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Dreamland

Sarah Dessen

Start date: January 1, 2020

Finish date: January 2, 2020

Discussion: Reading Sprints!

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Reading Sprints!

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* Reading Sprint Catch Up
By Aqsa , Dracarys! · 19 posts · 97 views

last updated Feb 08, 2019 02:49PM

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What Members Thought

May 29, 2019 Kaya Lynch rated it really liked it

I’m agonizing over the rating, but honestly? This was a lot more than I’d thought it’d be.

4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 30, 2017 Whitney rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, womens-issues, psychological-struggles, young-adult, fiction, contemporary-fiction, one-word-titles, owned-books

I'll keep this review short because I'm very likely to go off on a tangent (*ahem* soapbox) if I'm not careful. (Anything having to do with a girl/woman being victimized really burns me up.)

Sarah Dessen is brilliant. There. I said it.
Although I have not read all of her books yet (I plan to, of course), I have never, ever been disappointed with what I have read. She is an incredible YA writer. She expertly captures the ways in which teenagers think, feel, talk, and act. Reading one of her books I'll keep this review short because I'm very likely to go off on a tangent (*ahem* soapbox) if I'm not careful. (Anything having to do with a girl/woman being victimized really burns me up.)

Sarah Dessen is brilliant. There. I said it.
Although I have not read all of her books yet (I plan to, of course), I have never, ever been disappointed with what I have read. She is an incredible YA writer. She expertly captures the ways in which teenagers think, feel, talk, and act. Reading one of her books ALWAYS takes me back to my own teenage years, and that's why I think she's so good at writing from the point of view of teens; her books are very believable, and they don't feel forced or phony.

I thought it was very interesting that out of all the Sarah Dessen books that I have read so far, Dreamland is, by far, the "heaviest" and most serious. The rest of her books are so much more lighthearted compared to this one - at least to me. Physical abuse in relationships is no easy subject to write about, even though it does serve a very important purpose in YA, but Dessen tackles it with honesty and with heart. There was nothing about Caitlin and Rogerson's relationship that I didn't find believable; everything Caitlin did was what, unfortunately, so many other girls and women do in abusive relationships. And that's the heartbreaking part, the realness of the book.

As always, Dessen creates an entire cast of lovable, incredible characters (which is one of my favorite things about her as an author). I especially adored Rina, and Stewart and Boo. They were perfect and funny and amazingly sweet, all of them. Caitlin's mother irritated me more than once because she seemed to be a clueless, self-involved, and lackluster parent, and the way she completely rearranged her life just to catch glimpses of Cass on TV was a bit nauseating. Other than her, though, I really liked the characters, and Corinna turned out to be a surprisingly good friend to Caitlin.

For me, Dreamland was especially awesome because it discussed:
1. abuse against girls/women (something I'm very passionate about).
2. dreams and symbolism.
3. veganism and vegetarianism.
4. mermaids.

I think Dessen did an excellent job writing about a very tough subject in a very frank and honest way. I firmly believe that Dreamland should be read by every teen and young adult, male and female. It might not change the way things are in the world completely, but it certainly couldn't hurt.
I highly recommend this one.
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