Review: Hidden in Dreams

Hidden in Dreams by Davis Bunn

Book of Dreams #2

Howard Books – July 3, 2012

256 Pages – Fiction. Christian, Adult, Supernatural/Fantasy

http://www.davisbunn.com/

Facebook:  Yes

Twitter: @davisbunn

Source: Publisher for review

From Goodreads: It’s not about understanding the prophecy. It’s about outliving it. Dr. Elena Burroughs’s life is spiraling out of control. Her controversial stance on dream interpretation has cost her a job, a romance, and all credibility in academic circles. Her literary agent tries to leverage the outcry into a publicity tour, which soon attracts a quirky following. Among the skeptics and mystics is a condescending scientist. But Elena finds his research holds ominous parallels with her own. A certain dream pattern has foretold every major catastrophe stretching back to the dawn of civilization. And now this dream is repeating itself in countless nightmares across the globe. Elena is confronted with a harrowing realization: the clock is ticking down to a cataclysmic financial collapse. Her desperation mounts as the prediction infiltrates her own dreams. Will this scientist become an unlikely ally—and maybe something more? Could an ancient biblical secret about the power of dreams and visions offer them an escape?

My Thoughts:         
     I am not sure what I expected, but I was not disappointed. Not that I’m surprised since I really enjoyed Book of Dreams. Dr. Elena Burroughs returns and another journey starts with someone having a strange dream.  This journey takes her back out of her comfort zone and there seems to be a lot more at stake. But Elena is not the same person we met in the first book.  She has grown in some amazing ways. Elena is the only primary character that appears in the second book. The hopeful romance that was budding in the first book didn’t turn into anything. But it opened her up, making her receptive to the unexpected one she finds in this story. This pairing seemed closer to right, it was comfortable and not something born out of stress and being thrown together.

Besides the romance, the questions of faith are deeper. The leap of faith that Elena is asked to make is much more risky. I am happy to report that Elena has deeper strength that makes her more capable of facing the unknown this time around.  I think the events in the previous book made her that way, so it was nice to see some growth.  While I don’t want to ruin the “big reveal” , I have to admit that I wasn’t surprised by it. This was a very enjoyable read.

What's Next? This is the end of Elena's story. But Davis Bunn next work is  Lion of Babyon

3 stars * * *

I received a copy of this title, free, in exchange for my honest review. 

Always Shine,

Starr K

Cover Image

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.