Cover Image: The Dream Catchers

The Dream Catchers

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed this story with all of the characters within. The main character was Radhika Varma.

Radhika Varma has an overactive imagination so when her dream because nightmare she doesn't know why. And now she seeing a man that was in her dream in real life and she doesn't know why. But she finds out when her dreams take her and others to a magical place call Prestoria. Prestoria is a magical land of nightmares that they will have to do challenges to get out of the dreams. Radhika is not so sure about it but she can't get away from not able to sleep.

This was a fun story to read. It had action, adventure,  and suspense throughout. It had a few giggles within. It had a twist at the end that surprised me.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

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trigger warning
<spoiler> mental illness, grief, memory loss </spoiler>

Prestoria is the land of dreams, and a few people have been selected to compete against each other, to win a marvelous price - and maybe even represent the country in a further, international, competition.

Protagonist Radhika comes from an Indian American family and is still reeling after the death of her parents, which forced her and her brother to move in with their aunt, who in turn had to bury her plans.
Their grandma has Alzheimer's, and that's the whole family. They have enough on their plate already, so Radhika is wary of this competition she never asked to be entered in.

Most of the novel is set in Prestoria, and I am just going to assume that it was supposed to feel dreamlike. In truth, it felt like bad writing: All characters are very one dimensional, the situations we find ourselves in are barely described, the pacing is off. The whole plot about Radhika's grandmother felt like exploitation of serious topics which is something I really, really hate. She was a plot device, nothing more.

Conflicts are not explored at all, Radhika lets things happen to her, until she starts to think nobody can do anything without her and patronises everyone. Yes, she winds up helping, but I found myself getting annoyed with her stopping randomly and demanding to be taken back, to help x. It felt like everything she might have had going as a person was ignored so the author could show that she cares - as if there is only one option to do that.

The main conflict is one of those "we could sit down and talk with each other and solve this in five minutes, OR we try to get some plot out of it" which I dislike very much.
The supposed plot twist was... I just didn't care anymore at this point and was speedreading to get it over with.

As you can probably guess by now, this won't get a recommendation from me and I won't read on.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

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I really enjoyed reading thsi book and i didnt really want it to end. It dealt with hard hitting themes and situations in an effective and sensitive way and I loved the infusion of Indian myth and folklore throughout the book. The cover is stunning also. An enjoyable book that children will love letting lose in their imagination

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