Hello everyone!
Title: Dream Mire
Author: Sharman Badgett-Young
Publisher: Self-published
Published Date: 15th September 2016
Rating: 3 Stars
*Thanks to the author for the review copy*
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Synopsis: Tiegen, a determined grad student, cannot tell her dreams from waking
reality. Her journal system helps her identify what's real, but occasionally, a
dream slips through. Tiegen likes Geoff, from the UK, but hasn't detailed her
dream disability to him, because her ex labeled her "mental," just
before he dumped her. Tiegen overhears the plan for a hate crime, so she and
Geoff put themselves in danger as they gather evidence. They need enough facts
to convince the police to act. But how can she make Officer St. Marie take the
threat seriously, when even Tiegen isn't always certain what's true? DREAM MIRE
takes place in Woodsdale, Washington, like KILN ZONE, the author's previous
release. The two stand-alone novels contain some cross-over characters in the
police department.
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Review: This
novel is by an author who I know well from Instagram, and when she asked if I
would mind reviewing her self-published novel, of course I had to say yes. It
was a very fun and quick read, and I became quite invested in the story as I
was reading.
What I liked about this novel most had to be the unique
mental disability that the main character possesses. It must be so hard to live
life when you are constantly asking yourself what is and isn’t real. She has a
condition which is entirely unique – her dreams get mixed up with reality and
in the end she can’t tell what is real and what isn’t. It makes for a novel
with an unreliable narrator. Now sometimes I could predict what was and wasn’t
going to end up being a dream. But there were small things which I wouldn’t
have given the thought to them in order to even consider whether or not they
were a dream, until we were told otherwise!
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I also really liked the plot of the novel. In it, Tiegen
overhears two men discussing a hate crime they want to commit, which could make
some people get hurt. Her biggest problem is that she doesn’t entirely trust
her memory, and doesn’t want to make any false accusations. Hence, her and
Geoff end up doing everything they can do to try and find some concrete
evidence to prove that she isn’t confusing reality with her dreams. They end up
in over their heads though, and in the end there is plenty of action, drama and
danger included in the novel as well.
I quite liked the characters but didn’t fall for them as
much as I would want to when reading a novel. I could never quite get into
Geoff’s character – mostly because he smokes pot. Tiegen did have an issue with
that, and he did limit how much he smoked because of it. But I’m not sure why
it bothered me as much as it did, but it did for some reason. It made me have a
distance from his character which wouldn’t have been there otherwise. I did
like Tiegen though, and how she was so determined to not let her mental illness
get the better of her.
The writing style was something I had a bit of an issue
with when reading. I felt like it was quite simplistic and straight forward…
maybe a little too much for my taste? I would have wanted a bit more of a
descriptive and engaging writing style, but that is my personal taste. Maybe
this writing will work better for some other readers than it did for me.
What I enjoyed most about this novel were the themes.
There is the determination of Tiegen in conquering her mental illness, and not
letting it get the better of her. We see the trust Geoff has to put in Tiegen
to believe her before anyone else does. There is the theme of racism and
discrimination against immigrants and those of a different religious background
than your own, because those are the kind of people the characters committing
the hate crime are targeting. The author handles all of those themes quite
well!
I enjoyed reading this one!
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Gif Summary:
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Olivia’s Question: Do you have realistic dreams?
Olivia-Savannah x
Not a fan of characters who indulges in drugs, smokes pot, and drinks excessively, to be honest. So I don't blame you for not warming up to Geoff. This has an interesting premise, though. I'm especially curious to see how the character was able to discern fantasy/dream from reality.
ReplyDeleteYeaaahhh that was one of my main problems. :/ But the plot itself was pretty good, especially at the end.
DeleteThis sounds an interesting read. I like stories that aren't clear cut!
ReplyDeleteIt makes them fun to read because you never know where it will go ^.^
DeleteWhoah that sounds good! My dreams are usually so realistic, that I sometimes mix them up with reality... I am also able to be angry with someone during the day, for what they did to me in my dreams.. Yep..
ReplyDeleteLothwen, I have exactly the same. Or that when I wake up I have to lie there and remind myself it was a dream. Sometimes I mention something in conversation that didn't actually happen, I just dreamed it!
DeleteI love unreliable narrators! I think the suspence of this situation would have me on the edge of my seat.
ReplyDeleteUnreliable narrators just add a quality to the story of unpredictably which makes them so much fun ;)
DeleteMaybe! I told my sons that I will not die before the day they don't need me anymore. Morbid? Okay, so that's not quite realistic, but a girl can wish. =)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds more like a really loving mother than something morbid to wish for <3
DeleteI am not a fan of drug use in books either. It just isn't fun to read about. Mental Illness is a really important topic and it sounds like it did a good job dealing with it among other issues.
ReplyDeleteYeah... I don't really approve of it :/ Yes, the author really knew how to handle this topic.
DeleteThis book sounds good! I always find unreliable narrators really interesting. I understand about Geoff, him smoking pot would bother me a lot too. I love your pictures by the way! I can't take pictures to save my life.
ReplyDeleteHmm... I have very weird and vivid dreams sometimes. They're usually not very realistic. The last one I remember, I was being chased by a smoke monster :D .
Aww, thanks Shouni! I am glad you like them. That sounds like an interesting dream... and like it could be scary when being in it. I think your mind has a lot of creativity to it :)
DeleteIt will be timely to read this, what with the current situation.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be :C
DeleteMight be an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of conditions in which dreams can *potentially* become confused with reality (mental health problems are different for everyone) - schizophrenia, some forms of bipolar, other forms of psychosis, dissociative personality disorder, some borderline personality disorders, PTSD, and just plain exhaustion or illness leading to delirium, can cause a blurring of dream and reality. (Sorry, I have a lot of random knowledge!)
Great review :)
Ooh I see! Thank you for better informing me ^.^ I know of some of these, but not all.
DeleteI usually have weird dreams. They are not at all realistic and totally fantastical so I don't have problems in knowing which is real or not.
ReplyDeleteLately though I haven't been waking in the dream cycle so I don't remember them. :(
Oh, that's not too great though. I hope you get a full nights sleep soon...
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