Life Is But a Dream

by Brian James

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Life Is But A Dream is an incredibly intense and emotional story told, in a somewhat unique way. The setting of this novel, is in a psychiatric facility and it's very different from the normal world. James attention to detail showcases what wonderful talent he possesses, as he so eloquently and almost lyrically paints the canvas of this atmosphere. The range of emotion explored in this novel, is heart-gripping, and quite telling. Yet, in some cases, a bit frustrating as well.

The character's are interesting, the story told is compelling enough to keep reader's flipping the pages, and the careful way James has crafted this world is interesting enough. Sabrina, is diagnosed as being schizophrenic and is checked into the Wellness Center by her parents who are only seeking to help her to get better instead of continuing to struggle with her illness. Sabrina, on the other hand, is quite fearful of losing her dreams that she clings to. She has this undeniably interesting yet almost scary way of looking at the world and I actually loved how James was able to get inside her head and paint a picture of how she lived with her illness and the fear from the inside out. As fascinating as this character may seem at times (and she is), she is also frustrating as well.

For instance, I personally didn't like that she was so willing to stop taking her medication and halt her progression of getting better, because Alex had convinced her to do so. It's not that Alex isn't an interesting character or that I didn't like him, it was the things that he was feeding Sabrina that she was so willing to believe naively that frustrated me as a reader. I liked that he cared about her and that there was someone else, with whom Sabrina could have a deep connection with, but I didn't like that he hindered her road to recovery a bit. If he loved her as he said he did (and I believe he did to a degree), then he wouldn't have convinced her to stop taking her meds. Alex, for all intent and purposes, will redeem himself later in the story. He is a likeable character, one reader's can sympathize with and enjoy to a fault, he just made a mistake I believe.

I absolutely loved the way this novel started, the thing that hooked me was the blurb on the front cover of it, "Is the world crazy--or is she?" The writing was just absolutely beautiful and the story is emotionally charged. It's just beautiful and scary and special in a sense. Though, the only drawbacks for me, was that the pacing of the book moved a bit too slow for my liking.