Dreamquake (Dreamhunter Duet, #2)

by Elizabeth Knox

[ladygrey]

I don't know if this is a young adult book, because it isn't typical of what I find in young adult books. The protagonist is young, but the supporting characters aren't all and they are integrated so much into the story that it feels much broader than a young adult book.

I came to like [b:Dreamquake|357092|Dreamquake (The Dreamhunter Duet, #2)|Elizabeth Knox|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312006461s/357092.jpg|3132779] very much at the end. But for probably the first two thirds of the book I didn't love it. The characters were all too separated from one another and their interactions were some of what I liked about the first one. It is a very descriptive novel and not an especially emotional one. I like emotion in my stories and I like being drawn in and engaged by the characters. I found some of that connection to the characters, glimpses of something deeper or more interesting going on with them, but for the most part the story is sort of removed - told from a distance that describes the world around them in great detail but doesn't live in the world with the characters.

But then one moment changed the whole story. And where it evolved from there was intricate and fascinating and gave a whole different scope to the entire two novel story. It was brilliant and engaging and sad.

I also like that this is such a unique idea, so very different from the usual fantasy ideas of young adult fiction. The whole idea of dreamhunting is a fascinating idea with so many different things to do with it. It's also a really interesting and versatile metaphor, especially in people's reactions to it. Dreamhunters are very much celebrities and the parallel between Grace Tiebold and a movie star is an easy one. There's layers of power and responsibility and celebrity all wrapped up in dreamhunting, clashing with expectations and ethics and it's really interesting.

And then the whole turn with NOWN was incredible and moving and so brilliant and unexpected.

It's definitely different than the young adult fiction I'm used to, which was both a little disappointing but also really interesting.