DreamlandSarah Dessen
Wake up, Caitlin
Ever since she started going out with Rogerson Biscoe, Caitlin seems to have fallen into a semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different from anyone Caitlin has ever known. He's magnetic. He's compelling. He's dangerous. Being with him makes Caitlin forget about everything else--her missing sister, her withdrawn mother, her lackluster life. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him?
Summary taken from Goodreads
Dreamland was very different from any of Dessen's novels that I have read so far. Dreamland dealt with a much more serious topic then the others, an abusive relationship. I thought it was handled very well.
I think what made this book so intense for me is that I listened to it on audiobook instead of reading it. Since I don't have any personal experience with the topic, having it read aloud to me gave me serious chills a multiple occasion. It made it so much easier to really get inside Caitlin's head. There were quite a few times I had to turn on some very happy music to keep myself from slipping into a deep depression. Which if that isn't proof of a great novel, I don't know what is!
Caitlin life is completely alter on her birthday, when her sister leaves without a word. Her family now has a hole that Caitlin feels she needs to fill. But she doesn't feel like she can ever live up to her. When she meets Rogerson, she feels like he's the first person to ever really see her, not just a shadow of her sister. And because of that, she lets her whole life spiral so far out of control
Rogerson was a great bad character. At first, I felt so bad for him! He had some very serious family issues that he didn't know how to deal with. And when he met Caitlin, he thought that she was going to save him. He put her on a pedestal. And when, in his eyes, she let him down for the first time, he couldn't handle it. He completely snapped. It was a horrifically sad story that will stay with me for a long time.
Dessen has quickly become a new favorite author. It makes me sad that I wanted so long to read her books!
Quotes I Liked: may contain spoilers
"If you didn't love him, this would have never happened. But you did. And accepting that love and everything that followed it is part of letting it go."
"I had this wild thought that he was the only one in all this chaos who was just like me, and that was comforting and profound all at once/"
"I took his wildness from him and tried to fold into myself, filling up the empty spaces all those second place finishes left behind."
Have you read this? What did you think?
