First, read my review of the first book, Dreamhunter. *waits for you to read it*The dreamhunting began as a beautiful thing, when Tziga Hame discovered that he could enter the Place and share the dreams he found there with other people. But Tziga Hame has disappeared and Laura, his daughter, knows that the art of projecting dreams has turned sour. On St. Lazarus's Eve, when elite citizens gather at the Rainbow Opera to experience the sweet dream of Homecoming, Laura, determined to show them the truth, plunges them into the nightmare used to control the convict workers. The event marks the first blow in the battle for control of the Place, the source of dreams. Then, when Laura's cousin, Rose, uncovers evidence that the government has been building a secret rail line deep into the Place, Laura follows it to find out what lies at its end. As she struggles to counter the government's sinister plans, a deeper mystery surfaces, a puzzle only Laura can unravel, a puzzle having to do with the very nature of the Place. What is the Place, after all? And what does it want from her?
Okay, I know, like, 99 percent of you didn’t actually go and read my other post. But basically, the same things I thought about the first book hold true for the second. There were a lot of really cool concepts, a pitch-perfect writing style, and some awesome characters (Rose! Chorley!), but there were also some characters I never grew to like. And it’s a bit difficult to really like a book when the main character grates on your nerves in every. single. scene she’s in (I’m looking at you, LAURA). And I wasn’t ever convinced by Laura and Sandy’s romance. She had about a million times more chemistry with her sandman, Nown, than she does with poor Sandy.
But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book. Because I did. I also ended up liking it better than the first one—mostly because it was much more exciting and faster paced. The first book is all about setting the scene, and this one is where everything comes together. I would almost say to skip the first book and start with this one, but alas, I feel like you’d miss some important backstory if you did that.
One of the things I loved about this book was the brilliant insight Knox gives you into her characters. You feel like you really know them—what’s in their souls—not just what they do and what they say. I was in awe, quite frankly. I was also amazed by the way all the pieces of the story come together. I wasn’t expecting it to work out like it did, but I was seriously impressed, and by the end I was like, “Oh. Oh. Oooooohhh. Now I get it.” It kinda makes me want to reread both books so I can go back and find all the clues Knox gave us along the way.
Overall, while having the same likes and dislikes with this one as with the first book, I ended up liking this one more because, well, I didn’t get bored like I did with the first. And probably, I would’ve ended up liking this book a lot if only Rose had been the main character instead of Laura. Dang Laura.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
I don't know how you manage to continue reading a book where you dislike the main character so much. That's one of my worst pet peeves. Although this series sounds so fascinating with the whole opera setting. Sounds like Laura doesn't get over letting people walk all over her at all.
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