Imagine a team of people who spend their nights walking through the Dreamworld, rescuing Dreamers like you or me from our worst nightmares. Josh is one such team member. Born into an extended family of Dreamwalkers, she becomes a full adult Dreamwalker on her 17th birthday. Along with that distinction comes a new responsibility: Will, an apprentice Dreamwalker. If that isn't an exciting and unique enough premise to hook you into the book, there's also really strong characters, excellent pacing and plot development, a light smattering of romance, and even a little political intrigue!
In Josh's experiences so far, she knows that the Dreamer (the person having the nightmare) cannot be physically hurt in the dream, she (and other Dreamwalkers) can be physically hurt in the dream, and all other "people" present in the dream are just figments of the Dreamer's imagination. All that gets turned on it's head one night when she and Will enter a nightmare and encounter two men who don't fit: they're not the Dreamer, they're not Dreamwalkers, and they're not figments of the Dreamer's imagination. They are out to hurt people, and they do need to be stopped. So there's this great mystery throughout the entire book. I think I've mentioned before that I really like when I'm not able to solve mysteries before the book's end. If I can figure it out, it's way too obvious. I totally didn't see the ending of Dreamfire coming! Don't worry; it's not so drastic a twist as to be implausible, but it's enough of a twist to give the reader a nice surprise.
Dreamfire also had a really strong cast of characters. The book is told primarily from Josh's point of view, but there are a few chapters scattered throughout from Will's perspective. I was especially impressed with how real Josh reads. She's had some hardship in her life, like when she lost her mother, but she's not all woe-is-me. Yes, she misses her mother, but that doesn't mean she can't also appreciate and enjoy her stepmom. She also has really strong relationships with extended family and friends. Because Dreamwalking is kind of a secret society thing, multiple families share one house with an archway to the Dreamworld in the basement. In this house live Josh & her family, her grandmother, and another family. There was yet another family living in the house, too, but they had moved out before the start of the book. So- big house; many people. For this reason I appreciated that Kit Alloway included a list of characters at the beginning of the book. Each character was so well-developed that I very rarely had to check it, but it helped to know that it was there.
The pacing of the book was excellent. I never felt like I had too much information being thrown at me at once. It really helped for Josh to take on an apprentice, so that as she explained the Dreamworld and Dreamwalkers to Will, I also got the information. As I mentioned at the start, there is a lot of layers to this book, but it never feels "messy." In fact, some things are left only very lightly touched upon, like the political intrigue. (The Dreamwalkers have their own government.) Dreamfire felt like a series-starter to me, with so many different plot lines opened up, and I've been very disappointed to not be able to find any internet rumors of a sequel. Even though I think this would be an excellent trilogy, there aren't any big unsolved plot points at the end. I'm just anxious to spend more time with Josh and the gang in the Dreamworld!
OOOh nice review! I have this one on my watch list, but it's soon making its way onto my shopping list! LOL! I love the cover and it had me intrigued right away. Dreamworld type books always intrigue me and this does sound like a fascinating read! Great review!
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