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A review by michelareads
I Dream in Color (The Dreamer Chronicles #1) by Sarah Mazza
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.