Dreamology by Lucy Keating Published by HarperCollins on April 12, 2016
Source: Publisher, Edelweiss
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult
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For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.
But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. It turns out, though, that Real Max is nothing like Dream Max, and getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.
When their dreams start to bleed dangerously into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?
Whimsical, romantic and utterly original, Lucy Keating’s debut novel will win readers’ hearts.
Honestly, I just want to pop into the book and befriend all of these characters. They’re hilarious, ridiculous at times, full of fun, and they just breathe life. Alice’s narration made me grin and laugh out loud more than once, Max is dreamy yet down to earth at the same time, and even the side characters had such depth and substance that I couldn’t let go of them. Dreamology is like a gummy bear: sweet, chewy, and bursting with flavors. You never get tired of them (for real, I could eat a whole bag by myself) and you can enjoy them any time of the day.
We start the book with a dream Alice is having, with her boyfriend – that is, boyfriend of her dreams, Max. From the very beginning my heart shipped this couple. Their antics are absolutely adorable and I can’t get enough of them. <3 It all changes when Alice moves to Boston with her dad (who’s an absolute delight) and sees Max in real life for the first time – with a girlfriend.
I’m beginning to realize that maybe I never knew him. Not entirely anyway. And that dreams and reality are far from the same.
So this is the part where I usually start ranting because I have a huge dislike of cheaters, but I do think that the author handled the situation quite well. There’s a lot of books where it’s full-on cheating with no thoughts to the consequences, but our characters do learn from their actions and they grow from them. Can I just give a shout out to Lucy for not adhering to the common tropes of high schoolers that we see today?
What this book doesn’t have:
- Slut shaming
- Screeching teenage girls
- Disappointing characters that don’t learn from their mistakes
- Vengeful teens that go all out against everyone else
- Bland side characters, especially parents, that are cut from cardboard and other stiff material.
- Unnecessary high school drama that (truth be told) no one likes to read about.
What this book does have:
- Beautiful relationships of all sorts: whether it’s romantic interest, friendship, and everything in between.
- Real, flawed characters that work out their problems and grow as they learn from mistakes and figure out how to fix them.
- Witty, delightful dialogue that make characters feel real and three-dimensional – no stiff boards in this place.
- An intriguing and unique premise that draws on legit psychology theories but with a twist.
As Alice gets to know the real life Max, both their dreams start mixing with reality and they have to get the help of the Center for Dream Discovery to fix it. The book is told through the first person POV of Alice, and you will DEFINITELY enjoy reading this girl’s thoughts – dreams and all. I really can’t stress how much I love the characters and what they have to overcome. There’s just this spark in them that make them stand out from the pages.
Told from the perspective of a dynamic narrator, Dreamology will just fill your heart as our characters battle through dreams and reality to find the answers to their questions – and love as well. Dreams can definitely be nice, but nothing beats the stories we make in real life.
“We have each other. No matter how different we are or how many dumb things we do, we make each other better. And what we have is better than what the dreams could ever give us. It’s real.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Aila J.
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I had seen a few reviews for Dreamology before but yours definitely takes the cake for making me most excited to read this book. Great characters really make or break a story and now I just want to dive right in! Thanks!
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YAY, I'm so glad mine takes the cake 😀
I seriously can't stress how much I'm in love with the characters. Sighh, I just want them to be my friends, not gonna lie.
Man, I've been hearing a bunch of good things about this book! I really need to get my hands on it, so glad you loved it! I usually don't like contemporary but having some sci fi mixed in definitely makes it easier for me to read and enjoy 🙂
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I definitely think you'll appreciate the sci fi moments, Jade! It's not your average contemporary, and still reads like one – a particularly good one, at that. 😀 I really hope you love it as much as I did!
I really liked this one as well! Especially since Max's girlfriend (ugh I forgot her name) wasn't a bitch, and she actually became friends with Alice. And then the whole plot line was really intriguing as well. Especially with the whole "what is dream and what is reality" sort of thing 🙂
Awesome review Aila!
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DUDE YEAH, Max's girlfriend was one of my fave characters! (well, they all were in retrospect. BUT I JUST APPRECIATED HER SO MUCH :D)
Gosh the plot was one of the most out-of-there, enchanting, and bubbly ones I've read yet. And I loved every second of it.
This sounds amazing – I can't wait to read it! Awesome review!
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Thanks so much Kelly! It really IS amazing. 😛 I cannot stop praising the dialogue and unique characters! Just superb writing – definitely a contemporary that stands out.
Wonderful review, Aila! I haven’t heard about this book before. It sounds lovely, but I’m a little weary of possible cheating. Though I love all your points of what this book doesn’t have.
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Truth be told, I was a bit wary of the cheating aspect too. But I think the author does a really great and realistic job in the reactions and consequences of the characters' actions. So in the end, it didn't bother me as much as it would have! This was definitely a super unique and adorable contemporary.
This sounds great.
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It really is! I hope you can get your hands on it. 🙂
This book sounds soooo awesome! I need it in my life! Absolutely love your review!
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Yay, I'm so glad Poulami! <3 You really must get it soon! I think you'll love it as much as I did 😀
YAY 😀 So glad you enjoyed this Aila!
Especially interested, now that you've mentioned it doesnt have slut-shaming and other high school dramas! <3 Those can be so painful to read about :S
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It really can be. :\ Which is why I was so happy this book didn't have those types of tropes! Honestly, Dreamology was just refreshing in every way, whether it was the characters' voice or their antics that just made my heart sing. I would totally recommend it!
The main character in this book sounds simply adorable and I want to befriend them as well – just by reading your review. I am so glad to hear that the usual pet peeves of mine are absent – I especially can't stand the slut shaming trope that keeps popping up in contemporary novel. Thanks for the review, Aila!
Of course, Aentee! <3
YESSS, this is definitely a contemporary that stands out on its own. The plot, characters, and dialogue were all just so refreshing and unique. I absolutely adore the author's voice and can't wait for you to pick this one up!
I just won this on Goodreads and I can't wait to read it after this great review of it 🙂
YAAS GIRL YAAS! Congrats on winning it on Goodreads, and I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID! 😀 I can hardly think of something that I didn't like with this book.
I'm convinced. This book sounds like it did its best to stray away from the stereotype. So yasss!
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OMG, this book was definitely unique amongst all the other mundane contemporaries out there. 😀 The plot, characters and dialogue – gosh, everything about it was just so enjoyable.
So it doesn't have the last 5 bullets, which is sad frankly because I can do away with the first few things you outlined but I would love it if the author kept the last 5. But a 4.5 is not too shabby considering all the things you listed that the book didn't have. Must be quite the novel!
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Haha I think you're a little mistaken! The book DOESN'T have the first portion of bullets (slut-shaming, over the top drama, etc) and is DOES have the last 4 bullet points mentioned, which is the delightful dialogue and witty characters. 😛 That's why I gave it such a high rating! All those aspects made it so enjoyable to read.
Aww this story sounds totally adorable Aila, I can't believe that I hadn't heard of this book before your review, all the positives you listed would definitely work for me, so thank you for putting this on my radar! Great review!
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YES JASPRIT, I'm so glad I could bring this book to your attention! It's probably one of my favorite contemporaries of all time now. 😀
Aila, I'm so happy to see how much you loved this one!!! It's very high on my must-read list, so I'm hoping to get to it ASAP. It sounds so good, I'm so excited for it!! Yay for no slut shaming and unnecessary school drama!! 🙂
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YES LISA, I hope you get your hands on this one soon!
Ack, the characters were THE BEST. Their dialogue and antics are just so witty and unique, it really makes me want to pop into the book and become friends with them.
I want to read this now, as I've seen some great reviews for it. I didn't know about it until about 2 weeks ago, and now I have this urge to read it. Great review!
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YAY LEKEISHA, I'm so glad I could bring this book to your attention! I feel like it's super underrated and deserves more attention. It's probably one of my favorite contemporaries for this year. 😀
Oh man, Aila! You kill me with your reviews because you make me want to pick these books up ASAP. I was worried about the "cheating" when you mentioned it, but it looks like the author handled everything really well. I'm very intrigued by the concept of this book too.
Also, yess to the way Alice handles the situation. No slut shaming is especially important to me!
I obviously need to meet these characters!
Wonderful review, Aila! 🙂
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I really hope you meet these characters soon, Nick!
They're absolutely wonderful. The dialogue is just so real, so witty that you can't help but want to be friends with each and every one of them. 😀 Keating's voice just pops out! And the cheating thing was never drawn out. I thought the reactions of each character were justified and realistic.
Whoa. This sounds like an amazing book. I have a guy like Max. Sorta. Imaginary boyfriend FTW! Because who's gonna date me? But I really want to read this now. Dream people are the best sort of people.
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I WOULD DATE YOU WREN IF I KNEW YOU IN REAL LIFE. <3
But yessss, this book would be PERFECT for you! You could probably really empathize with the main character as she discovers how her dream boyfriend is real. 😀 I agree, I wish lots of dream people were real.
This book sounds incredibly witty and really well developed with the characters and their growth! I love this review Aila, loved the dotpoints as well because cliche high school dramas are the worst.
You hit the nail on the head with what makes this book stand out so much, Jeann! I was sooo pleasantly surprised on how it steered away from the high school drama that usually litter YA contemporaries. 😀 The characters in this one had more important things to worry about, hehe.
OH WOW. I heard a lot about this last year when all the 2016 books were being hyped but not so much this year?? BUT YAY FOR STAYING OUT OF THE DRAMA. I do love that. I think sometimes the drama is a bit over the top, because it certainly never happened to me in high school. Must check this one out!
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I totallyyyy get you with the over the top drama displayed in YA contemporaries. They're all over the place. Honestly, if I wanted to reexperience drama, I could just go on my school's social media or something LOL. I'm really glad I brought this one to your attention!
This has such a stunning cover!! Sounds great! xx
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Doesn't it? I absolutely adore the simple colors that adorn it! The book is absolutely amazing. 🙂
Well now I feel stoopid for skipping this book when it was part of a MASSIVE galley drop on Edelweiss. Must check this out, for sure.
Yes you must, Bieke!! It's SO. GOOD. Pretty much everyone else I know who have read this feel the same!