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daisy_hillock's review
5.0
I was drawn into this narrative immediately and couldn't put it down. The world building is incredibly vivid and imaginative, with mushroom spores that light up the night sky, kite dragons and fish that swim through the air, trees that communicate with each other in colourful pheromones and a huge Saturn-like planet hanging in the sky.
It is also dark and dystopian, with themes of military police suppression of the populace, substance addiction and mental health battles. The main character starts out waking from a bio-pod, within a corporation that harvested his bio-resources in exchange for feeding his mind pleasant dreams of a fake world. Nobody normally wakes up from their bio-pods, no one ever wants to and they never decide to leave, except he did, with his body damaged, to begin a journey of self-realisation.
This novel is deep and profound. I am looking forward to book 2.
It is also dark and dystopian, with themes of military police suppression of the populace, substance addiction and mental health battles. The main character starts out waking from a bio-pod, within a corporation that harvested his bio-resources in exchange for feeding his mind pleasant dreams of a fake world. Nobody normally wakes up from their bio-pods, no one ever wants to and they never decide to leave, except he did, with his body damaged, to begin a journey of self-realisation.
This novel is deep and profound. I am looking forward to book 2.
sarah_mazza's review
eBook available now on Amazon.
(Click here for purchase link)
Coming soon to paperback.
To be released in 2021:
Dreams Written in Madness
Book Two in The Dreamer Chronicles
Coming to pre-order soon
(Click here for purchase link)
Coming soon to paperback.
To be released in 2021:
Dreams Written in Madness
Book Two in The Dreamer Chronicles
Coming to pre-order soon
michelareads's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
4.0
“They gave me dreams of euphoria, life without pain, in exchange for the body I no longer needed. No one ever wakes from the pod dreams. No one ever wanted to. Except, I did.”
I Dream in Color, Sarah Mazza's debut novel, tells the story of Alex Johansson who chose to give up on his life donating his body to science. He's asleep in a pod in a constant dreaming state, from which he's never supposed to wake up, except one day... he does. Left to wander the streets, all his traumatic childhood memories come back and he struggles to get back on his feet. How will Alex cope in a society that wants its people to work and produce, when his traumas and demons are haunting him?
This dystopian novel is written in first person, from Alex's point of view, and because of his addictions and inner demons, it's quite an intense experience. He's not always reliable, but he sure sounds honest and in true struggle with his life: I felt close to him and sorry for everything he was going through. The story explores various topics such as lack of purpose, drug addiction, depression, loneliness, abuse... its atmosphere is dark, but I didn't find it particularly heavy.
There's also enough worldbuilding to make this novel unique, even if it contains classic fantasy elements such as strange creatures: it's secondary in this story, but still interesting.
After an incredible beginning, the book slows down until halfway point and honestly I was a bit confused because, even though I was very intrigued by it, I had absolutely no idea where the plot was going. Luckily just before I was about to take a break from Alex and his friends, a big plot twist arrived and slapped me awake like our protagonist! From that moment I was hooked and I could not put the book down.
Sarah Mazza's writing style is very easy to read, the sentences are usually short and straight to the point, she describes very well both action scenes and inner thoughts. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely read the second book of the Dreamer Chronicles!
4 stars.
* I'd like to thank the author, Sarah Mazza, for providing a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
I Dream in Color, Sarah Mazza's debut novel, tells the story of Alex Johansson who chose to give up on his life donating his body to science. He's asleep in a pod in a constant dreaming state, from which he's never supposed to wake up, except one day... he does. Left to wander the streets, all his traumatic childhood memories come back and he struggles to get back on his feet. How will Alex cope in a society that wants its people to work and produce, when his traumas and demons are haunting him?
This dystopian novel is written in first person, from Alex's point of view, and because of his addictions and inner demons, it's quite an intense experience. He's not always reliable, but he sure sounds honest and in true struggle with his life: I felt close to him and sorry for everything he was going through. The story explores various topics such as lack of purpose, drug addiction, depression, loneliness, abuse... its atmosphere is dark, but I didn't find it particularly heavy.
There's also enough worldbuilding to make this novel unique, even if it contains classic fantasy elements such as strange creatures: it's secondary in this story, but still interesting.
After an incredible beginning, the book slows down until halfway point and honestly I was a bit confused because, even though I was very intrigued by it, I had absolutely no idea where the plot was going. Luckily just before I was about to take a break from Alex and his friends, a big plot twist arrived and slapped me awake like our protagonist! From that moment I was hooked and I could not put the book down.
Sarah Mazza's writing style is very easy to read, the sentences are usually short and straight to the point, she describes very well both action scenes and inner thoughts. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'll definitely read the second book of the Dreamer Chronicles!
4 stars.
* I'd like to thank the author, Sarah Mazza, for providing a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
anotherday_gone's review
4.0
Thank you Sarah Mazza for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
If you’re craving some dark, dystopian sci-fi then you’re in luck because this debut is calling your name.
In I Dream in Color we follow our main character, Alex, who is the first Dreamer to ever awake in their pod. These pods are a release from the struggles of everyday life, but staying in one comes at a price. Now Alex is determined to live in the real world despite having to navigate amongst the chaos in society as well as his own mental health.
This is a quick read at about 159 pages, but it brings all the emotions. For a good chunk of it we are following the struggles of Alex and it’s truly heartbreaking. I felt so deeply for the characters and while it is really well written, I took my time through the beginning because a lot of these struggles are what we can see in the real world right now. If you’re really into character driven stories where you follow the character’s development and really get into their psyche, I think you’ll really enjoy this one.
Towards the last quarter of this book it really picks up and we explore more of the sci-fi elements that really have me looking forward to the second book. The plot has a good amount of excitement that will keep you hooked.
It’s super well written and engaging, the world is nicely built up for the book being on the shorter side, it explores important themes, and it pulls at the heart. I think overall, my favorite aspect is definitely the characters. The sadness hits you hard, but I love it when books can make you feel so strongly.
It gave off similar dark sci-fi vibes as Drones by Rob J. Hayes or Blade Runner, so if you enjoyed either of those, then this is a great debut for you to try.
It has mental health and LGBTQ+ rep, but if you are sensitive to darker themes I would be careful picking this up. I would say TW for violence and drug use.
Overall, I gave it a 4/5 stars!
If you’re craving some dark, dystopian sci-fi then you’re in luck because this debut is calling your name.
In I Dream in Color we follow our main character, Alex, who is the first Dreamer to ever awake in their pod. These pods are a release from the struggles of everyday life, but staying in one comes at a price. Now Alex is determined to live in the real world despite having to navigate amongst the chaos in society as well as his own mental health.
This is a quick read at about 159 pages, but it brings all the emotions. For a good chunk of it we are following the struggles of Alex and it’s truly heartbreaking. I felt so deeply for the characters and while it is really well written, I took my time through the beginning because a lot of these struggles are what we can see in the real world right now. If you’re really into character driven stories where you follow the character’s development and really get into their psyche, I think you’ll really enjoy this one.
Towards the last quarter of this book it really picks up and we explore more of the sci-fi elements that really have me looking forward to the second book. The plot has a good amount of excitement that will keep you hooked.
It’s super well written and engaging, the world is nicely built up for the book being on the shorter side, it explores important themes, and it pulls at the heart. I think overall, my favorite aspect is definitely the characters. The sadness hits you hard, but I love it when books can make you feel so strongly.
It gave off similar dark sci-fi vibes as Drones by Rob J. Hayes or Blade Runner, so if you enjoyed either of those, then this is a great debut for you to try.
It has mental health and LGBTQ+ rep, but if you are sensitive to darker themes I would be careful picking this up. I would say TW for violence and drug use.
Overall, I gave it a 4/5 stars!
jersy's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Thanks to the author for providing a review copy :)
This book is a haunting, dark and kind of depressing experience, it's hard hitting and set in a world that hits close to home. It feels real, with a filter of the surreal put over it by the narrator. From the very beginning, the feelings of Alex and the whole tone of the book are showcased extremely well. It is intense, and the raw and expressive writing doesn't give you a break, except in some much needed moments of loving interactions between broken people. While I normally don't like books that make you feel sad, this one sucked me right in, made me care and developed into a (dystopian?) SF novel for fans of new weird as well as literary fiction. There is some mental health and lgtbq+ representation if you're looking for that in your books, but it's more like a complete look into the protagonists psyche as a whole than just that. The ending is also really captivating, making me wonder what the sequel will be like and if I want to read it. I'm not sure I want to subject myself to it if it's as dark, but this was also so well done and I'm curious. Either way, this was an impressive look within SF at escaping the pain of life and the people sometimes thought of as outside of society.
This book is a haunting, dark and kind of depressing experience, it's hard hitting and set in a world that hits close to home. It feels real, with a filter of the surreal put over it by the narrator. From the very beginning, the feelings of Alex and the whole tone of the book are showcased extremely well. It is intense, and the raw and expressive writing doesn't give you a break, except in some much needed moments of loving interactions between broken people. While I normally don't like books that make you feel sad, this one sucked me right in, made me care and developed into a (dystopian?) SF novel for fans of new weird as well as literary fiction. There is some mental health and lgtbq+ representation if you're looking for that in your books, but it's more like a complete look into the protagonists psyche as a whole than just that. The ending is also really captivating, making me wonder what the sequel will be like and if I want to read it. I'm not sure I want to subject myself to it if it's as dark, but this was also so well done and I'm curious. Either way, this was an impressive look within SF at escaping the pain of life and the people sometimes thought of as outside of society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Mental illness, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
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