Fade by Lisa McMann Book Review

Fade by Lisa McMann
(Simon Pulse, Hardcover, 2009)

Janie's ability to slip into other people's dreams continues but she finally has a name for her "talent" - dream catcher. Along with a name, Janie also has a job with the local police department. She and her boyfriend Caleb are undercover agents at Fieldridge High. Their new assignment is to catch a sexual predator posing as a teacher. Janie isn't safe from the predator or from her dream catching.

I devoured the first novel in this series, Wake, and Fade was no exception. Again, the present tense storytelling really caught my attention. Janie's story is so much more immediate in the present tense. This book is obviously a little darker than the first book since it focuses on a sexual predator. Heightening that darkness and urgency is a series of diaries written by Martha Stubin, Janie's dream catcher teacher. The diaries reveal more about Janie's abilities and the fate that awaits her. This was definitely a haunting novel and it sets the scene perfectly for Book 3, without leaving too much of a cliffhanger. Cabel's character continued to thrill me. He's just so dark and tortured - I really hope that Book 3 explores his character a little more. Also, I just can't help but hope that Janie's abilities prove to be stronger than Martha Stubin's.

Rating:

Wake by Lisa McMann Book Review

Wake by Lisa McMann
(Hardcover, Simon Pulse)
Rating:

Janie hasn't been to a sleepover in years. She makes excuses to leave the classroom when a fellow student falls asleep. Whenever possible, she avoids public transportation and libraries. Why? Because when people fall asleep and dream, Janie is uncontrollably sucked into their dreams. Normally, it's just the typical falling dream or standing-naked-in-front-of-a-crowd dream. Then, one day Janie is sucked into a violent nightmare and she's no longer just an observer--she's an active participant.

This book was like a drug. I picked it up and immediately could NOT put it down. Wake is written in present tense which gives the story a feeling of urgency. I immediately liked Janie, even though she was a bit moodier than my usual type of heroine. Of course, that would be understandable if you kept slipping into other people's dreams. Perhaps most compelling is that Wake feels original. It stands out from the current trend of vampire/zombie books. Slipping into dreams sounds like a fun thing to do, but McMann makes it a threatening, offensive part of Janie's life. Janie witnesses a horrible act when she slips into a classmate's dream. When Janie starts to fall for that classmate, Cabel, she treads a fine line between trusting her instincts and behaving recklessly. I just had to read straight to the end to see if Janie's instincts were right. Janie's story continues in the follow-up book, Fade, due out on bookshelves in February.