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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Review: Dream Life by Lauren Mechling

Synopsis:

Claire Voyante's first semester at Henry Hudson High School was eventful, to say the least. As she heads into her second semester, things are calming down a bit. But Claire has a few secrets that are getting harder to keep. Her biggest secret of all? The onyx and ivory cameo necklace her grandmother gave her for her 15th birthday. Ever since she started wearing it, her dreams have been coming to her in black and white and turning out to be oddly prophetic.

I gave this book to Lily to read so that once we both finished it, we could review this together. I think you will find the answers very telling of our respective ages!!

Here are Lily's thoughts on the questions I asked her:

What did you think of the character Claire Voyant?
I thought Claire was amazing! She's so intelligent and unique! I never would have thought to do some of the things she did.

Did you think her name was appropriate or weird?
No, I think her name fits her well. Like her, it's unique!

Did this book strike you as a mystery?
I didn't think so, but boy was I wrong!

Who was your favorite character and why?
My favorite character was Louis! He's so cute and shy!

Did reading Book #2 without reading book #1 confuse you?
Not at all. It pretty much told you what happened and it wasn't that hard to figure out.

What were your overall thoughts?
I thought it was a great book! It was nice just to pick it up when I wanted and not be sucked into it nonstop. I thought it was going to end differently, and was surprised at how it did. Still good, but not what I hoped.
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Part 2: From an old person's perspective:
Lily's questions to Staci

If you could change one thing what would it be?
I would change the name of the main character! I like Claire but the Voyant on the end was just a bit cheesy for me!

What was your favorite part about Dream Girl?
I liked the grandmother and anytime she showed up those were the passages I enjoyed the most.

Did you like the storyline?
At times I did and then I also found myself thinking it was confusing and strange at times. And I found it very far fetched that a group of girls would be responsible for carrying out secret missions for the elite of NYC.

Who was your favorite character and why?
Again the Grandma....am I showing my age here!! She was feisty, fun, glamorous, and I would so love to hang out with her!

Did it keep you interested?
I found this book to be really hard to get into....I think I needed to read book one first. Unlike you, Lily, my mind is slower these days and the beginning of the book confused me! It wasn't until I was 50+ pages into the story that I realized I that I was reading book #2!

Did you know what was going to happen?
Yep, I knew that the good girls would win and that the betrayer was someone close!

What were your overall thoughts?
That I need to read Dream Girl and then maybe this one again. I didn't really feel a connection with Claire and that isn't a good thing for me. I did continue reading because I liked Grandma. I feel that the book is targeted to the right age group, which is your age Lily.


Many thanks to Lauren Mechling for sending me a copy of Dream Life to review and to Lenore (Presenting Lenore) for hooking us up with Lauren!!

As you can see Lily and I have differing thoughts on this one, but that is why we both love to read. So that we can discuss the book and share our thoughts on them.

17 comments:

  1. I think I'm going to pick these books up for my almost 15yo. Good to know what a young girl thinks of them. Thanks for the dual perspective!

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  2. great post!
    Just love the pic that is you ;)

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  3. Love the format of this review! So nice to get both perspectives side by side. As for the novel... I don't think I could read a book with a character named Claire Voyante! ;-)

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  4. I love that you two read this together!

    And you must read book 1 - I love Claire and Becca and that's more because I feel in love with them in DREAM GIRL.

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  5. What a fun review! Lily's so smart, she even asks great questions!

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  6. What a fun format for your review. This one sounds like a winner Staci - thanks

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  7. This book sounds fun and scary too. Wouldn't it be great to have a magic necklace though?

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  8. I loved how you structured this review and I hope that you do more like this with Lily! I had to laugh at the old lady picture you posted, you are too funny Staci! I assume that it also connects to the fact that you liked the grandmother. I really enjoyed reading Lily's thoughtful answers!
    She sounds like a sweet and smart girl!

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  9. Oh that was a brilliant fun review.

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  10. loved this unique review style--especially the "old lady" picture. :)

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  11. Hee hee. It is pretty telling that Grandma was your favorite part of the book and Lily never metiones her ;) She liked the cute guy!
    Loved this review.

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  12. It's funny how our age makes a difference in what we think of things. It definitely sounds like something my daughter would like.

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  13. This was pure fun to read. What a contrast between the two of you, which is to be expected. As Stacy said, I noticed you never even mentioned the cute guy but you loved the grandma! Too funny. But the review style really worked.

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  14. Love the two takes on this one Staci, very entertaining & amusing. Really enjoyed the format you used!

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