The people of Nightshade, California, are dying in their sleep, and fifteen-year-old warrior Jessica Walsh is determined to find the killer . . . or killers. Justice isn’t the only thing on Jessica’s mind, however. In fact, some days she’s not sure which is worse—having a creepy clown lurking outside her window or having her rock star boyfriend’s hot ex-girlfriend back in town.
Nightshade is crawling with paranormal people like Jessica . . . and it’s possible that the anti-paranormal group the Scourge is back to get rid of them. Or are the disturbing works of a strange painter somehow at the heart of the mystery? Jessica is losing sleep—but she’s got to figure it out before the night terrors strike again.
My Thoughts :
I have been a fan of the 'Dead Is..' series ever since I came across it ....way back when...and I never miss a new release. Yes it is young adult but Nightshade is such a cool place with all its supernatural goings on and the characters are very special too. Where the series started off from Daisy's psychic perspective it has now moved on to Jessica's Virago warrior life. All good and it makes for great exciting reading. Eight books in it feels like a nice long weekend away.
However this time around I am not singing the highest praises. Dead Is Just A Dream, for me, just didn't match up to the previous books. It felt rushed, too busy and the plot took a few leaps that were all too quick and not rational but worked out. Now maybe I read this too fast and missed something or my expectations were just too high but I am sad to say I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other books in the series.
Now every series has a dud or at least a part that you like less than the others and it seems this series has now covered that expectation. So many characters were involved and it was hard to remember who was who. Especially the ones on the sidelines who popped up now and again like I should know for sure who they were. The plot, while being a nice idea, was somehow complicated but yet simple and the wonderful opportunity (the Mara) aspect just disappeared and left me feeling very disappointed.
What I really didn't understand about this installment was the last chapter. The 'Six Years Later'. This book was about Jessica, her life and her relationship problems. However, this after thought was all about Daisy. Now Daisy was in this book quite a bit compared to the previous books told from Jessica's perspective but I have no idea why the author added this on. It was nice to see a little piece of the future and what happens to Daisy but what about Jessica??? Is this the end? Will we never hear from Daisy again or is the series jumping six years? I was left confused and worried.
I am not saying stay away from this book and I am not saying this is a bad series. This is the eighth installment and just, imho, not the best one yet. However there are seven amazing stories before this one that rock highly! Maybe this one rocked too and I was too ill/tired/over expectant etc to see it clearly. So what I am trying to say is that I haven't lost my faith in this author or this series and I am still looking forward to another installment in the series. I just hope that all becomes a little clearer next time around. a
1 comment:
Nice review, I do hope to continue reading this series soon, so far I have only read and enjoyed the first book.
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