The first I have ready by this author, To Dream is To Die is very well written with an easy to follow the storyline.

In this novel, we are presented with Brenna, an eighteen-year-old who has just started college while hiding a dark secret. She actually can float around in spirit form when she sleeps. The problem arises when she notices someone watching her.

Well executed premise and well-crafted characters make this a must-read.

THIS WAS NOT TO MY TASTE. I HAD HOPED FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE SUPERNATURALLY CHARGED AND IT DID NOT MEET THAT MARK.

I would like to thank the Netgalley site and the author for this partnership.

I love the cover of this book, it's what attracted me right away to the request for this partnership.

It features Brenna, who as soon as she turns 18, goes to university and makes a lot of friends. But she's hiding something. Since she had her accident three years ago, her mind wanders in the Fade while she sleeps. She wants to hide it from everyone until the day she sees a spirit watching her, she's afraid that everything will be revealed. Brenna has a lot to worry about.

A first book of this series that I loved, everything I like in this kind of books, suspense, full of twists and turns, a captivating story, endearing characters. Can't wait to read the book two.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Brenna Whit is eighteen and just beginning her foray into College, she's hoping that this will be different than high school, that she won't be seen as the withdrawn freak, that she'll actually be able to make a friend or two. Mostly she's hoping that her strangeness won't effect her life how it did in high school. You see, Brenna died three years ago, she was dead for six minutes, when she came back she's never been quite the same. When she sleeps, she doesn't sleep, her spirit leaves her body and she can walk through the Fade with the other spirits. When someone sees her in her spirit form, she panics and instantly thinks that her secret is out, however, maybe she should take a step back and not think the worst of everyone. What follows is a paranormal mystery of sorts, in a college setting with a young woman still trying to find her feet, in both worlds.

I'm a little peeved at myself that I let this one sit in my to be read pile for so long. I absolutely flew through it and am kinda biting at the bit to get the rest of the series. I'd put this in the paranormal/supernatural genre, and probably not quite young adult, but it doesn't feel like it fits into the new adult genre.

Our protagonist is eighteen years old and is fresh into college, she's straight forward, says what she thinks, always seems to think the worst, thinks she is better off on her own, and pretty much a bit of a snarky bitch. I don't have an issue with these things, but I must admit, her character did irk me at times. She comes across so bullheaded a fair bit and even though this story isn't exactly young adult, sometimes Brenna's comments and reactions came across rather childish, once again, she IS eighteen, so it is kinda expected I guess. Brenna also comes across as someone who had to grow up too fast, who is strong despite the odds stacked against her - as in, the poor woman never gets to actually sleep or rest, her spirit ejects out of her body as soon as it's asleep, so I guess you could probably chalk up a lot of her snipey, mean comments to the lack of sleep. I know I wouldn't be very fun to be around if I never got some damn rest. She's not a bad character, and I am looking forward to seeing how and if she develops further through the series. When we first meet her roommate, Erica, I got instant spinal crawl, the girl just set me on edge, but, that doesn't mean I like the way that Brenna and her new bestie Aeria treated the girl. Yes she comes across as a bit of a tramp, yes she tries to weasel her way onto other people's potential boyfriends, but I think that once our girl and friend realised there was something else happening to Erice, they could have tried to be a bit less bitchy. Essentially they were being bitches for bitches sake, and I wasn't a big fan of this. Once again, our characters are all around the age of eighteen, so that petty childishness hasn't quite left their personalities, I sincerely hope there's a bit of a change in this the further through the series we travel, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing Erica making a regular appearance in future books. Damon was an alright character, I didn't hate him, but I didn't quite love him either, I"m waiting to see how things go further through the series, though I was pleasantly surprised that a certain trope hasn't occurred between him and Brenna, thus far anyway. All of the characters were well written with distinctive personalities which was nice.

There's not a great deal of world building and that fine, this type of story doesn't really need it in my opinion. The small nuances that were included were a nice change and I really enjoyed them though. For instance, we have the Fade, which is the spirit plane of the human world, Brenna can interact with other spirits while in the Fade, but most of them just turn away because they can tell that she's not dead like they are; we also have the demon doors, and the fairy doors. I absolutely loved the addition of these and thought they were freaking brilliant! I love how the opening of these doors hinges on the lunar cycle, what absolute sheer brilliance, it's so simple but one aspect of this world that I absolutely adore! These doors are also a big part of the plot as Brenna comes across a door that is sealed, which she's never seen before. Little side point, I loved the old woman and I sincerely hope she makes regular appearances in the following books!

The story itself was extremely fast paced and easy reading, I absolutely flew through it. One thing that did irk me a bit was that I feel it could have done with another round or two of editing. The writing didn't flow as well as I believe it could have which was a little bit of a downer for me, but obviously it's not a massive issue because I'm absolutely dying to read the rest of the series. I just found that there was a little bit of an issue with the characters moving through the world, as in, there wasn't enough description of it. For instance, our characters are eating in the cafeteria at lunch and stand up to leave, there's a bit of conversation then all of a sudden they're walking through their dorm room door. There was no actual 'travelling' so to speak, one minute they were in one place and the next they were somewhere completely different. This is just a little thing of mine, it may not be an issue for others at all, it's just something that I picked up that happened more than once which jolted me out of the narrative a bit.

I enjoyed the 'mystery' part of the story, though it was pretty obvious the whole way through who was going to be responsible for what, this isn't a deal breaker for me as the story was super enjoyable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, I'm really looking forward to continuing the series and cannot wait to see what happens next. If you like a quick, easy read with an engaging story that has a hint of the supernatural, give it a go ;)

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I came across this book and decided that I needed to read it. I wanted to see what Brenna had to go through each time that she went to sleep. There was a lot going on this book but it was all done with a purpose and that made it enjoyable and fun to read. The door things was a little strange but it was not something I had seen before. She is a strong character and that is what made it different then a lot of the YA/NA that I have been reading as of late.

I really enjoyed this story. I had a hard time putting it down.

I think the original description does a great job describing the book without revealing anything so I am not going to do a description.

This was a cool different world. Yes there was a special snowflake but its not born to be a special snowflake just circumstance. I liked that there wasn't an instant romance for the main character. There were twist and turns that I did not expect which was great. I hope the second book is just as good.

4 stars for NetGalley and Goodreads because it was enjoyable and I would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Lampkin for a free copy. This is an honest review.

Ms. Lampkin weaves a story of death and life together in To Dream Is To Die. She takes a girl with the ability to astral project into what is known as The Fade. To Dream is to Die follows Brenna through out her first year at Nephesburg College and learning how to navigate these abilities that she's had since high school but never really understood. The story feels reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's first season. I highly recommend if you love Buffy and just want to have something in book for this is for you.

The concept of this book is really unique! I really enjoyed the idea of not dreaming but rather walking the spirit realm.

The character development, especially in the relationship between Brenna and Damon , seems really rushed. Personally, I would not trust people with information that could potentially hurt me that quickly. Damon is a quirk in the story that I would love to see more of though. Is the pull he has over Brenna foreshadowing?

I am invested in the storyline though. I definitely am excited about the rest of the series.

Talk about a conversation starter...I was dead once now I can walk amongst the dead. To Dream is to Die is a uniquely entertaining "ghost" story. A young college freshman has to deal with going to classes and fitting in. It might be easier if she didn't walk with the dead every night!

I am thoroughly intrigued by the concept and highly excited for the next book. I have a feeling Sophomore year is going to be twice the mess that was Freshman year. Good thing Brenna has backup!

FINALLY!

This is the first NA book I’ve read that isn’t obsessed with men’s bodies and sex. Not that there’s anything wrong with those aspects of NA, it’s just over saturated with it so I’m bored.

But Lampkin created something akin to a College AU with Buffy, so I’m beyond hooked.

I absolutely loved this book! Not my normal type of book, but the description had me interested. I am SO glad I read it.
The characters were easy to love, and the story line sucked me in and had me reading so much, that the next thing I knew I was finished with it and a few hours had passed by. I definitely recommend it!

I'll start this by saying that I have a deep rooted love for college/campus based novels (and this one definitely delivered on that promise). I won't ne stating any spoilers, but just know that the character eluding to things having happened in the past without further diving into them was aggravating. I had thunk going into this that (it being New Adult) there would be illicit scenes that I don't really vibe with, but I was happily wrong (there weren't any).

To Dream Is To Die is a unique story with creative characters. The main character might be unlikable to some ,but I liked her sarcasm. The creatures don't have the typical characteristics in this book and that was nice change.

In a way, this wasn't an easy book to review.

One of the bigger reasons why, is because I was expecting something different. I requested this book because it was under the New Adult category. And honestly? Besides the fact the story takes place on a college campus, there were no real elements of NA to be found
.
To me, Brenna was an unlikable character who wasn't really justified in how she treated other people most of the time. She came across as really negative, pessimistic and angry. Just plain pissed off at the world, which, I get to a certain extent. You died, came back to life, it messed up stuff. But, she needed to chill a little.
I couldn't really connect to Aeria or Damon, the other two main characters, either.

As a whole, I liked the Dead Dreamer premise. It was interesting and original. There are some ghosts stories out there, but they tend to revolve around grim reapers, typically.

Sadly the world building and the setting of the premise was done in a way that was rather boring and slowed the pace of the story considerably. The last 5-10% of the book was, in fact, the part I found most compelling. Was that enough to make the rest of the book great? Not really.

In the end, this wasn't a bad book. It was just too slow and bland for me. But I think it could appeal to the Young Adult audiences.

I received a review copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was such an awesome surprise!!

The cover is what drew me into the book and then I read the synopsis. I requested this book from NetGalley and I am so glad I did. I had a hard time putting it down! It a very unique concept.

Our main character is Brenna. She died in a very bad car accident, and she was dead for 6 minutes! The EMTs worked hard to bring her back to life, but now every time she fell asleep, she would leave her body. She was amongst the dead, or the Faze as they called it. She sees doors, fairy doors and demon doors. The idea was so cool. The author did a great job.

I love Brenna as a protagonist!! She’s insecure and tad bit on the sarcastic side. She and her friend, Aeria, both tend to have that sarcastic attitude.

Now, Damon, “the Watcher” is one of the best characters! This book had some very fun side characters. It kept me very interested.

Overall this is just such an awesome book!! I highly recommend this book.

1.5 stars

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't finish this one. I was confused by the MC constantly alluding to the fact that she had "died" without really giving any information about it - apparently there's a prequel, but I don't want to have to read that going into the first book in a series? I also found the main character to be totally unlikeable. I usually like "bitchy" characters but a lot of her behaviour was completely unwarranted. Given that I wasn't a fan of the love interest either, I didn't really want to read an entire book about them. Maybe it was just the college atmosphere and the dialogue, but it all felt kind of eyeroll-worthy. I'm sure a certain kind of NA paranormal reader might like this, but that reader is not me.

What a great start to this series and I can’t wait for the next book! Sarah Lampkin’s writing sucks you in and the idea of the story is very unique.

Brenna was a great main character and the world building was beautifully done! I think everyone can agree with me when I say I can’t wait to have more Damon 😀

Loved this story!!

Three years ago Brenna Whit was in a horrific car accident and was dead for six minutes before she was resuscitated. since then, every time she goes to sleep her spirit wanders the Fade/ spirit world. Now she is starting college as a freshman and hopes her secret will remain hidden but one night after discovering strange seals on a tree she is horrified when she finds someone staring right at her. 

As Brenna discovers more about the world she now inhabits there are dangers lurking around every corner. She finds herself having friends for the first time and on the trail of a dangerous secret society all while trying to attend classes and keep herself safe. 

This was a gripping read. Brenna is a funny, sarcastic character who is a kickass main character. I look forward to further exploring her adventures in future instalments.

First off, thank you for giving me the opportunity to read To Dream Is To Die. Unfortunately it wasn’t working out for me so I stopped reading around page 80. I loved the concept of dreamers and watchers and how demons/fae came into play, and wished the story had focused more on that, than college parties and roommate drama. It wasn’t balanced well. The writing also seemed a bit off. Sometimes the characters would say things that didn't make sense. Their conclusions came out of left field, and I was left thinking “Why would they think that? What backs that up?”

Since I didn’t get far in this book, I’ve decided not to post my thoughts anywhere but here.

This book was received as an ARC from Sarah Lampkin through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Everyone fears of going to college and getting through your freshman year especially if you are Brenna who is hiding a dark secret due to an almost fatal accident causing her spirit to wander when she is sleeping. This book made my interest peak right from the very start. The complications and tribulations Brenna went through having this curse and getting through college is tough enough. When she found out that someone saw her spirit leave her body, I could imagine the thoughts running through her head and how she thought she was going to approach this to her new friends and colleagues. I was invested throughout the entire book and I know our young adult readers will really love this book too.

We will consider adding this book to our YFantasy collection. That is why we give this book 5 stars.