Dreamland by Sarah Dessen Book Review

Wake up, Caitlin

Ever since she started going out with Rogerson Biscoe, Caitlin seems to have fallen into a semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different from anyone Caitlin has ever known. He's magnetic. He's compelling. He's dangerous. Being with him makes Caitlin forget about everything else--her missing sister, her withdrawn mother, her lackluster life. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him?

If you've been following my blog since the beginning, you might already know that Sarah Dessen is my all time favorite author. Over the years I have worked on reading every one of her books, and I'm almost there.

Dreamland was one of the first books she published that I had never gone around to reading yet. Nonetheless, the story told has left me without words. Dessen has a way of engulfing you so intensely into the story with her words that when something happens you are left shocked and having to give reading a rest for the night. Dreamland is one of those stories. I did not expect it to affect me in the way it did.

The first thing I love about this book is that it is one with Easter Eggs by Dessen herself. We often see her characters in other stories. For example, this is not the last we see of Rogerson since we also see him within the pages of Lock and Key.

I also love the character development in this book. You get to know and fall in love with each character individually. Her attention to detail as to what makes each character who they are is so powerful that it often left me speechless. Sarah Dessen has once again proved that she is the queen of showing us how the details of the little things we do add up to who we are also lead us to who we will become or be later on in life.

Other than that, the only way I can describe my feelings towards this book is with the word heartbroken. I felt drained, sad and broken as I read page after page. I also felt desperation. You want to jump in and help in any way you can, but then you must remind yourself that this is just a book. Beautifully written but at the end just a book.

Even when the book fills you with such potent and negative feelings, the end of it has a hopeful turn of events that you will have to read yourself to find out. All I can say is that this is not a Hollywood ending kind of book.

Huge warning that I wish I would have had before I began to read this book: Book is filled with medium language and intense scenes that could be triggering to some. 

Have you read Dreamland? Tell me what you think about the book in the comments. I'll see you all in dreamland.

Love, Nashi