Unfortunately this one just wasn't for me. I personally cannot stomach descriptions of sexualised murder fantasies which came up quite early here. It resulted in an unpleasant reading experience for myself. Nothing against the book you just need a thick skin to read it and it is a really interesting concept so I'd perhaps try the author again.

I've had lucid dreams. Dreams where you know you are dreaming, and can alter the events, rewinding and replaying for a different outcome. Charlie does that for a living in Sweet Dreams by Tricia Sullivan (review copy from Gollancz). She is a dreamhacker: paid to go into other people's dreams to help them overcome phobias and anxiety. It's not a job with a big client list, and it doesn't pay well, but it fits well round the narcolepsy Charlie was left with as a side-effect of a drug trial she participated in while penniless at university.

One of Charlie's few clients is a famous musician who is suffering from extreme nightmares that are beginning to affect her career. She is visited each night by The Creeper - a mysterious masked figure determined to cause harm. When the musician dies one night, Charlie finds herself under investigation for the death, but also the the Creeper's next target. Desperate to deal with the Creeper and clear her name, Charlie finds herself uncovering a conspiracy.

Sweet Dreams is a great near-future thriller, looking at themes about the integration of technology in our lives, its increasing sophistication, and how we choose to approach it.

Goodreads rating: 3*

A woman develops narcolepsy and finds a new career after undergoing a drug trial that went wrong. Charlie is now a dream therapist, able to actually step into another person's dream and change it around.

This is a great mind-bending sci-fi thriller with a very likeable main character. Recommended.

This book was trippy. Really trippy.

Following a drug trial that went wrong, Charlie can now 'hack' dreams - meaning she can alter what happens during a dream, and mould them into anything she wants. Normally her clients for these kind of services are dull, and want help getting over a childhood phobia or to quit smoking. Until she meets Mel Tan - a harpist with a serial stalker problem. Only, her stalker is in her dreams. And this stalker does not appreciate Charlie stepping on his turf.

I was first drawn to this novel because of the concept. The idea that sleep, something we naturally see as a comfort, or someplace 'safe' is flipped on its head and becomes the very enemy that must be avoided at all cost. I thought this was a very unique idea, and the author does a great job at creating a very unsettling atmosphere throughout the whole novel. The idea that Charlie also suffers from narcolepsy adds an additional layer of tension, especially as it's normally brought on by stress, as I found myself urging Charlie not to fall asleep.

I really liked the character of Charlie. She desperately wants to be 'normal', and is never perceived as this 'perfect' woman. She has flaws, and she (for the most part) owns them. At times I did find her rather irritatingly naive however. She repeatedly states that she isn't trusting of anyone, yet time and again she lets people into her life (and mind) that you know she shouldn't. Of her friends, I liked O - the cantankerous, rich, anti-brain technology landlady the best. There was something very enigmatic about her character. I loved that in an age of brain telecommunication, she was still using carrier pigeons. I also really liked Roman - one half of the self-titled 'Dream Police', and I appreciated that there was a suitable hint of a love interest rather than full-on romance. I did find however, that a lot of the character development took a backseat in favour of the plot. I would have loved to have had more time with Shandy, Roman etc.

The plot is slow at first, as it tries to establish the futuristic technology and various 'big wig' companies found in the world. There's also a lot time spent trying to explain how dreams 'work', with a lot of detail into R.E.M. and sleep paralysis. While I did appreciate this later on in the novel as the plot progressed, I found it quite difficult to wade through so much information and quite often I ended up very confused as to what all this technology could actually do/was doing to the brain and sleep. I don't mind a world that's well explained, but perhaps this was a case of information overload. A little, well detailed piece of information goes a long way. For most of the novel I was also a little unsure of the time period. It was only from about mid-way through, with a few suitable popular culture references, that I realised this was a near-future London.

As the plot progresses, the story takes on more of a 'noir'-esque murder mystery rather than a sci-fi novel. Charlie somehow becomes embroiled with the 'Dream Police' and begins to investigate a series of 'dream suicides' that appear to be linked to the stalker that haunts Mel's dreams. Although this took me a little by surprise, as I was expecting a sci-fi novel, it was a nice surprise. The second half of the novel is well-paced, and the action is continuous. I will say however, that towards the end the story does take on another level of weird. The dreams become increasingly trippy, and the conclusion left me a little bewildered - although not entirely unsatisfied.

A decent novel, that I have difficulty categorising. I'd welcome a sequel in this world.

As you can see, this is set in the very near future where virtual reality is being taken into some disturbing areas… I happen to know someone who suffers from narcolepsy – where the sufferer will fall fast asleep anywhere at any time, particularly when stressed. It doesn’t take much imagination to realise that this sleep disorder drives a tank through any attempt to lead a normal life. Charlie’s ability to hack dreams starts after her drugs trial with BigSky, when she also starts to suffer from narcolepsy, lose her job and a lot of her hair through stress. Unfortunately, due to the small print on the contract she signed when she took part in the trial, she has no recourse to any form of compensation. So she also ends up homeless. However, she is lucky to have a loyal friend in Shandy and find herself living as a companion to a cranky old lady in a wheelchair, known as O, by cooking and cleaning her pigeons for her. O is also very supportive of her new job as a dreamhacker.

I very much enjoyed Charlie’s character. She could so easily have moaned her way through the novel and although she is often depressed and undermined by her misfortunes, she is also feisty, with a nice line in sardonic humour. I also liked her impulsiveness and occasional lapse of judgement – it can be rather wearing to read of a protagonist who invariably takes the sensible option.

As for the crime aspect – it was really creepy to experience the way the Creeper infiltrated Charlie’s dreams and as I hadn’t read the rather chatty blurb, which I’ve tweaked, I hadn’t realised there was a suspicious death. Unravelling the murder mystery was enjoyable with plenty of suspects and though I guessed part of it, I didn’t appreciate the final part of the puzzle. This was a thoroughly enjoyable, engrossing read and recommended for fans of near future whodunits. While I obtained the arc of Sweet Dreams from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
9/10

London in the near future is a place where Charlie Aaron’s skills are in demand. As a dreamhacker, she is able to enter dreams and reshape them to therapeutically solve her clients’ nightmare issues. But her gift comes at a price. As the result of a medical trial gone badly wrong, Charlie has narcolepsy which means she can fall asleep at the most inconvenient moments.
When an unknown entity appears in one of her clients’ dreams and induces her to sleepwalk off a tall building, Charlie suddenly finds herself in a whole world of trouble.
The plot of Sweet Dreams is as complex as Charlie’s life so you have to pay attention. But what Tricia Sullivan has done is take much of what we are currently immersed in via our tablets and mobile phones and move it in a direction which, considering the rapid development of technology and software, might not be too far-fetched in a few years’ time. AI’s have become palpable, as the victims of Rodney can attest (the AI unicorn, of Charlie’s friend Shandy). Virtual worlds bleed into everyday life. Coders are king.
However, what really makes this story work is more than the plot. The whole novel has a cast of terrific characters, Charlie’s friend Shandy, as rambunctious as her unicorn, O, a cancer ridden coding genius, with a mysterious background and her cognitively challenged sister Daphne, who suffers from dementia and is convinced she is working for the secret service. There are also the two dream detectives and their budget headquarters above a kebab shop.
The glue holding this wacky tale together is Charlie, who is the most fully developed of all the characters. Life has not been kind to her and yet she is still standing and making her way in it. Charlie is adorable and basically does not have a vicious bone in her body, but she has to find her inner strength to go through an ordeal which is nothing to all the misfortunes she has so far suffered. Charlie must find the mysterious entity called ‘The Creeper’ and do battle with it before it continues to kill by making people sleepwalk to their death.
But there are a great many people on her side, particularly her best friend Shandy who, like her unicorn, does not take things lying down. There is also one of the dream detectives, the empathetic Ramon with his unusual back up team. The mysterious O also plays a significant role in Charlie’s life.
As always with one of Tricia Sullivan’s books it is the extent of her imagination and (despite her concepts sometimes being way out there) her ability to draw you into her weird worlds which makes this novel worth reading.

Well, this was a little different to my usual reads. Charlie has the ability to enter people's dreams and manipulate them. She does this in a therapeutic way, selling her services to help those afflicted by bad dreams and nightmares. Her ability started just after she took part in a medical trial and appeared hand in hand with uncontrollable narcolepsy the combination of which has the power to leave her vulnerable. She lives with a rather interesting landlady, having answered an ad for a live in carer, O, who also helps her with arranging clients. As we meet Charlie at the start of our story, she is being questioned. It appears that one of her clients, Mel, is dead. Not just that, but it transpires that the death occurred whilst she was still in dreamland, with Charlie. But, she's not just any client, she's a well known musician and, if that's not enough, she's Charlie's ex's current girlfriend. Is that motive enough for something fishy to be happening? Is Charlie involved in the death? Certain things happened when Charlie entered her dream though, things that shouldn't happen, coincidences that shouldn't be? Mel's Dreamscape was familiar, she described a person that Charlie also has nightmares about. Are the two of them connected more than just having shared a boyfriend and if so, how? What the heck is going on?
This was a strange book for me. I would definitely put it into the category I so loving call bonkers. But it was also brilliantly so. I love the concept of dream hacking - yes I also enjoyed the film Inception - and found the fact that someone could sort of astral project them self into someone else's dream quite intriguing. I also loved the diary / log entries that Charlie keeps as records of her work. Especially the more interesting dreams and hurdles she encounters early on.
As for the rest of things, well, you'll just have to read the book as to say more would just spoil it as certain things have to be discovered at the right times for the whole to work, and others have to stay secret for the jokes (and yes, there are quite a few of them along the way) to be funny. Suffice to say that it is rather convoluted and it would do you good to have your wits about you throughout!
The characters were brilliant. With characters such as those found in this book, being quite larger than life (to say the least in some cases) there is a danger that they could come across as caricatures. Luckily, although she sails close to it at times, the author doesn't quite cross it.
All in all, a rather interesting book that delivered for me on all levels. A substantial read that had it all but also didn't take itself too seriously. One which has definitely piqued my interest in this author enough to see what else she has written.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I’d say this book feels much more plot-driven than character driven. That’s not to say that Charlie isn’t an interesting character to read, I more mean that she could have differed in a lot of ways and the plot would have been mostly the same.

But what a plot. Like Lucky Ghost it reads more like a mystery novel (a noir one at that) than a science fiction novel. The sci-fi element is used to great effect, I find it hugely unsettling whenever a book explores the idea of being unsafe while asleep (my bed is one of my favourite places). This story is designed to put you a little on edge, it succeeds.

What this book handles particularly well is pacing. When I started the book I thought I was going to have to drag myself through this actually grown up novel (siiiigh) but I found myself devouring it in one setting. This is because any moments that aren’t fast paced action (the book is about sleep after all) are perfectly interspersed between well written action scenes.

Despite my usual genre, this book isn’t YA really, though older-young adults would, I daresay, enjoy the storyline. I’d particularly recommend it to people who typically enjoy somewhat creepy stories? Maybe if you’re looking to expand your reading from the kind of book you might typically pick up but you’d like to keep some of the elements of your favourites this would work for you?

I will say this book has a few…more lewd elements (why am I such a prude). They aren’t throughout and they aren’t the lewdest stories I’ve read of late but on the off chance that is a dealbreaker for you I thought I would mention it.

My rating: 4/5 (a surprisingly good read)

Sweet Dreams are Made of This publishes on the 21st of September for those wanting to check it out!

By the way, I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.