Joséphine
Book rating: 3.5 stars
Initial thoughts: The premise, set-up and circumstances gripped me a whole lot more than the plot itself. The idea of dream walkers who draw their strength from other people's dreams intrigued me. I know there are other books which play on this idea of entering dreams but they still are on my TBR pile. The reason I chose to start with Dreamland (besides it requiring lower commitment as a standalone) was the promise of monsters. These monsters were indeed fear-inducing but I thought the beginning felt a lot more ominous than the conclusion turned out. I'm not a fan of horror but somehow that was the very factor that Dreamland didn't feed on enough.
At least Dea was a main character whom I found myself caring about. She definitely wasn't the wisest seeing how she didn't heed clear warnings but I still rooted for her. Connor was alright. I kinda wish Gollum would've had a bigger role than Connor. The whole mystery boy catalyses danger trope is so old, so I got a little bored with the plot which didn't include many fresh hooks besides the actual dream walking and its dangers.