Any Dream Will Do

by Maria Duffy

[Leah]

Any Dream Will Do is a novel I’ve wanted to read since I heard of it. Primarily because it’s the chance to try out a new author (and who doesn’t love trying new authors?) but also because it sounded interesting. I liked the idea of Jenny inviting her online friends for a few days in Dublin and I expected a novel full of high jinx. High jinx I did indeed get, but definitely not of the kind I was expecting… I found it an intriguing novel, and for the most part it was an enjoyable read, but it did have some pitfalls, and although it probably sounds silly to say you can tell a novel is a debut novel, well, er, you could with this one.

First, the good. Because there’s a lot to like about the book. Despite finding Jenny a teensy bit annoying, she was an enjoyable narrator and because the novel’s told entirely from her first-person perspective it does rather skip along at quite a rate, and the momentum of the novel is definitely quite high, as Jenny prepares for her Twitter frinds Zahra, Kerry and Fiona to arrive. I actually thought the novel would just dive right in to the arrival of Zahra, Kerry and Fiona, but in fact, it actually sets it all up, taking 100-120 pages or so to actually get to the main event. Instead we get to know Jenny a bit more and see how she struggles with her life as it is and how she’s unhappy with certain aspects of her life/body and as she prepares for madness to descend in the shape of her friendly strangers. The novel is full of surprises, particularly where Zahra, Kerry and Fiona are concerned, and although it’s perhaps a bit too over the top, it didn’t bother me as much as it might as secret after secret came out about these women.

While the novel flowed well, there were clunky parts. It takes its time to get into a rhythm, as Jenny spends the early chapters just popping here, or hopping there, or clicking in to here and the almost adolescent goings-on in Jenny’s head, as she told us she was going to shower/kill her best friend/go to the toilet, began to read like a diary and was a bit hard-going. However, the novel soon juts itself out of the funk and after 5 or 6 chapters I stopped noticing it as much. However despite all the good about Jenny, it seemed to me as if she had this hidden dark side just waiting to pop out. She moans about her best friends’ kids, she whinges about her date, Tom’s, love of his mammy, but she continually says she “likes him – I really do” and she was very hit and miss. It got to the point where any time Tom popped up I skipped whatever it was. She refers to him as her fella after one date, she talks about sleeping with him despite his mammy tendencies and despite not fancying him(?), she pretends he’s her boyfriend at one point, she continually talks of their future and it just felt as if it was all going on in her head because I never got that from Tom. It was creepy, frankly.

Any Dream Will Do is fairly well written, particulary once it does get into its stride. It does become a bit repetitive – Jenny hops everywhere, she continually uses the phrase “Jesus” which after the first 100 times just becomes cringe-worthy, we always hear how she “takes a quick peek” at Twitter and she ALWAYS, ALWAYS throws her mobile into her bag. I’m surprised it’s still in tact. But, I liked the book. It was harmless, but it wasn’t perfect. The whole mother/daughter/mother’s boyfriend thing was puke-worthy and unncessary and I admit, I did find the romance lacking. I wanted a big declaration, I wanted a big scene, but no. Nada. Sadly. But I liked the novel, and I read it in a day and it was enjoyable and I would recommend it. I can’t wait to see what Maria brings next and I’m hoping that with a novel already under her belt it’ll be even better than this one was. One last thing, was that as I mention above, Jenny had issues with her body and I felt that wasn’t properly dealt with, which was a shame. She speaks of caking her face in make-up and wishing to be pretty and it’s as if it was set up as some big thing, but it was all swept conveniently under the carpet it seems, with no (or little) resolution. So a promising novel, but one that did have some issues and wasn’t as perfect as other reviews have led me to believe! However, Maria has talent and I can’t wait for her next novel.