Monday, September 15, 2014

Review: The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh O'Brien

Goodreads Summary:

From the author of the Birthmarked trilogy comes a fast-paced, psychologically thrilling novel about what happens when your dreams are not your own.

The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success: every moment of the students' lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students' schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What's worse is, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

I’ve read the Birthmarked trilogy by the author, so I was very excited to read her latest. I liked The Vault of Dreamers, but I think a little more world building and a stronger ending would’ve made me like this book a whole lot more. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the concept and the characters, but something seemed missing.

Rosie was relatable and I felt like her characterization was realistically done. Rosie isn’t perfect and she doesn’t try to be. However, I admired the way she was willing to risk her future to find out what exactly was going on at night in the Forge School. The secondary characters were great too and I would like to know more about Burnham and Linus in future books.

I needed a little more world building, especially since I had a hard time picturing the school. I also wanted more of an explanation on how some of the scientific processes were done. The book is set in the future, but I wanted to know more about how that future came about. The ending was also a little confusing and a major cliffhanger. I don’t mind cliffhangers, but with that kind of conclusion, I hope the release will be somewhat soon.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing and I thought the plot was unique. There is a lot of room for growth in the series and I do plan to read the follow-up.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!

2 comments:

  1. i liked the first birthmarked but not the last. I might have to check this out though

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  2. Dang. Love the cover :) Very nicely written review. Thanks so much for sharing with us! Bummer that it missed the mark, but the best laid plans of mice and men... Ya know? WRITE ON!

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