I want to turn and run. Years of being taught that supers are horrible, vile creatures crowd my mind and it’s hard to stay calm. This girl won’t hurt me. She can’t...at least I don’t think she can. I refuse to let my fear of the unknown overpower me. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to talk to someone besides Jacqueline. Apart from the board, this girl may be the only person to ever find out I’m here and that I’m trapped.
I clear my throat. It takes a lot in me to speak. “Are you real?” I ask.
Her smile falters and she tilts her head to the side. “You shouldn’t be able to see me.” Panic sweeps across her face and she crosses her arms. She’s afraid of me, too. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel better. It makes me want to comfort her. “That’s impossible. Who are you?”
I step closer. “My name is Hunter Sullivan. I’m a soul trapped inside Jacqueline’s mind.” I reach out to offer my hand, but she doesn’t move.
Her fear melts into surprise and she puckers her bottom lip. “This is the strangest dream.”
I step closer. “I’m not a dream.”
Her gray eyes flash and she smiles. “I love when dream people are in denial.”
She reaches out, a haunted look in her eyes, and grabs my shoulders.
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About the Author
Ginna Moran started writing poetry as a teenager in a spiral notebook that she still has tucked away on her desk today. Her love of writing grew after she graduated high school and she completed her first unpublished manuscript at age eighteen.
When she realized her love of writing was her life’s passion, she studied literature at Mira Costa College in Northern San Diego. Besides writing young adult novels, she was senior editor, content manager, and image coordinator for Crescent House Publishing Inc. for four years.
Aside from Ginna’s professional life, she enjoys binge watching television shows, playing pretend with her daughter, and cuddling with her dogs. Some of her favorite things include chocolate, anything that glitters, cheesy jokes, and organizing her bookshelf.
Ginna is currently hard at work on her next novel.
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