Wake by Lisa McMann

Wake by Lisa McMann

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....

The description of this book makes it sound tons creepier then Wake really is. This sounds like she is sucked into a murder's or a rapist's dream. In reality - well I can't ruin the plot. It's just a little bit on the anti-climatic side.

The plot is excellent. The pace is excellent. I got completely sucked in. I wanted to know more about Janie - How'd she get this gift? What's going to happen to her? I can't wait to pick up Fade in the hope that more will be shared with us. The two leads are strong. Janie is an interesting character whose story is pleading to be told. Cabel defines the Transformers motto - "There's more than meets the eye".

I had one huge problem with the entire book. The writing style. It's extremely jumpy and blotchy. She writes. Her sentences. Like this. After a while I was able to stop caring about the way she wrote since the plot was so good. If either Fade or Gone is bad then reading them is going to be painful.

I also had a problem with how much drinking Janie did. My dad is an alcoholic so I have problems reading books where the leads knocks down booze without any consequence. I know a lot of teenagers drink (I myself have a fondness for margaritas and daiquiris, but I only have sips of my moms) but don't make it seem so easy or so simple. I know I just sounded like a hypocrite, but I don't know how to put my feelings on the subject into words.

Now back to the review.

Overall, pick this up from the library. I wouldn't want anyone to buy a book that they can't stomach reading. If you can tolerate the style, it's worth picking up.

B