Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

Title: Truly, Madly, Deadly
Author: Hannah Jayne
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN: 1402281218
Rating: 2 stars

After Sawyer’s football-playing boyfriend dies, she receives a note in her locker, suggesting that it wasn’t an accident. Someone may have discovered his abuse, which she kept hidden from the world. But as Sawyer attempts to remain a normal high school student, more people end up dead, and it seems to be that she has a vengeful stalker, snapping pictures of her from afar and killing those who harm her. 

I read this book in one setting over the course of a couple of hours. Not because I needed to know what was going to happen next, but because I kind of wanted to just get to the next book. It’s a shame, because I had heard many good things about this book, but I just didn’t like it at all. The mystery wasn’t compelling, the characters were one-dimensional, the romance was boring, and the villain was, quite frankly, insulting. With that said, the prose is one of the few things I didn’t have a problem with, so if my criticisms do not seem to be a big deal to you, I would say to give the novel a try. 

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Wake [ Dream Catcher #1 ] by Lisa McMann

Title: Wake
Series: Dream Catcher
Author: Lisa McMann
Publication Date: March 4th, 2008
Publisher: Simon Pulse
ISBN: 1416953574 
Rating: 1 star

Janie is a teenage girl with a tough life. In addition to being poor and having a drunk, emotionally negligent mother, Janie has the burden of experiencing the dreams of others. If someone falls asleep and begins to dream, Janie comes right along for the ride. This becomes a huge problem when she begins to experience someone’s nightmares, which affect her so strongly that she has violent seizures.

This book sounded so interesting! Dreams are so fascinating, there are so many directions to go, and with the addition of horrible nightmares? It just seemed like such a great concept. The execution, however, was most disappointing, and I really struggled with finishing this book. It’s a short book, too, and I just wanted to drop it. I have the entire series, so I’m in the midst of debating whether or not I’m enough of a masochist to go ahead and read them, too.

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