Dreamland

Dreamland’s about an abusive relationship so brace for a difficult though worthwhile read.

Caitlin’s more than a little lost after her sister leaves home without a word, at first meeting Rogerson is like a lifeline, at first…

Given her floundering state of mind Caitlin is initially drawn to the air of danger around Rogerson and to brief glimpses of vulnerability, however, Rogerson didn’t appeal to me even the tiniest bit, not ever, which I’m fine with, this isn’t a romance, he isn’t someone the reader is meant to be attracted to, Caitlin’s toxic relationship with him isn’t glamorized in any way. It isn’t made to seem like a relationship to covet or aspire to, you spend pretty much the entire novel cringing, wishing she would tell someone, wishing someone would see, fearing for her (and fearing with her, the scenes where she’s terrified of not being on time to meet Rogerson, you develop a knot in your stomach right along with Caitlin).

The other noteworthy thing about this book is that it doesn’t pretend that walking away is easy, that magically you’re healed, Dreamland takes the time to show the hard emotional work. ( )

"... it was cute ... but nothing great to report about."

Read more of this review post here: https://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2009/10/tis-life-in-slow-lane.html

So this was a short book to get through (only 260 pages) but it left a big impact. I thought at first that things moved a bit slow, but once you get to the meat of the story, you won't be able to put this down at all. You are going to just be shocked and dismayed at the things that are going on with the main character (Caitlin) throughout this book.

"Dreamland" opens on Caitlin's birthday when she and her parents realize that her older sister Cassandra has ran away to be with a guy she fell in love with after like three weeks. Cassandra does not go to Yale and stays away from her family and refuses to talk to them. Caitlin is left adrift since she is not used to being her, without her perfect older sister nearby to emulate. This leaves a hole in Caitlin where a boy named Rogerson Biscoe (his name even sounds douchey) steps in. Before Caitlin realizes it, somehow her whole life becomes Rogerson.

I felt for Caitlin. Her mother becomes a barely functioning person at first, and her father is in denial after her sister runs away. She's trying her best to not be a problem, that even means not complaining when no one celebrates her birthday. She's talked into joining the cheerleading squad by her best (and only friend) though she doesn't want to and after she starts seeing Rogerson, her grades fall and she's spending most of her time getting high with him and his other friends. It's like a slow roll to another world and Caitlin doesn't know how to or even want to really get out of it. That is until Rogerson hits her the first time. And then the book goes dark. Because you read about Caitlin's justifications, her fear, her starting to realize after a while that even when she's perfect that Rogeron really just wants a reason to hit her. I wanted to scoop up this fictional character and hug her.

Dessen does a good job of showing Caitlin realizing that she's in a bad relationship, but not really knowing how to get out of it. And with her parents still focused on other matters, it becomes easy for her to fool them into thinking everything is okay with her.

Dessen always has recurring characters in her YA books and I swear that Rogerson was in Lock and Key (which I also loved). Too bad no one ran him over with a car.

I also love how Dessen shows all of these women in this book in relationships they call "love" but honestly are not. Or at least I would not call them love between two people who trust and respect each other. Cassandra's life is a mess and her deciding that her parents put all their hopes into her to have her run off with some dude did not endear her to me at all. Even Caitlin's best friend who is only defined when she is dating someone I found a bit sad. So when Caitlin even when she realizes that Rogerson hitting her is awful and she doesn't think she can keep hanging on to him, I get why she hid what was going on and kept trucking along with it. That's cause she's told over and over again that love is the answer even when the other person is not right for you. I think a little window opens up a bit when Caitlin finds out another friend of hers finally had it with her deadbeat boyfriend and left him.

The writing was raw and honest. And I loved how you had Caitlin slowly coming into her own and realizing that maybe her sister was not as perfect as she always thought.

The ending was a surprise and I love that the book didn't just take an easy way out with and everything was super okay with everyone, the end. ( )

I think this was the first Sarah Dessen book I read. It's certainly the one that made her one of my favourite YA authors. ( )

I have to say this is my least favorite Dessen, so far. I know the subject matter is important and needs to be addressed, but it left me wondering about Rogerson. How is jail and community service going to change him? The story just seemed a little dark for Dessen. ( )