Although I enjoyed reading a lot of Sarah Dessen's books, most of them are completely alike just with different characters and different scenarios.
Most of her books start like this:

1) Girl has family problem. (Divorce, death of a loved one, moving to a new place etc.)

2) Girl goes to party/school and meets boy.

3) Girl and boy "feel" a connection.

4) Girl and boy have fight.

5) Girl and boy break up.

6) Girl and boy miss each other.

7) Girl and boy make up.

The reason why I like this book way more than the others is because Dreamland is more unique. Even though it does still have that boy meets girl thing practically every one of her books had, this book's plot did not move the same way as the steps I listed above. It was more refreshing and a nice change to Dessen's usual storyline.

Release Date: June 2012
Genre: Young Adult Fiction. Social Issues. Dating Violence

Dreamland is my first exploration into a Sarah Dessen novel. Surprisingly, this book was much darker and emotional than I had previously anticipated. I knew there would be some talk about teen dating violence and that the heroine of the story was dealing with some heavy issues, but I didn’t realize the extent of it all. This book, with the subject of physical abuse between two teenagers, is a hard one too read. Not because the author can’t write a good story (she clearly can) but because this subject is a hard one to read about and consider. It is an important one though and I think many teenagers would be good candidates for this novel- even adults and parents of teenagers.

One thing that struck me the most about this novel is the feeling of not being able to decide WHO you ARE. All of us have been teenagers at some point in our life and I bet many of us questioned who we were, what we were going to do with our lives, and all that kind of stuff. All of this is a struggle, especially considering the age we are at when we are trying to decide our future. This in itself, is a major theme in the novel, one that great affects many teenagers today. I think the author did a wonderful job at portraying a teenage girl as such because it holds so much truth.

With that, this is the story of a girl who doesn’t know what she wants or who she wants to be. In her confusion about life and family she meets a boy named Rogerson. They quickly get caught up in one another, fall in love, and everything else fades away. But when Rogerson- the boy from the wrong side of the tracks- begins to physically hurt Caitlin, things begin to spiral out of control. What was once a life filled with confusion on how to grow up into the person she wanted to be turns into a painful game of just trying to keep the anger of Rogerson so he won’t hurt her.

Readers beware, this is not a lovey dovey book with sunshine and roses that will make teenage love seem magical. This is a story about a confused girl and the abusive relationship she finds herself in. Readers will most likely cringe at the physical descriptions of this abuse, but the topic is so important that it won’t matter all the much. This is a story that will affect you and make you think twice..

THAT'S IT! I am sick of Sarah Dessen and her so-called "incredible" writing.

This book was about a 16-year-old girl named Caitlin. Her sister has just ran away from home, and her boyfriend Rogerson has taken a liking to beating her.

Why are Sarah Dessen's characters SO STUPID? I wanted to smack this chick. HOW STUPID CAN ONE GET? Caitlin stays with her abusive boyfriend because it "feels right". Caitlin starts smoking and doing drugs because it "feels right". Caitlin breaks her committment to the cheerleading team because it "feels right". Really, Caitlin? WHY WOULD YOU PUT YOURSELF THROUGH THIS? No one deserves the things she's going through, SO WHY DIDN'T SHE GET HELP? There were plenty of people to talk to. What annoys me is that she blames her parents for not noticing. You know what, Caitlin? That's your fault. Do you think that your parents are going to notice something you're hiding when they have their other things to think about, like maybe trying to find your sister who ran away from home?

I have no tolerance for stupid people. This book was a total waste of my time.

I actually enjoyed this book a great deal. It's a bit heavier in theme than most of Dessen's work, which I enjoyed, as it fit her tone well. But I wish she would stop writing cautionary tale-type fare; it's unfair to the target readers. Time and time again Dessen's stories don't stand on their own but instead as lessons to young girls to be good, that "bad boys" lead to trouble, that drinking leads to bad decision-making, that sex is not without its punishments, that generally boys know best.

I like Dessen's prose a lot, which is why I keep reading her. And this book would have had me more without this one measly section about IF ONLY the protagonist had gone out with the jock and not the "bad boy". Um, really? What about if she'd seen the bad boy for what he was all along? Why on earth does it have to be such an either/or situation with a boy headlining each option?

I'll keep reading her because I like her stories, but I am not wild about what young girls will pick up from her lessons.

Dreamland to most of us is a venue where we could momentarily escape reality. It could be a place where a medium of communication for a lost loved one is possible. At least for me, that's how it is.

 

What happens if everything has been altered and there's nothing you can do but stay stuck? Perhaps, pray that someone would see things through and save you. Being stuck in the dreamland as Sarah Dessen had described, is like drowning. You can't just pull yourself up. Like gravity, it could be beyond control.

 

Caitlin is surrounded with all the people that she loved but she never recognized how much they too love her. She contained herself into believing that everybody’s too occupied when her sister left. She grew tired of dealing with people reminding her of her loss. She didn’t need sympathy. All she wanted is silence. She wanted to start clean slate and not a single trace of her sister and the memories shared with her. It’s when Rogerson’s perfect timing gets in the picture. He divides the world for her and in him is the so-called dreamland where she can find solitude in his company. It sets her free. She was willing herself to do anything just to stay affixed with that isolation. What she got herself into is not the typical dreamland but it sure has the same essence, an addicting factor, where comfort level’s been intact, it’s the kind where you can’t just stay away, like there are no other options.

 

Sure, it can be all that bad. Caitlin found another venue to cope with her loss – photography (one thing, I could really relate to).

 

“Behind the camera, I was invisible. When I lifted it up to my eye it was like I crawled into the lens, losing myself there, and everything else fell away.”

 

The photos had become instrumental to her “awakening”. Every single time she describes a photo she just took, it triggers her senses, allowing herself to rationalize what situation she got herself into. Rogerson doesn’t want his photo taken. His photos, accidentally taken, were described four times in the book, one is where both him and Caitlin looking very happy and in love, while the rest were all in parallel to the negative side of him. Rogerson doesn’t want his photo taken; the same way as he doesn’t want to show the real him. The other significant photo was Caitlin’s self-portrait, only in the late part of the story had she realized that she after all doesn’t want it and it was only after her recovery to that long slumber. She ripped it off until it was in tiny bits. She ceased from throwing it away, part of the healing process perhaps. Somebody had stopped her. I realized here that despite our imperfections and shortcomings, a life is still never wasted. At our own pace, we can decide to get it all together, piece by piece until we’re whole again. In the end, that’s all that matters and not how shattered we once were. As we continue to learn and accept, we are creating a masterpiece, a mosaic of all our past experiences beautifully put together. And we don’t do it alone, the presence of our loved ones are there to be taken advantaged.

 

What I especially like about this book is the fullness of its details and the personal touch embedded in it.  I could easily say what could have been done. I could have just said that the main character is plain stupid. However, I'm an escapist myself, and I clearly knew what trauma could give you. It slows down your pace. It numbs the pain, more like what happens with adrenaline rush. And most times, rationalization only comes after, Actually, I find the real beauty here in the mistakes, the what-if’s and the what-not’s. It gives us realizations, enabling its readers to get creative, take part and switch roles with the main character. In a different view, it gives me a different kind of inspiration.



Note to self: Wake Up! Wake Up Now!

I could not put this book down. I had a hang out this morning with my friends and I said hello to them and then I opened Dreamland up. This book has probably made me feel the most emotions ever. I found myself shutting the book and just sitting for moments. I found myself wiping away tears and just feeling my feelings. This book is an essential read. I came into it not knowing what was going to happen or if I would even like it (well its by Sarah Dessen so I knew I would like it but like how much would I like it?). Turns out I love it. I have read 12/13 books by Sarah Dessen and I just can't believe I only have one left. Sure I reread them all the time but to think that I only have ONE LEFT is sad. I really hope Sarah Dessen is able to get more books published!

Whoa. This was different. I've read two Dessen books prior to this one, Just Listen and This Lullaby. I very much enjoyed both of them, and, based on my experiences with them, I cataloged Sarah Dessen's fiction as intermediate contemporaries, balancing dark issues with optimism and sweet romance. Thus, I found the fact that they repackaged all of her books to look like shiny, happy summer reads odd. Well, it's odder still, since Dreamland is dark all the way through, depressing almost in its entirety.

As in The Sky Is Everwhere by Jandy Nelson, we begin with a girl living in the shadow of her perfect older sister. In this case, however, the older sister isn't dead, merely gone, run away to who knows where. Caitlin has always used her sister as a bit of an excuse not to excel or be special, knowing she could not measure up, and, without Cass around, Caitlin doesn't have any clue who to be.

In the absence of Cass, Caitlin's overprotective mother switches her focus to the remaining daughter. When Cass makes the cheerleading team, having been pressed to audition by her steamrolling best friend, Rina, her mother gets involved the same way she always did for Rina. Nothing cheers Caitlin, though. She both misses Cass and relishes the idea that now maybe she will shine for a change, but has no idea how to do that. The reader can feel Caitlin's lack of direction and disconnection from the world.

In her continuing search to be her own person and do things Cass never did, Caitlin begins dating a bad boy. Now, you know all those popular books these days about heroines dating bad boys with hearts of gold, who make their girlfriends into better people? This is NOT one of those. Rogerson Biscoe most definitely is a bad boy. He deals drugs, bosses Caitlin around, and completely monopolizes her life. Dessen shows the attraction such a boy possesses, while also conveying a definite message. The portrayal of their relationship is realistic and utterly horrifying. Rather than helping her become her own person, Rogerson lets her live for him instead; Caitlin remains a shell of a person.

Much as I love Dessen's writing, I do not feel this is one of her best novels. For one thing, I think the messages might have gone down better with a little bit more breadth of emotion. Pretty much the only feelings I got from this were sadness and hopelessness. Dark fiction works best with some other emotions juxtaposed to really set off the tragedy of the situation and to make everything feel more real.

Also, I had a really hard time accepting that her family, her neighbors, and Rina all failed to notice her downward spiral. The girl was stoned all of the time, constantly at the beck and call of her boyfriend, lost weight, and was doing perpetually worse in class, among other things. Her mother may have been busy trying to get Cass back, but I think she would still have noticed something. Rina seemed mostly to forget about Caitlin for much of the novel. These reactions just did not seem true to the characters.

Sarah Dessen's Dreamland is an unrelentingly dark story of a girl struggling to find her own identity. If you are tired of all of the romanticized bad boys, this story will appease.

"Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." --Eleanor Roosevelt

This was one of those books that I would start off easily. And also, one of those books that I would cringe and shut their covers because of too much tension and unbearable anxiety. Some of those books, they were left unfinished. I couldn't just go on because they were too hard to read. -But, all books have souls-. They would speak to you and nag you to finish them and find out about the characters and their burden.

I wasn't in for a heavy reading because of the previous horrifying genres I just read. I was looking forward to something breezy and light. So, I thought of my new Sarah Dessen collection and randomly chose this one. It was so easy at first. The pacing was good. The similes and metaphors were reflective and soulful. And then, the tension began to build. I pitied Caitlin. Being in the middle of great loss and bridging the gap between her parents whom her sister had left behind, she found herself completely lost. She was truly co-dependent with her violent boyfriend; hence she was afraid to make little mistakes that would start the cycle of abuse. I would cringe with her every time Rogerson hit her. I found myself bearing down as she received punches and slaps. At some unbearable instance, I stopped reading and leave it be. But, I couldn't stand the depression I felt and tread on painfully. It was like punishing myself. Anyhow, I managed to finish this book.

Miss Dessen gracefully addressed another important matter that would deeply move her readers. She created quirky and warm characters. She plotted a story that would psych up her readers. This book was utterly depressing and heartbreaking. Some stubborn heart reading this would find its way to healing and forgiveness. This was a heavy read but worth ones time and heart.

_This is a book that will not heal you. But, this is a book that will help you heal yourself_

Cheers to you Miss Sarah Dessen

I'm not sure I like this book, I'm glad I finished it.
The story is kind of boring, it doesn't capture my interest. A story about a 16 years old girl, who's sister run away from their house. Her making mistakes, finding a boy friend that does drugs deal, and who hit her many times. I really didn't get anything to learn as a lesson in this book. I read this book because I liked the other book that the same author wrote titled "just listen", I found that the title connected to the story, in a very impressive way. But this book, I don't even know why the title is Dreamland. I didn't like at all the imagination of the author in this story.

This is the second Sarah Dessen book I've ever read and I've come to the conclusion that her books are not for me. The first one I read was That Summer and it was awful. This one was a little better, but it still wasn't a favorite. I would say that the first 100 pages of this book were really boring and I was only able to give this book 3 starts because of the end and the fact that it portrayed abusive relationships so well. I also loved the ending.

Just like That Summer, this book started really slow. I felt like I was reading about the life of a boring person (like me) where nothing was happening, until the guy came along. Like I said, Sarah Dessen did a great job at portraying an abusive relationship. It starts small, so small that I didn't even catch the subtle hints she was giving us.

I know I didn't really like this book, but I think this is an important book for younger readers - boys and girls. I had an abusive boyfriend in high school and I really related to our main character. He didn't hit me, but the mental abusive was definitely there: the swearing, the manipulating and the mind games. When you're in relationship and you feel like you love that person, it's hard to fully comprehend what's going on - specially if you're young and naive.

For more book reviews and other bookish things: www.letmecrossover.blogspot.com

This is probably one of the more memorable Sarah Dessen books. It's definitely the one that's the most different, and it touches upon the issue of emotional abuse and violence in a way that is realistic, yet heartbreaking.

It was definitely sometimes frustrating, especially if you don't agree with the main character's actions, but overall, it was a good read.

After Caitlin's 18-year old sister Cassandra ran away with her boyfriend Adam on her 16th birthday, everything went chaos in the O'Koren family. Her mother Margaret keeps looking out for the phone in case it's Cass, have been constantly watching the Lamont Whipper Show, in hopes of her appearing, and kept buying dolls to fill out a new hobby. Before leaving, Cass gave her a gift, a dream journal.

Caitlin feels overshadowed by her "perfect" sister, since Cass gets the much attention, the one who's much smarter and better. She starts to fill out her space, by trying things Cass never did, or has never been, so she signed up to cheer leading in Jackson High School with her best friend Rina, to which they were both accepted. Since Rina is dating football quarterback Bill, Rina wants Caitlin to date Mike Evans. The night of the party where Rina thought Caitlin and Mike will start dating, Caitlin refuses Mike's invitation and letter jacket, and goes out with Rogerson Biscoe, a guy who have green eyes and dark curly hair with dreadlocks. They started dating, and goes out with him every day, despite the gossips about him always been dropped out of school and always with the police. She also starts to drown herself with smoking pot and taking drugs since Rogerson sells them.

With having a boyfriend and being a cheerleader, Caitlin soon realizes why Cass ran away - her parents all going crazy about her cheer leading career, she feels they are controlling her life and decides for what they want. She's been in Dreamland ever since she is with Rogerson. She starts becoming pale & skinny, isolating herself from the people, even from her best friend Rina, being inactive during cheer leading practice, and starts wearing jackets, sweaters and long sleeves to cover all the bruises she receives from Rogerson's beating, punches, slaps and other physical injuries. Though her mother notices her bruises, she lies to her being reckless/careless, accidentally "falling" or "sliding", since her mother's busy with Cass. So what now? They've been together for four months. Is she just going to hide all these bruises and keep up with Rogerson, constantly driven by fear?

At first, I thought I am going to give up this book. It's too dark, complex, sad, and depressing to read. I've been reading a lot of tearjerkers and depressing themes and I can't bear this one. The story seems typical, right? If you look at the plot, a girl who's been beaten up by her boyfriend for a long time, yet still loves him and never told anyone, but then there's the writing. It captures the emotions and feelings by Caitlin. It was just like I am reading her diary or journal, letting me read the story of her life. It's so full of fear & weakness. I'm not in her position - or anyone who's experiencing this, for that matter - to judge her actions to never tell anyone, but maybe, when I am in her position, I won't tell anyone either, because I am too scared. BUT FOUR MONTHS? I can't bear that physical injury anymore. I'll wipe his ass off and beat him up. 4 months is too long. Anyway, we all have different ways to cope up with a problem, and that's what she did. Her parents are amazing parents, let me just tell her that.

And with this novel, did I realize, that no matter how someone can think a certain person is so happy, just because she smiles all the time, is not the way how she really feels. And that no matter how hard you pretend, there always this tiny sliver of evidence that something's wrong with you. This book is very depressing, but full of hope because I love the ending. I might consider not rereading this because it's really hard to bear with it's lonely theme, but I will, despite of that, during the times when I'm sad. And though I have only read two books by Dessen, this, I guess, will always be my favorite.