Review: Dreamwalk by Sarah MacManus

Book: Dreamwalk by Sarah MacManus
Stand Alone or Series: Stand-Alone
Pages:  242 
Genre:  Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

Buy A Copy: Amazon | Smashwords

Available Formats: Ebook
Publication Date: March 14th, 2011

How Did I Get This Book: From Author, For Review

First Line: “I had enough time to hope I wouldn't hit anyone on the sidewalk below."

Preview Book: Read Chapter 1

Description: DREAMWALK is a romantic mixed beat of time travel and mythology for both teens and adults. After the death of her mother, Chloe Hawthorn is haunted by terrifying nighttime hallucinations. Determined to take control of her dreams, she uses them to find Shane Anderson, a charming and troubled musician whose online videos have been holding her in thrall. She finds him in the Dreamtime, sweating out heroin detox in a run-down rehab center.

Chloe sets out to find Shane in the waking world and discovers her dreams have been taking her into the past. Horrified, Chloe realizes Shane doesn't survive his addictions. In order to save him, Chloe must master her Australian mother's legacy — the secret of walking the Dreaming through time. But what price will Chloe pay for this Dreamwalk and will she save Shane only to lose him forever?

Dreamwalk is a interesting story, that was nothing like I expected it to be. When thought the story would be rather light and fluffy – a teenage girl going to “save” her musical crush. But I was wrong – that’s not Dreamwalk at all. There is a rather dark and lyrical quality to MacManus’ writing. It is the sort that quietly sinks into your very bones – you become a part of what she is seeing, what she is describing.

I enjoyed both Chloe and Shane, and they are really the only characters we get a solid feel of. Chloe more so than Shane, since the story comes from her perspective. I must admit, going into this book I expected to find vapid, somewhat shallow characters, but that was simply not the case.

Both Chloe and Shane are lost – they feel lonely and abandoned. Through a twist of fate, they find each other at time when they are at their lowest; when they need one another the most. I must say, their relationship progressed much quicker than I expected, which did throw me off a bit. They quickly become physical and toss around the love word, which did not feel right to me. It’s not a moral problem or anything with me, it is just that it felt rushed. I can understand and accept that the connection was easily made at that particular time in their lives, but I wish we would have seen a bit more of the progression. In all honestly; these two hardly knew one another.

The beginning of the dark held my attention steadfast – I soaked up every word, every description, every line. But as the story progressed I began to get restless and confused. I had a difficult time with the lengthy dream-walk descriptions and in all honesty, that is probably my fault. I did not pay close attention to the writing, because I wanted to see what happened next. The descriptions throw the story off course; they come at a time when the reader simply wants to find out what is going on with Chloe and Shane, not the intricate details of how to dream-walk. I would have liked to learn how exactly Chloe was performing this unusual talent, but not at the peak of the storyline. 

That being said, the plotline was full of mystery and intrigue, and for the most part, kept you on your toes. MacManus throws a few twists your way at the end; it’s certainly not what you would expect. I did enjoy the twists, but I would have liked a tad bit more closure. I just wish MacManus would have taken it one step further – you will see what I mean. 

I  enjoyed Dreamwalk, it was creative and surprisingly dark and a bit haunting. The writing is beautiful and the story is surprisingly tender and mysterious. This isn’t a book full of rainbows and sunshine – it about two characters coming together at the roughest parts of their lives and trying to hold on to the lifeline the other creates. It’s messy, romantic, and undeniably poetic.

 Favorite Quotes

"Experts say that the brain cannot tell the difference between an experience that is real and one that is vividly imagined. Knowing something like that can get a girl into a lot of trouble."

"What I could see of him in the small frame was long and lean and a bit undercooked."

"My breath caught and chills shivered over my skin. Either I was in love or I had caught pneumonia."

"Oh, darling," he sighed leaning against the pitted wall again, his eyes dark, "I'm nobody's dream."

"There are songs about love. There's the song of first love, the song of unrequited love, the song of love unexpected, the song of love we do not want, the song of love that must be built, day by day." They all sound different, but the results are the same - your heart learns how to create love, and your hands learn how to give it away."