Review: Dream Boy by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg

Dream Boy by Mary Crockett & Madelyn Rosenberg
Release Date: July 1st 2014 by Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult > Paranormal
Source: NetGalley (Thanks NetGalley & Sourcebooks Fire!)
Find It: Amazon || GoodReads || B&N
Summary:

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

 

Dream Boy was a title I was looking forward to; it sounded a little bit like my all time favorite book Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan. However Dream Boy didn't really satisfy my expectations.

We're introduced to Josh while him and Annabelle are just hanging out in one of her dreams. No big deal. I'm not able to do lucid dreaming but apparently Annabelle is. Interesting. We get glimpses of Annabelle's life at school, at home... but the main focus is when she's dreaming because that's where she wants to be, constantly dreaming and constantly being with Josh.

Until one day Josh walks into her classroom. Except his name isn't Josh, it's Martin.

And things start to get a little weird.

Dream Boy has a plot that will grip you. It takes a bit of time to get into it but once you do it makes it hard to put down. Apparently people that Annabelle thought were people, weren't. They were being dreamt up and coming to life. Upon realizing this they also realize that a nightmare could very well be the next thing introduced to their reality and so, they find a way to put an end to this before it's too late.

I was personally rooting for Will and Annabelle the whole time. Martin just seemed... I don't know, like he's too perfect for her where as Will seemed more like a real person. 

There isn't much else I can say without spoiling the book but if you're looking for something that isn't too paranormal and has a pretty epic twist, I would highly suggest Dream Boy.

Also, can we just admire this cover for a minute? Seriously. It's eye catching. 

His T-shirts were kind of like mood rings. And even though his moods were generally in the meh range, there were slight fluctuations: giddy meh ("Free Shrugs"); grumpy meh ("There Things I Hate: T-shirts, Irony, Lists"); annoyed meh ("Dear Math, I'm not your therapist. Solve your own problems."); annoying meh ("It's Tuesday!" which he only wore on Wednesdays). And the War T-shirt? Well, maybe I should have expected a little more edge from the offfset.