Morton's Fork

Finally, the last book of the Dream Catcher trilogy! 

That picture makes me mad with its stupid white background, but I can't figure out how to make it go away.

Look out, there will probably be a ton of spoilers below. Don't read any further if you haven't read the books or if you haven't finished them yet. Unless you like spoilers.

In Gone, Janie deals with so many more issues than just her dream catcher abilities. She starts out the novel spending the weekend with Cabel, his brother, and his brother's wife at their cabin on the lake. She's accepted that she'll be blind and that her body will slowly start to give out as a result of her dream catching. What she hasn't accepted yet is dragging Cabel down with her. Janie sees things in his dreams that scare her and make her doubt their relationship (for example, at one point she sees herself (blind and gnarled) laying on a hospital bed in the kitchen and Cabel goes into the kitchen and yells at her to just shut up and die already).

Janie also has to deal with the appearance of a stranger, who ends up being her father. Once Janie finds out that her father is actually a dream catcher as well who isolated himself, she kind of freaks out. Realizing that she has two options now, she struggles with staying with Caleb and going blind or leaving him and keeping her sight and her body.

Throughout the book, I feel like the relationship between Janie and Cabel is turned into more of a one-sided thing than it had been before. Janie decides that she's going to leave Cabel, but doesn't even tell him that she wants to isolate herself or say goodbye to him. She thinks disappearing would be easier, but I really don't think anybody would agree. Sure, Cabel would probably tell her that she's making a bad decision, but if she's so set on isolating, there's nothing he can really do.

The idea of "Morton's Fork," or having to choose between two equally terrible things, is an interesting concept that I really liked in this book. Janie already knows what's going to happen to her if she continues to be around people and enter their dreams. What she doesn't know, though, is that isolation can be just as bad. Her father's brain exploded because he isolated himself. Having to choose between going blind and all of the things that come with dream catching and having your brain explode kind of sucks. Although I'm pretty sure I'd rather go blind than have my brain explode. Maybe that's just me.

I also liked how Dorothea, Janie's mom, was given a little more depth in this book. In Wake and Fade, Dorothea is presented as simply an alcoholic who cares only about herself. In Gone, however, Dorothea's past with Henry is revealed and her reasons for being an alcoholic are made more clear. Maybe she didn't handle his leaving very well at all, but she's dealing with it in the best way she knows how. McMann causes the reader to feel a little more sympathetic towards Dorothea, even though she just spent two books making you dislike her.

I thought that this book was a very nice conclusion to the trilogy. It dealt more with the emotional side of dream catching, and the repercussions it might have on other people in a dream catcher's life. It also went away from the solving crimes theme that the first two had, and I think that was a good call on McMann's part. You can only have so many novels with the same basic plot in one trilogy. Also, the ending wasn't entirely conclusive, but it also wasn't entirely open-ended. I thought it was a good way to end such an intense series, and I feel like it also left more open to the readers' imagination. You don't need an epilogue detailing what happens 10 years in the future. Make it up yourself.

I am sorry to say goodbye to this trilogy and the characters though. The story line, although dealing with some paranormal things, wasn't like every other paranormal YA novel out there. No vampires, no werewolves, no witches, no dragons... just a girl with special abilities trying to find her place in a world where people aren't at all like her. Well, except for a few people of course. I thought it was very well written and that it flowed together very nicely. Some parts may have been unnecessary or didn't make much sense, but those were few and far between. I would definitely recommend this whole trilogy to anyone looking for a YA book that's out of the ordinary. 

Again, sorry for such a long post! I only have two more to do though until I'm finally caught up and can start The Unwanteds.

--Ashley

Gone

Ok, one last post for now. While I'm still on a roll. 

Title: Gone
Author: Lisa McMann
Year Published: 2010

Synopsis: Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she'd made her peace with it. But she can't handle dragging Cabel down with her. 

She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams.

He's amazing. 

And she's a train wreck. 

Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves--she has to disappear. 

And it's going to kill them both.

Then a stranger enters her life--and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she'd ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils.

And time is running out...

Why?: Basically, the same as Wake and Fade. I was in Books-A-Million with my mom and I was looking through all the books on clearance (since I'm so cheap I don't like to pay full price for anything) and kept coming across this book and its sequels. It sounded like a very interesting concept, and even though I'm really over the whole trilogy thing, the books were fairly short and I figured it wouldn't take me very long to get through them. I originally intended on the whole series being supplemental reading, but decided to just make the first one my "book of the month" so that Paul would have to read it as well. I wanted to read this one because I enjoyed the first two so much.

Expectations: I really enjoyed Wake and Fade, so I have pretty high expectations for this one. Even more of Janie dealing with the repercussions of being a dream catcher, trying to be a secret agent, and trying to maintain a secret relationship with Caleb. Oh, and let's throw a wrench into the pile and introduce someone who is going to turn her world upside down. I feel like everything she knows about being a dream catcher is about to explode on her, and she'll learn more than she ever wanted to know. Kind of a lot to deal with in one book, but I feel like McMann is more than capable of handling it well.

Judging a book by its cover: Again, pretty much the same as with Wake and Fade: the cover is pretty simple - lots of black with the title and a chair as the only color on the whole cover. I have no idea how the chair will relate to the book, but we'll see.

It's so much quicker to write these when they're so similar to other posts. Thank you, copy/paste.

--Ashley

"Endless speculation only leads to dead ends."

And now... the review for Fade!

I really enjoyed that this book was structured in a similar fashion to Wake. It made it feel like the two books could have been one longer book, which I believe is how a sequel should feel. I liked that it picked up almost immediately after Wake, and that everything was consistent between the two books. 


I did think that the case assigned to Cabel and Janie was a little stretched. It is mentioned that they have very little detail, but the chance that Janie and Cabel would be able to just figure out who the [SPOILER ALERT] teacher is that's possibly sleeping with students is so slim that it's almost unbelievable when Janie ends up in his class. The school could be relatively small though, in which case it wouldn't be so far-fetched.


I definitely did not see the twist that it wasn't just one teacher though. The subtle hints are there, but I definitely did not pick up on them. Or that it wasn't just the punch that was drugged. Actually, I'm not even sure if the punch was really drugged, but regardless, nobody would have thought to check the meatballs. I liked that the teachers were all relatively intelligent, and that they were able to hide things very well. Until the party, of course. 


Janie is also a very good undercover agent/spy. She handles the job well while she's working, and even though she might not handle it so well outside the job, she doesn't quit just because she's a little uncomfortable. She realizes that she is never in real danger, and knows that she'll be helping other people if she succeeds. Also, Janie is pretty hardcore. Even before she takes the martial arts classes and then beats the crap out of her sleazy teachers. Talk about girl power.


As terrible as this may sound, I kind of like that there are physical problems that come from being a dream catcher. Most of the time, people in books have these awesome powers with no sort of repercussions or anything. McMann makes being a dream catcher both a blessing (since Janie can help solve ridiculous crimes and can help other people sleep more easily and sometimes change their lives) and a curse (with the physical tolls and the whole having to enter a dream no matter where she's at). It makes her more human and less supernatural, I think. 


Although the relationship between Cabel and Janie is super stressed in this book, I feel like it becomes even stronger because of it. Both learn to place more trust in the other, and Cabel learns that he can't always protect Janie, no matter how hard he tries. I think that's an important lesson, since he can't protect her from losing her vision or from her hands turning all gnarled and such. And he chooses to be with her anyway, and to love her regardless. I don't feel like the relationship is pushed at all, and it feels very natural to read about it. Apart from the keeping it secret thing, but that's out of necessity due to their jobs. 


Overall, I felt that Fade was a very nice sequel to Wake. Although the two are connected and Fade expands on Wake, they both have completely different plots. Though they could have been combined into one longer book, I felt that the split was very natural and that it helped enhance the reading experience. I'm glad I bought all three books at the same time.


Sorry for such a long post... The books aren't even that long, but they're just so intense and there's so much going on in each of them!


I'm only 5 posts behind now!




--Ashley

Fade

Time to play some more catch-up! This one was supplemental reading, although I should have just made the whole trilogy my September pick.

Title: Fade
Author: Lisa McMann
Year Published: 2009

Synopsis: SOME NIGHTMARES NEVER END. For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both. Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd even feared...

Why?: Basically, the same as Wake. I was in Books-A-Million with my mom and I was looking through all the books on clearance (since I'm so cheap I don't like to pay full price for anything) and kept coming across this book and its sequels. It sounded like a very interesting concept, and even though I'm really over the whole trilogy thing, the books were fairly short and I figured it wouldn't take me very long to get through them. I originally intended on the whole series being supplemental reading, but decided to just make the first one my "book of the month" so that Paul would have to read it as well. I wanted to read this one because I enjoyed the first one so much.

Expectations: I really enjoyed Wake, so I have pretty high expectations for this one. More of Janie dealing with the repercussions of being a dream catcher, trying to be a secret agent, and trying to maintain a secret relationship with Caleb. Kind of a lot to deal with in one book, but I feel like McMann is more than capable of handling it well.

Judging a book by its cover: Again, pretty much the same as with Wake: the cover is pretty simple - lots of black with the title and a glass of water as the only color on the whole cover. I have no idea how that will relate to the book, but who knows.

--Ashley

“Dreams are not memories, Janie. They’re hopes and fears. Indications of other life stresses."

I suppose I should write the "review" blog for Wake before I forget what happened in it and start cramming it together with the other two books in the trilogy. It would just get way too confusing then, and I'm already starting to get confused on what happened in which book. 

First, I really enjoyed the way that McMann constructed the novel. I liked that there are definitive chapters, but I also liked that there were subsections within each chapter, denoted by either a date or a time, or both. It helps the reader to gain a perspective of when Janie gets pulled into the dreams, and it helps us to become sympathetic with her. The poor girl can't even sit in study hall without being sucked into someone else's dreams.I also like that it was written with just enough stream-of-consciousness to make it different from most other novels, but not too much so that it was like As I Lay Dying or any of Faulkner's other works. I also really enjoyed when it switched to almost being from Cabel's viewpoint, so that you could see things from an outsider's perspective. Especially since Janie had no idea how the dream-catching thing was physically affecting her. 

I thought that the whole premise of the novel was very interesting. The whole "there are people out there who can help you change your dreams if you just ask" thing is a whole new take on dreams that I'd never heard of or imagined. I know it's fiction, but you never know. Especially since, in the novel, dream catchers are able to hide their abilities so well. And the idea that the dream catchers can use their abilities to help solve crimes is also pretty interesting. 

As far as the relationship aspect of the novel goes, I thought McMann handled it very well. Janie felt as if she would never find someone who she could trust with her secret, or anyone who would care about her (since she didn't feel that her alcoholic mom did and she had only one friend) and Cabel was abused and didn't think he could trust anyone or be comfortable around anyone with all of his scars. Although it seems like the two are so different in the beginning, as the novel progresses we find out how similar they are. I didn't feel like the relationship was forced, or that it was unnecessary in any way. And it wasn't just some stupid "omg I love yooou!" romance either - it had depth and was built on something other than just good looks or "you're a vampire, I love you!" I also liked that McMann didn't try to sugarcoat anything. She presented the relationship as very real, and gave plenty of instances where Janie and Cabel would have fights over legitimate things, just like any real couple.

Overall, I think this book was great. Reading it before bed was kind of a bad idea since it was all about dreams and nightmares and such, but it was still interesting and very hard to put down. Some things did seem kind of forced, but for the most part McMann did an excellent job with this novel. She definitely made me want to read the rest of the trilogy (which I did...). I'm glad that it didn't end up being just another supernatural YA novel with some girl/guy being a werewolf or vampire or having magic or living in a dystopian world.

I'd say that I'm excited to read the next book in the series!... but I already read it. I'll blog about it eventually.... Probably before Paul even finishes reading this one.

--Ashley

September Pick: Wake

I'm finally up to September! 

And this month's book is... 

Title: Wake

Author: Lisa McMann

Year Published: 2008

Synopsis: Not all dreams are sweet. 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....

Why?: I was in Books-A-Million with my mom and I was looking through all the books on clearance (since I'm so cheap I don't like to pay full price for anything) and kept coming across this book and its sequels. It sounded like a very interesting concept, and even though I'm really over the whole trilogy thing, the books were fairly short and I figured it wouldn't take me very long to get through them. I originally intended on the whole series being supplemental reading, but decided to just make the first one my "book of the month" so that Paul would have to read it as well. 

Expectations: I'm apparently doing a fantastic job of picking books from authors that I have no previous knowledge about. I don't know McMann's writing style, and I don't know if she'll even do a decent job tackling such a weird topic. I hope it doesn't go too paranormal, but we'll see...

Judging a book by its cover: The cover is pretty simple - lots of black with the title and a pillow as the only color on the whole cover. It definitely make me think that the main character will spend a lot of time immersed in other peoples' dreams, or having her own dreams. She is a dreamcatcher, after all...

Writing these is still much easier BEFORE you actually read the book... It's weird to write about my expectations and judging a book by its cover once I've already read it.

Only five more until I'm caught up!

--Ashley