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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

My Thoughts: Dreamland by Sarah Dessen


I am currently working my way through my undergraduate degree in Conflict Resolution and Psychology, with the intention of doing some crisis counselling. Helping people is what I am passionate about, and helping someone who really doesn't have any where else to go, or anyone else to turn to is something that has pulled at my heart for a long time now. Victims of abuse, sexual assault, addiction, people who need marriage or grief counselling, doesn't matter their age, those are the kinds of people I want to be there for.


I recently read Sarah Dessen's novel Dreamland, and it really pulled at my desire to reach out to people, to listen and to hear.
This was not like a lot of her other novels (well the one other that I have read).


Dreamland was about a 16 year old girl who tries to find herself after her 18 year old sister runs away. She does find herself, but not in a good way. Caitlin thinks she's found everything she's ever wanted when she first meets Rogerson. He's older and more mature and slightly edgy. Which is exactly what newly independent Caitlin wants. But things go terribly wrong the first time Rogerson hits her.

The first time Rogerson hit Caitlin I knew that is was going to happen, but it still had me bawling my eyes out. My heart was broken, I felt like I could feel everything that this 16 year old was going through, and I wanted to scream at everything that she was losing. This poor girl. Her parents were caught up in the uncharacteristic behaviour or her older sister and and didn't notice Caitlin's free fall into a pretty messed up situation. The girl makes some pretty lousy choices throughout the book.

This story was amazing, truly. It dealt with some pretty heavy material but it had some humour to lighten things up without taking away from the severity of the situation.
The one thing that I wish it had however was some kind of disclaimer, or an announcement about what teens could do when faced with similar circumstances.

16 comments:

  1. I've heard that this is a darker novel by Sarah Dessen then the rest of her books so I'm really interested to see what I would think about this one. I love Sarah Dessen's books so I'm sure I'll like it but my favorite thing about an SD book is how real her characters become to me. Your review has definitely moved this up on my wish list. Thanks for the review.

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  2. I've only read two of Sarah Dessen's books, this one and Lock and Key and I loved them both. Thinking about what to say about this book took me some time, it left me speechless for a little while.

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  3. I've never read a Sarah Dessen book, and again. MIGHTY. NEED.

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  4. I haven't read a Sarah Dessen book yet. I don't think I'll start with this one since it sounds darker than her others, but it's definitely on my TBR now. Great review :]

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  5. This is practically the only Sarah Dessen book I haven't read. I've heard it's different from her other books. But from your review I'm excited to read it! Thanks =)

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  6. This sounds like a very emotional read. Will we be needing tissues for this one?

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  7. Sara Dessen is one of my all time favorite authors, she has a bit of everything in her books!

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  8. I haven't read any of her books. Yet. But I'd love to start one. I heard so many great things about them that I feel like I'm missing out. Thanks for your review! :)

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  9. I haven't read any of Sarah Dessen's books, but I'm planning on buying the Truth about Forever this weekend. I've heard this is a darker book than her others, but I might pick it up because of your review. Thanks!

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  10. I'm not huge fan of Sarah Dessen or this type of books but I've read few and they were nice. Nothing special but nice. This one I haven't read but sounds different, maybe I'll give it a try soon :)

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  11. It's so great when you read a novel that makes you want to be a better person. That's how you know that it's good.

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  12. I just got this book, I really enjoy Sarah Dessen's books and I've heard this one is different from her other works. I'm really looking forward to reading it, it's amazing that it influenced you in the way that you want to reach out to people.

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  13. I've never read anything by Dressen, and this sounds particularly good! It's always great when a book inspires you with your real life.

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  14. Nice review!
    This sounds like a thought provoking kind of story. And I love the cover :)

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  15. This sounds like a great book. That said, I don't think I would read it because I read to escape from real life for a while and this is too real for me. A childhood friend went through abuse like this and it has affected her whole life.

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  16. This books is one of the books that I really wanted to read but haven't read yet! I love your review!

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