Sarah Dessen Book Club #1| DREAMLAND
The end of the month is quickly approaching and so I am here with the
review on Dreamland, which is the first book picked to read in Sarah
Dessen Book Club that I have started this year. Sarah Dessen is
definitely my favourite author of contemporary YA genre. I love her
books so much, as you might guess from all my previous posts about them. I think she's great at what she's doing. She knows perfectly well
what is happening in head and heart of every girl, and in her books,
she lets them know they are not alone. Small as it may seem, it's
actually the greatest thing she can offer to her readers in time of need. I still
remember my first time reading her books. I had been struggling with
anorexia for three years at that time, and then I picked up her book
called Just Listen (which is the book we will be reading next month). And believe
it or not, reading that book was the first impulse that led to my
healing. Shortly after that I have established this blog and now I am
here, five years later as a completely different person. I owe Sarah Dessen a
lot and I will never forget about her books...
Publisher: SPEAK
Publishing date: 2011
Pages: 250
Caitlin's older sister, who has always been considered perfect by everyone in their family, suddenly left home, leaving her parents perplexed and worried beyond themselves. Since her sister's missing, Caitlin finds herself somehow loosing her balance and doesn't know what to do. But then she meets Rogerson and he's nothing like other boys she knows. He represents new possibilities for her. She feels like she can start to make her own decisions that are not at all based on her sister. She can finally find her own self. But what if Rogerson changes her in a totally different way...?
Dreamland was surely different from all other books by Sarah Dessen. It showed the dark side of love. What can become from the person who we choose to be with. Not only the person can change but they can change us to the point we don't even recognize ourselves anymore, which is scary but true. This book was kind of hard to read for me because it gave me pain and it was pretty obvious that the relationship between the main characters could only end up in a bad way. It was inevitable but I still didn't know what was going to happen in the end, and that kept me at the edge of my seat. I was feeling very uncomfortable throughout the whole book because of all the thing that were happening, and I have to admit I was really missing that kind of seed of hope that Sarah Dassen always implants to every book of hers. This one, though, was pretty depressing but it felt acutely important to read nonetheless.
"It's so easy to get caught up in what people expect of you.
Sometimes, you can just lose yourself."
Dreamland was surely different from all other books by Sarah Dessen. It showed the dark side of love. What can become from the person who we choose to be with. Not only the person can change but they can change us to the point we don't even recognize ourselves anymore, which is scary but true. This book was kind of hard to read for me because it gave me pain and it was pretty obvious that the relationship between the main characters could only end up in a bad way. It was inevitable but I still didn't know what was going to happen in the end, and that kept me at the edge of my seat. I was feeling very uncomfortable throughout the whole book because of all the thing that were happening, and I have to admit I was really missing that kind of seed of hope that Sarah Dassen always implants to every book of hers. This one, though, was pretty depressing but it felt acutely important to read nonetheless.
"Behind the camera, I was invisible. When I lifted it up to my eye it
was like I crawled into the lens,
losing myself there. and everything
else fell away."
Even though Dreamland is one of Sarah Dessen's first books, I recognized her beautiful writing style in every single carefully crafted sentence of hers. I love the way she writes so much. It always makes me relate to the main character right from the beginning. Her novels are really easy to read, yet there is something very profound in the way they're told. Plus they are highly quotable. Dreamland isn't necessarily my favourite book of hers but it's definitely a book that should be read, for it's important to talk about the things that are mentioned in here. Sarah Dessen has written an open-hearted and honest story that deserves attention not only from teenagers but also adult readers. Although it discusses a heavy topic about dysfunctional family and ill-natured relationships, there is some room left for readers imagination of an happy ending. Sometimes there could be someone worthwhile very near if we could just open our eyes and see them...
Comments
Post a Comment