Lisa McMann's Wake

Wake by Lisa McMann

Wake Trilogy

 Simon Pulse- December 23, 2008

www.lisamcmann.com

Facebook: Yes

Rating: Liked it a lot

Recommendation: YA fans, mild voyeurs, fans of the unexplainable

             Janie finds it difficult and not because she’s an insomniac. She has the talent (or curse) of being able to fall into other people’s dreams.  It’s something that she has been able to do since she was a kid. She doesn’t know how it happened and she doesn’t know how to control it. She doesn’t know if she is the only one who can do this and she doesn’t know if the people know that she is in their dreams. The older she gets the more frequently it happens. The more that it happens the more questions that she has. She doesn’t think that she will ever be able to have a normal life with normal relationships. But one night she’s driving down the street when she is pulled into a dream of an abusive man and a boy who turns into a monster.  When she realizes whose dream she has fallen into she doesn’t know how to respond. They become better acquainted and her life continues to change. Soon the people in her dreams begin to ask her for help and she doesn’t know how she can help them. But she’s learning new things about her ability and that she is not the only one who can fall into other people’s dreams.

I really liked this story. It was a little first, but once you got past the weirdness of what it means to fall into people’s dreams you are caught up in the story. Sometimes it’s really better to not know everything about someone. As Janie and Cabel get closer and share secrets, confusion and misunderstandings happen. But that is to be expected.

This was a fast read and it was really enjoyable. Sometimes we are burdened with things that we can’t explain or situations that we can’t control. What I really like about Janie is that she doesn’t simply throw in the towel and give up. Yes that’s a point where she wallows about the fact that she can’t have a normal life and all she wants to do is run from all that she hates about her life. But at the point where she could continue to wallow and stand up and do something about it, she chooses to fight.  It’s not supposed to be easy, she is a teenager who has all of the normal teenage/high school drama to deal with.

I am definitely looking forward to read the rest of this series.

Always Shine,

Starr K.