REVIEW: Dreamers Often Lie

Greetings fellow bookworms!

I have recently finished the book Dreamers Often Lie by Jacqueline West and I have a lot to say about it.

Here is the spoiler free part of this review :)

Jaye fractures her skull in a skiing accident gone wrong that she shouldn't have even survived. From the moment she opens her eyes, she has vivid hallucinations of Shakespeare and some of his more famous characters. However, she is determined to get out of the hospital and return to school so she can continue being a part of her school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, so she keeps this a secret. It becomes more of an issue when she mistakes the new kid in school for Romeo and can't seem to get a grip on reality. Dealing with the grief of losing a family member, romance, and just trying to get her life back to normal, Jaye is way in over her head.

Right from the beginning of this book, you are drawn into the chaos of Jaye's hallucinations. Right away, I was very intrigued. I thought the hallucinations would be more obvious or even annoying, however, I found myself getting just as caught up with them as Jaye, finding it hard to tell the difference between what was real and what wasn't. The author perfectly describes Shakespeare and his characters in a way that they become a true part of the story. Jaye's hallucinations are so subtly interjected into the story that you easily get carried off into them with her. I also found it enjoyable that eventually you could see the similarities between the Shakespearean characters and the people in Jaye's life. The hallucinations were a very important and oddly enjoyable part to the story.

I would just like to emphasize that I truly find myself confused about what was truly real and if the hallucinations were even just in Jaye's head. The narrating is remarkable and very well done. I was truly captivated by this story.

This story is also generally fast paced, which I enjoy. There is a decent amount of things going on in the story line that are all relatively related to each other. It doesn't feel like there's pointless drama interjected into the plot like with most books. You can see how everything is connected and it truly feels important, rather just passing time. You want to get to the bottom of all these issues.

I would also like to say without spoiling it that the romance in this book felt very real and was well developed, although a little cliche. I truly fell for the love interest in this book completely.

However, I did have a few issues with this book.

Overall, I would rate this book 3.5 stars. There were some negative things about this book, but I still found this to be a really good book.

Check out the book here!

Now, let's get to the spoiler(ish) part of this review, so if you haven't read this or don't want certain aspects of this book spoiled for you please skip past this part or exit the review at this point.

You have been warned...

Alright so my first issue with this book was actually the main character Jaye. Although I did sympathize with her and everything she was struggling with, I did become quite frustrated with her. She came a crossed as very self centered and she never seemed to learn from her mistakes. Throughout the whole entire book, she acts recklessly and repetitively does things that hurt her friends and family without seeming to be that remorseful. I literally felt so bad for her mom throughout this whole story. She had to deal with nonstop stress from Jaye never listening to her and always getting into trouble. Also, the poor sister, who was trying to be the middle ground in between them. It just seemed like there was no character development with her, which I found to be disappointing.

My second problems was the story line with Jaye and her dead father. I found it an interesting, but there never seemed to be any true resolution for it. I understand that she's dealing with strong feelings of grief and struggling between loving and hating her father. However, it feels like despite everything she goes through in the story and all the things she tries to find out about her father, she really doesn't move on from that feeling. It felt like there was really no closure with that story line.

This really isn't an issue with the book, but overall, I just really hated Pierce. I didn't like him from the start. He just seemed like the typical Golden Boy, who ultimately wasn't actually a good guy (and I was right!). I never wanted him to end up with Jaye, so I never actually felt the struggle of the love triangle, other than just not wanting her to end up with Pierce. I don't understand how people liked him because I truly dislike him. He's a character I wouldn't have minded getting killed off.

Back to my issues with the book: the ending. I assume it's one of those endings that's probably open to interpretation or that it's not supposed to be clear because Jaye is an unreliable narrator, but ah!!! I'm guessing since Rob is Romeo that he and Jaye are both dead like Romeo and Juliet ended up or that they are in Jaye's hallucination. That itself is fine.

BUT

That irritates me because it leaves a lot of things open ended. Not to mention, how is any of that fair to Jaye's poor friends and family who put up with so much crap from her throughout the novel? For what? I agree that Jaye and Rob should end up together somehow, some way, however, the Romeo and Juliet style ending isn't my cup of tea.

That's just my interpretation of the ending. I would be thrilled to hear what others thought the ending meant so everyone seems to confused about it.

END OF SPOILERS

Overall, I did find it to be an enjoyable read and I am currently lending it to a friend and have recommended it to several others. It's a good read if you don't want to think too much. You can just go along for the ride with Jaye throughout the chaos. It's also a unique plot and I applaud that. It always makes me happy to see writers stepping outside the box. It also was genuinely amazing writing that truly let me get lost in the story.

Of course I had some issues with this book, however, I would consider myself a very picky reader. Despite all that, I still would recommend this book because it was an interesting read.

Thank you for checking out this review. Let me know your thoughts on this book if you've already read it. I would love to hear them. I hope you enjoyed my feedback. I apologize if this is a bit rough because it is my first review on this blog and I promise they will only get better from here!

Hope you all have a lovely rest of your day and stay reading!