ARC Review: Dreamland by Robert L. Anderson

Title: Dreamland 
Author: Robert L. Anderson 
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Edelweiss 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 22nd 2015
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Summary: 

Odea Donahue has been able to travel through people’s dreams since she was six years old. Her mother taught her the three rules of walking: Never interfere. Never be seen. Never walk the same person’s dream more than once. Dea has never questioned her mother, not about the rules, not about the clocks or the mirrors, not about moving from place to place to be one step ahead of the unseen monsters that Dea’s mother is certain are right behind them. Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she’s had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that’s so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what’s real and what’s not?

Review: 

I picked up Dreamland five separate times, read a few pages and then put it down. I haven't been in the mood for anything but contemporaries for a few weeks now and I knew that I was either going to love this one or end up getting annoyed with it and not finishing it. Thankfully I loved it. I say thankfully because Dreamland is truly unique and something different in YA. 

I am going to do this review a little differently. Let's start out with what I wasn't crazy about. I LOVED everything in this book. I wished that Dream Walking took up more of the story line. Robert had a lot of ways to go with this book and though I found the Dream Worlds and walking interesting I wished that it was more focused on that. The only time we see the Dream World is towards the end when Dea is finally about to find her mother and figure out who killed Connor's mother. It was interesting and unique. I've never seen anything like the world in Dreamland. I am hoping for a book 2 and if that is the case I hope Robert focuses more on the Dream World in it. 

Now that all the bad stuff is out of the way lets get along with the positives because there are a lot of them. I really liked Dea's character. Being bullied myself when I was younger I enjoyed seeing Dea being able to keep her head high. I was especially happy she had at least one friend though. Even if it was just during school. When Connor first entered the story I figured who was going to lead Dea on then learn about her from the other students and leave her. But he didn't. I LOVE that he stayed with Dea and Gollum. But he is also an outcast due to his mother and baby brother's murder years earlier. A crime many think he committed. 

This book does have a creepy side. I am not going to lie when I say the faceless men from Connor's dreams didn't freak me out. Or the mirrors. Or clocks. It all tied in with the story well. As I said above I loved the Dream World and I would have loved to learn more about. But it is a very creative idea. Overall I do recommend this book. It is a paranormal that will keep you guessing onto the very last page. The ending seemed open, so I am hoping that means there is a possibility for another book to Dreamland.