Dream Waters, by Erin A. Jensen

4 nothing is as it seems stars!!

I won this book in a contest on @Books Vertigo and Tea blog and  I have never been so happy that I won a contest before!  This book was amazing!!! It is definitely adult Urban Fantasy Adult I would not list it as YA or NA.  I don’t know why some people who complain about it are saying it’s YA it is not. There is some very mature content in this book, I would not be comfortable recommending it to anyone ages 15-18. Onto the review!!

This book is told by multiple POV’s,  but you start out by following my favorite character Charlie. He is in a mental institution due to seeing things that no one else can see. Charlie can see peoples dream form and their real world form.  Sometimes these dream forms are a little bit frightening and cause him to scream without thinking, which in turn causes people to think that he is crazy.  I really enjoyed the fact that Charlie from the get go was a really like-able character.  He is a sassy, smart-ass but you can tell deep down that is just his defense mechanism for living almost his whole life in mental facilities. Then Emma enters his world and he has someone else to think about besides himself.  Charlie takes it upon himself to protect Emma at any cost, and along the way he learns more than he bargained for about the Dream World.

Emma as a character was hard for me to connect to.  Everyone knows I love strong female characters and Emma seems to be a super weak character.   While she had her moments, I didn’t enjoy her very much until towards  the end. I’m not sure what her whole story is yet, as the author didn’t reveal it in this book.  I am intrigued to see how her character develops throughout book two. She seemed to rely on the men in her life, whether it was Charlie or not.  I’m not sure if more will be told about that in later books or not.

This book as a whole was fantastic, I enjoyed the multiple POV’s.  It was such a crazy cast of characters and I don’t just mean that because they are in a mental institution. It was interesting to see how their dream form coincided with their real world form. I’m not even sure how the author thought this out, her imagination must be unbelievably vivid. The plot was amazing, I really enjoyed how the plot played out, it wasn’t to heavy in the beginning but by the end I was not prepared for that!! It’s like she set up all these clues throughout the whole book that I totally missed which never happens but when I look back now I totally see it.  This book just flowed for me, I didn’t want to put it down.

I am so excited for the second book I can’t wait to get my hands on it!! I would definitely suggest this one to anyone into urban fantasy.

Goodread links here

book blurb..

 

Paperback, 418 pages

Published April 4th 2016 by Dream Waters Publishing

ISBN

0997171219 (ISBN13: 9780997171211)

All his life, Charlie Oliver has watched the people around him morph into creatures that no one else sees. Unlike the rest of the world, Charlie remembers the Waters that transport him to the Dream World each night. And he sees glimpses of people’s Dream forms in the waking world. Condemned to spend his waking hours in a psychiatric facility because of his Dream Sight, Charlie doesn’t expect anything to change. But everything starts changing the day Emma Talbot walks through the door in the middle of a group therapy session.

Haunted by memories of the events that led to her admission, Emma plans to end her life the first chance she gets. But something about Charlie stops her. From the moment they shake hands, his friendship feels safe and familiar. As Emma begins to let down her guard, Charlie catches a glimpse of the fiery-eyed dragon that lurks behind her Dream form. Each night, as Emma dreams of the man who’s been banned from visiting, Charlie searches the Dream World for the monster that shadows her. But when Emma’s suppressed memories begin to surface, Charlie finds more monsters than he bargained for.