Dreamfever

December 8, 2014
At 17, Joshlyn Weaver is already an adept dream walker—part of a secret group of people who enter and resolve nightmares to keep the “Dream” universe and waking “World” in balance—when she apprehensively takes on an apprentice, Will. But as dreamers start falling ill and dying after encountering two men in trench coats, Josh and her friends must make sense of the anomaly to keep the world of night terrors from collapsing into reality. Steeped in magical realism, Alloway’s debut wastes no time exposing clues to help unravel the carefully crafted plot, starting with the opening scene in which Josh encounters a dream figment who claims to know her dead mother. The book’s many dream sequences are palpable, from the richly rendered details to the potent fear gripping the people Josh is trying to help. Although the cast is large, each character plays an important role in untangling the mystery, a suspenseful riddle full of political intrigue, while Josh explores a hesitant but undeniable romance that surfaces while she’s trying to reconcile the dream-related accident that killed her boyfriend. Ages 13–up. Agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency.

December 15, 2015
In this sequel to Dreamfire (2015), Joshlyn grapples with her new Dream Walker status and her own nightmares. Dream Walkers enter and help resolve the nightmares of others, and Josh is believed to be the True Dream Walker, endowed with special powers. In the previous novel, vicious villain Feodor tried to kill Josh with his memories, and now they linger in her subconscious, infecting her sleep with terrible dreams in which her relationship with him is both terrifying and erotic. She can tell no one that she's building one of Feodor's dream-controlling devices, and as her relationship with her boyfriend/apprentice, Will, suffers, she questions her own motives. Meanwhile, the princess Mirren has escaped the Hidden Kingdom, desperately seeking a genuine life only to find that she has entered a cutthroat political battle for dominion over the Dream. In order to maintain the balance between the Dream and the World, Josh and her family are forced to play a treacherous game with the very being that nearly destroyed them. Unlike the first book, this outing is not bogged down by numerous characters or convoluted politics. Written with an alluring, almost hallucinatory atmosphere punctuated by visceral horror, this is a phantasmagoric swirl in which quantum theory meets Freddy Krueger. Readers are left blinking and anticipating the next volume of this nightmarish saga. (Paranormal adventure. 15-18)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-In the sequel to the imaginative, Dreamfire (St. Martin's, 2014), Alloway picks up the story months later with Joshlyn and Will still reeling at the loss of their friend. Josh is having nightmares about the maniacal Feodor Kajazkolski. If she is the True Dream Walker, where are the powers that accompany the honor? All she can seem to do is open archways and share the memories of her enemy. Into the large cast of characters enter several more, most importantly, Mirren Rousellario, the heir to the deposed monarchy and archrival to Josh's grandfather, the leader of the Lodestar party. There is a lot of setup to the action of this story; as background unfolds, plot is built, and the characters gear up for their big adventure to try to save the Dream. In the struggle lie good and evil, lost souls, death, and power. The plot is detailed, sometimes overly so, but the dynamics among the characters are so compelling that readers are sure to worry about the fate of their favorites. Each courageous character has their own path to take, and Josh must decide where her abilities will lead her. Once again, Alloway leaves teens with a cliffhanger ending, leading seamlessly into the next book. VERDICT A solid purchase for YA sections, especially where the first installment was popular.-Jane Hebert, Glenside Public Library District, Glendale Heights, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.