When Brie O'Mara decides to strike out on her own at eighteen, rather than stay under the wing of her religious and overprotective family to forge her own path to realizing her dreams,she may have made a mistake that could kill more than just those dreams. Dead Dreams, the first book in Emma Right's New Adult psychological thriller series, raises questions and the hair on the back of your neck.
Throughout, Right keeps readers holding their breath and tense through heavy foreshadowing and Brie's painful naivete. Dead Dreams surprised me in a good way. Although I didn't feel particularly close to Brie, I caught myself reading in full nerves mode, waiting for the inevitable turn. Though at times the story begins to get bogged down in tiny details, we all know that the details are what solves the mystery.Because the story is told from the prospective of the main character with hindsight, Brie often clues the reader in as to what s/he should be looking for in the upcoming chapter, drawing attention directly to clues and details, which makes it easy to keep up with the story. However, if you're the type of reader who likes to stumble on the important clues without being fed them, that may detract from the story.
What I found the most interesting is the dialogue throughout the text between Brie and her mother's pastor, dealing with the nature of dreams and prophecy in Brie's daily life. The layering of types of dreams and the interpretation of those dreams within the scope of Brie's distance from the faith of her family made for an interesting angle from which to view her choices.
All in all, it was a quick, tense read that left me with a lot of questions. Unfortunately, they will have to wait for the second book in the series.
Dead Dreams is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
