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A review by victoriousmariner
Dreamers Often Lie by Jacqueline West
3.0
I honestly don't know what to think. Ideally I would love it. The concept is original; a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, with the main character, Jaye, having a head injury causing her to hallucinate and forget things. The hallucinations were creepy and well-done. Jaye's love of acting also made her an original character. The idea of family conflicts is also well-done, clearly showing that seemingly perfect families can be quite dysfunctional in reality. The conflict Jaye has with her relationship with her father was realistic and insightful. The book sets up some great conflicts with great potential.
However. Obviously since it's a YA romance and written for teenagers, it was written with the annoying, unintelligent voice and style common to that genre. The aforementioned conflicts didn't really get tied up at the end -- Jaye decides to be a good daughter but then her actions at the end don't quite live up to that, so you really can't tell how she resolved her internal conflict concerning her family. I suppose considering the original Romeo and Juliet, I can kind of infer the resolution. I did like the ambiguity of the ending, but not the fact that a bunch of conflicts were left unresolved.
The romance wasn't too bad -- there was a love triangle, obviously, but it was clear that the wrong relationship was borderline abusive and Jaye didn't cling to it. I don't appreciate the endorsement of teenagers making out, but it wasn't as bad and as much as other YA books I've read.
It's a great concept, and the author manages to realize it pretty well. The label of YA romance just saps away what could've been a better book.
However. Obviously since it's a YA romance and written for teenagers, it was written with the annoying, unintelligent voice and style common to that genre. The aforementioned conflicts didn't really get tied up at the end -- Jaye decides to be a good daughter but then her actions at the end don't quite live up to that, so you really can't tell how she resolved her internal conflict concerning her family. I suppose considering the original Romeo and Juliet, I can kind of infer the resolution. I did like the ambiguity of the ending, but not the fact that a bunch of conflicts were left unresolved.
The romance wasn't too bad -- there was a love triangle, obviously, but it was clear that the wrong relationship was borderline abusive and Jaye didn't cling to it. I don't appreciate the endorsement of teenagers making out, but it wasn't as bad and as much as other YA books I've read.
It's a great concept, and the author manages to realize it pretty well. The label of YA romance just saps away what could've been a better book.