Genre: YA Contemporary

Rating: 4/5 stars

A book where literally anything is possible, Dreamology encaptures the whimsical sense of being in a dream while intertwining it with the realities of falling in love for the first time.

The story follows Alice, whose dreams have been filled with Max since she was six years old. He’s her boyfriend in her dream state, and they achieve the impossible every night where they go literally anywhere.

All things come to a stop when Alice moves house and goes to her new school and sees Max, in the flesh, in the same classroom as her. Is it really him? Is she going crazy? Does he recognise her too? The lines between reality and make believe start to blur while Alice tries to make sense of it all…

I really enjoyed this book. The premise sounded interesting, and like with most contemporaries, it had depth to it that made me like it even more.

My good points:

– Alice was an exceptional MC. She was so witty and I just loved reading from her POV. She was quirky and out there and I just related so much. Do you know those weird things you think in your head or say out loud? Things people who are socially awkward do? Yep, Alice said them and it instantly made me feel at home.

– Max was sweet. He was shy but you could see his bond with Alice was so strong. They really were each other’s life forces in a way.

– Oliver was a great side character. He was troublesome and charming with the ability to lighten up Alice’s life. He’s the kind of friend you want as he really could turn your frown upside down.

My bad points:

– The direction of the plot was kind of a let down for me. I thought it’d follow Alice seeing the guy from her dreams in real life, and him not know her. She’d have to get to know this new Max whilst also convincing him they’re perfect for each other. This sadly wasn’t the plot. Very early on Alice sees Max and it turned out they both dreamt of each other. A company called the CDD (Centre for Dream Discovery) became part of the story as they both went there when they were younger to help with nightmares they were having. A mix up in therapy, and they both started dreaming of each other. A bit out there, I still think I’d have preferred a slow mystery for the romance.

– Alice’s relationship with her mother wasn’t explored enough. We see Alice at the end write to her mother to see her, and her mother respond by saying she didn’t have time to. It was heart wrenching and awful, but Alice’s response was hardly conveyed. I also felt her mother’s departure from the family wasn’t explained enough either.

Overall, this book was the cute read I was after. The characters were really likeable and I just loved the premise. Give this one a read if you like a bit of make believe in your life!