Wake and Fade

Lisa McMann

Published March 2008

210 pages

Rating: B+

Synopsis
Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime. She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control. Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

My review

I'm going to do a double review for both Wake and Fade now. When I first read the synopsis for Wake, I knew that it was going to be a great book. And it was. The book is so different and original. I love the whole dream catcher idea that Lisa has created so fabulously. I would really love to know where she came up with the idea. I think Lisa's writing is great but I also feel like the story was a bit rushed. The end of the book was rushed, as was the relationship between characters.

On that note, I'll talk about the characters now. I think that Janie is a great main character. She wasn't spoiled, she worked hard at school and for money and she always took care of herself and the problems she had to deal with. I hope I learn more about her family though. My favorite character is probably Cabel. He has a lot of issues yet he is still a great guy. He's sweet, romantic, nice, protective and good looking too. I really like how Janie and him both have somewhat screwed up lives yet they work hard for everything and are great, strong people.

To finish, Wake was a great book with an awesome storyline, lots of suspense, mystery and action. I definitely recommend this book to everybody and anybody.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lisa McMann

Published February 2009

248 pages

Rating: B+

Synopsis

SOME NIGHTMARES NEVER END. For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They're just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody's talking. When Janie taps into a classmate's violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open -- but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie's in way over her head, and Cabe's shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both. Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability -- and it's bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what's to come is way darker than she'd feared....

My review

Short review. So after reading Wake I was excited to get started on Fade. In my opinion, Fade was much more interesting than Wake was. I know that it kept me interested throughout the entire book and I couldn't put it down. I simply had to know what would happen to Janie and Cabel. There was a lot more suspense, more action, more drama, more romance, more mystery, more everything! Fade is definitely not a happy, funny book but that's why I love it. I was actually very creeped out several times in the book. The things that the characters have to go through are unbelieveable.

I know that was a very short review but I think I pretty much said everything that was needed. Fade made me grip the edge of my seat and made my heart pump throughout the whole story. I enjoyed it much more than I enjoyed Wake and I cannot wait for Gone to come out!

-Marisa