Review: Dreamfall by Amy Plum

Title: Dreamfall

Series: Dreamfall #1

Author: Amy Plum

Genre: YA, horror, sci-fi

Publication date: May 2017

Published by: HarperTeen

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse...but she was terribly wrong.

Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dreamworld with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I was very excited to read this—the premise of this book just sounded so interesting! And overall, I really enjoyed it! I really liked that it alternated POVs between a couple of the kids that were undergoing the experiment, plus Jamie who was a college student observing for the day. And boy, what a day it turned out to be!

Basically, this experiment is to help treat insomnia. All of these kids have some sort of trauma that has caused insomnia. It’s some pretty terrible stuff, so it was sad to see what they all had to go through in order to get to this point in their life. And unfortunately for them, things go wrong with the experiment and the kids are stuck in their dreams 😬 Jamie witnesses it all from the outside, and while they are nothing but an observer, they definitely feel compelled to help the kids.

Meanwhile, all the kids are battling their dreams (nightmares, really), and trying to not die. They were very intense nightmares, but on top of that horror, they also have this sort of monster stalking them across the dreams as well. The story itself, to me, was quite reminiscent of A Nightmare on Elm Street, which is not a bad thing because I love that movie! Sleep and dreams and nightmares have always been very interesting to me, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the story. And I really loved the explanation as to how the REM cycle correlated with their dreams/non-dreams periods... it was just so fascinating! I really loved this!

But yeah, it was a pretty good read. I loved the action and the nightmares and the whole deal with the dreams. The book wasn’t terribly scary... but then again, it’s pretty hard to scare me when it comes to books. It was a little spooky though, and the characters went through some pretty horrifying situations. The characters themselves were quite interesting. None of them were perfect, some less so than others, but that’s what made them so interesting!

My one gripe with this book was the ending. What kind of ending was that?! It was a non-ending, let me tell you 😒 It’s like we were cut off in the middle of the story. WTF. I get cliffhangers, but in my opinion, a book should wrap up at least a little before it’s over. This didn’t do that. I just didn’t see the point in splitting this story into two books. Especially since at the time of writing this, I am finishing up Queen of Air and Darkness, and that is a good 880 pages long! So, come on! Anyway, luckily I had the next book ready to go, so my rant is mostly irrelevant 😅 That being said, I really did enjoy the story!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊