Rating: 2/5 stars Pages: 176 Genre: Dark Fantasy Thriller Publisher: Tor.com Release Date: May 26, 2020 Summary: After witnessing the murder of young girl at the local deli, a small-town librarian starts having out of body experiences in his sleep. During these escapes, he discovers a serial killer that’s been preying on his town for years. Determined to protect more innocent lives, he steps into action, even those this killer is capable of killing him even in the dream realm.
** Thanks to NetGalley and Tor.com for providing me with an eARC of this book**
I really wanted to love this one, it sounded like a short and interesting read, unfortunately, there was just a lot that didn’t work for me about it. I’m gonna try to keep this short, as I often do when a book just isn’t really for me. First off, the protagonist was just… meh? Like he wasn’t particularly interesting, and honestly, there was a lot that he did that I just didn’t care about. It sorta felt like I was being dragged along as this milquetoast guy was goaded into an adventure. The last third of the book was probably the most interesting to me. And if the rest of the book had had a pace and action like that, I think I would’ve been more satisfied. The other thing that really stands out to me is that it just felt like everything needed a little more. Like, the dream-realm was pretty interesting, and I think there’s a potential to have a lot there, but then Melody just felt like the end of it. I would’ve loved for that to be a little better fleshed out. Great idea, not so great execution in my opinion. And then my final little nitpicky thing. So, the book opens in a pretty explosive way. It’s violent, it’s emotional, and if it had been done right, I think it would have made me connect better with the protagonist, but I think the big thing for me, is that while this event ultimately ties back to the plot, I just didn’t really feel him dealing with the trauma of what he saw? And honestly, I didn’t feel that there was much of a character arc for him. Like yeah, he’s a little more active in the end, but I really wanted him to deal with those emotions and… just grow a little. Anyway, I’m not sure who to recommend this one too. It’s a good easy read if you’re looking for something quick.
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