Review: ‘R.E.M.: A Dreamer’s Gift’ by Cheryl Abbott

Seventeen-year-old Bradalynn Collier is used to enduring night after night of unbearable restlessness. In the quiet darkness while everyone else sleeps, dreams that are not only hers take possession of her mind. Brady thinks her gift for entering the subconscious minds of others is a curse—until she meets the mysterious Alexander Connelly on her first day of her junior year in high school.

Alexander is a new transfer student whose mesmerizing green eyes seem to stare straight through Brady. Against the advice of her best friend, Doug Rothen, Brady decides to venture into the dark nights of Alexander’s slumber. As she suffers through his relentless nightmares, becoming emotionally attached along the way, Brady finds reason to finally gain control of her unique ability. But just as an unexpected relationship emerges and blurs the line in her friendship with Doug, a devastating accident forces Brady to make an unthinkable decision.

In this compelling tale, Brady must betray the trust of others and make a choice that has the potential to tear her away from the only dream she now desires—a life with Alexander Connelly.

I like the idea of being able to enter other people’s dreams, so even though I’m not accepting unsolicited review requests, I decided to make an exception for this one.  While I liked the concept and think it was a good first novel, I had a few issues with the execution. 

Readers of my blog know that I put a lot of weight on strong character development.  Bradalyn is a typical YA heroine, although more tired than most since she doesn’t get much rest at night.  I didn’t not like Brady, I just didn’t find her all that memorable as a character.  She was a little too perfect and slightly boring.  Alexander had great potential, but then his “mystery” didn’t turn out to be all that mysterious.  His back-story is revealed too early in the book and didn’t add to the climax.  I kept holding on, hoping for some big bomb to drop, but it never really happened. 

One of my other hot buttons is sexual tension.  Even in YA novels, there has to be chemistry between the characters.  This is especially important when there is a love-triangle.  Brady and Alex had about as much chemistry as siblings.  There was no heat in their kisses, no tension in their touches.  And seriously, how many teens sleep together and never even entertain the idea of taking the physical relationship further? 

The triangle is rounded out with Brady’s best friend, Doug, who is so obviously in love with her and she is completely oblivious. My favorite love triangles are those that could go either way, where the reader doesn’t know who the character is going to choose.  In this book, there is never any chance Brady is going to choose Doug.  And after a few immature tantrums, even Doug realizes it and gives up with little fan fare. 

Okay, so I had some issues with this book, but I don’t want you to think it was bad.  Not to get all spoilery, but in the end, Brady takes a giant risk for Doug and it ends on a huge cliffhanger that made me want to keep reading.  In the end, I think this was a solid debut novel.  I just hope the next book fixes some of these issues.

Overall, I give R.E.M.: A Dreamer’s Gift...

Plot - 4 bookmarks

Character Development - 2 bookmarks

Love Story - 2 bookmarks

Paranormal Elements - 3 bookmarks (I was a bit irritated not to know more about the origin of Brady’s abilities, but I hope the next book addresses it.)

Dream Cast (otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) - Katrina Bowden (Brady), Colton Haynes (Doug), Joshua Bowman (Alex)