Wake (Wake, #1)

by Lisa McMann

Ever since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people's dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow-student that she discovers her true power.

• ISBN10: 1416974474
• ISBN13: 9781416974475
• Publish Date: 23 December 2008 (first published 1 March 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon Pulse
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

http://divainpyjamas.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/wake-by-lisa-mcmann.html
At 224 pages, Wake reads as a novella, with mostly abrupt, stop start sentences...
A little.
Like.
This.
Which makes for a short and frustrating read. Having said that, I actually quite liked it. The premise was interesting, that of a dream catcher, and Janie was a likeable character. But being a short, sharp read, there weren't enough pages for the characters to have a big impact. I'll be continuing on with the series... Eventually.

[Chelsea]

Wow this book sucked. I was excited to read it from the little blurb on the back but holy geez it was bad. First of all the writing sucks. Everything is super choppy and there's like no detail. We don't know anything about anything or anyone.
I didn't really like the characters but I'm not sure because WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! Janie is just stupid. She drinks and swears too much which she is way too young for. For a young adult book there's way too much mature content. Underage drinking, drugs and illegal sex. I think that's a little too much for teenagers. Then There's Cabel who we also know nothing about. He's more of the "good guy" in this book but still stupid. He talks to Janie once, sits with her on the bus, she tells him her biggest secret then passes out, they make out and then they're in love. Really? You're kidding right? Anyways I would not recommend this book to anyone. Ever. I'm only giving it 2 stars because it's a really good concept that the writer failed to bring to life.

[Linda]

4.5 stars

OK, this is why I love Janie : "But as scars go, it's in a perfectly sexy spot."

The whole story was pretty slow to take off, and I was a little confused by the time and date stamps in the beginning, but once I got a hang of it, I loved how different and right to the point it made it all.

Janie slips into people's dreams, and she has no idea why, how to get out of there, or what really happens to her. When she finally finds out she might be a catcher, the person who told her this - in a note - is dead.

Caleb is definitely not the boy-next-door, but he's still yummy, and I love how he works, and how much he likes Janie.

Although this is definitely YA, it is not the normal high-school drama that sometimes show up, and apart from Janie's dream-walking, there doesn't seem to be any supernatural stuff going on. It is good old-fashioned romantic suspens, and it is a very refreshing and fun read!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Wake was refreshing as a short book, but even then on some counts it failed to deliver. The characters remained rather flat and a little stereotyped, and really, how many of us are taking Cabel's sudden and magical transformation very seriously? But if you can get past the stories, McMann's got a very interesting concept. And Janie's best friend Carrie? She's the worst.

Getting past the intellectually shallow characters, McMann does have a very interesting concept. There are not a lot of books that delve into the dream world, and even fewer that do so without tying themselves to Alice in Wonderland. What Janie is, is a dream guide, and in dreams she encourages people to change their dreams. Unfortunately, that is all she does - watches, listens, and tells people to change. The concept could have been pulled a little further, but McMann seems to push for an entirely uncomplicated book, and that's what she succeeds in creating.

Although flat in many ways - including the above as well as sentence structure - Wake is still a charming, quick read. It's got enough paranormal elements that it doesn't feel like a regular YA novel, but it's also subtle enough that those who don't prefer fantasy do not feel ostracized by it. All in all a very quick, fun little read.

((Cross-posted on my blog: The Literary Phoenix.))

[elysium]

Janie was 8 years old when she discovered that when she is close to someone who is asleep, she gets sucked into the dreams. She slowly starts to learn more about how to control it and then she meets Cabel who can speak to her in his dreams and remember it. Janie has never told anyone what she can do, nor even her mother, but is forced to told Cabel after he sees Janie getting paralyzed while getting into a dream. She gets to know Cabel better and learns that he is hiding something.

I hadn’t read many reviews about this before reading it and had vague idea about what’s it about. And what a mistake that was.

I had problems with the writing style which was choppy and there was lots of short sentences one after another and there’s date and time told when everything happens.

She sees it, vividly.
Cabel, leaving the house. Slamming the door.
The man on the steps, yelling. Following.
The punch to Cabel’s face.
The lighter fluid to his belly.
The fire and screaming.
The transformation.
pg. 168

It grew old very quickly and plainly started to annoy me pretty soon. It also made it sound like children’s book more than ya book. Actually my friend saw me reading it and seeing how the pages looked said that it looks like children’s book.

I absolutely loved that after reading few books from library about dreaming of course solves all the problems and she learns all about her gift and all. Why is it never that easy in real life? And the twist near the end is the most ridiculous and so not needed in long time I’ve read.

I believe this is the first in a trilogy but I’m not planning to read the rest. This was more than enough for me.

[Jo]

I LOVED Wake! It was so good! Really different from what I’m used to reading in urban fantasy. Such a great premise!

Wake is a very quick, very easy read. It’s not all that fast paced, but it’s not necessary for it to be, as things get interesting as soon as anyone goes to sleep nearby. There isn’t exactly a resolution in to the main story, but there is a resolution to a plot thread that doesn’t really have anything to do with Janie, but the effects will lead on to a big change for Janie in the second book Fade.

Wake is very much a first book; you find out about the main characters, learn about Janie’s dream issues, and go along with her as she discovers more about them. There’s also the set up of the almost separate plot thread, which leads to more happening for Janie.

Not a huge deal happens in this novel in the great scheme of things, a lot of emphasis is put on Janie trying to work out how and why she slips into other people’s dreams, and how she can control it, and her relationship with her love interest, Caleb, but that doesn’t mean the book isn’t interesting. There are a great set of characters, and as I said, the idea of slipping into other people’s dreams is just incredible!

If I was going to criticise the book at all, I would criticise Caleb-as-a-boyfriend. Generally, he’s fine, but when he’s expressing his feelings, it’s not completely believable in my opinion. I had no trouble over looking it though, because generally speaking, the book is amazing!

I highly recommend this book to everyone! Wake is just awesome, and Fade looks even better! A great start to what looks to be a fantastic series!