Dreamover by Dani Diaz was another book won in a galley grab I entered. I had seen a few things about it, but wasn’t really sure what it was about. It sounded a little more realistic than it turned out to be. But I guess you cannot have a “Dream World” where you don’t have at least a little fantasy to it.
When all was said and read, this was a coming of age story where “true love” finds you, but the dream starts becoming a nightmare. The characters are interesting, diverse and the story has strong moments. I did not always like the characters, but I am not sure you are supposed to. You probably are supposed to empathize with them and relate to them, but they have some flaws that make them sometimes not likable. This also causes them to not feel as rounded as they could have been, but in the end, it works for what is happening. Now, ages (strong) 10 and up could read it, but it would probably be best for ages 12 and up due to some concepts. The characters are ending 8th grade and becoming first year high school students, but they are young in their mental attitudes, while the action does lean older.
I guess at ages 12 to 14 first love does start to happen, so it’s good to have the idea of not getting lost in your relationship to the detriment of your friendships and yourself, plus show that things can get a bit “hot” at times (they only have a bit of PDA and kissing, so it is tastefully done, so to those of us who recommend a book: not only know your reader here, know the buyer and/or giver of the book). And this part is familiar to most readers who have done any coming-of-age reading. When the main character, Amber, wishes that everything went away and it was just her and Nico, it comes true. Here is where we have a little less familiarity by having their “play world” start becoming less fun as reality starts to sneak in. As I read an online reading copy (though it is currently available), I am not sure how the colors will be, but what was in the reader copy was minimalistic colors, and nice, cozy and simple but not lacking with the details. Overall, there was a good feeling about everything, it is modern (LGBTQ themes, casual representation of a Filipino main character, dating themes, with the classic kid fun stuff (going to the beach, gaming, etc.) and enjoyable. I look forward to reading more by Diaz as they seem to be a strong new voice in middle reader graphic novels.