I'd like to thank Heather @ SupaGurl Books for giving me this opportunity to participate in the THE DREAM SLAYER Blog Tour and providing me a copy of the book to review.
Jill Cooper is hosting a Kindle Fire giveaway on her website: http://jillacooper.com/content/enter-win-kindle-fire
There is also a Twitter party with Jill on July 18th from 8-9 EST with the hashtag #DreamSlayer
Series: Dream Slayer #1
Author: Jill Cooper
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, Urban Fantasy Fiction
Elements: Demons, Dreamers, Paladins, Magicians, Vampires
Publisher: Jill Cooper
Format: Kindle Edition
ISBN: 978-1470112295
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Source: Tour Host {SupaGurl Books}
Rating: 4.5/5
Tagline(s): When your dreams come true, sometimes you get more than you bargained for...
Summary: Natalie Johnson has always dreamed she’s someone else; calm, beautiful, in control. A chosen warrior with a maniacal arch nemesis and a dreamy boyfriend, the type that can make your knees melt and your heart quiver.
Real life is much different. She’s tormented by a bully and endures the sharp tongue of her father, but finds solace in her dreams.
When her bully ends up dead, de ja vu from a dream hits her hard as everything around her begins to fall apart.
Whatever killed Sarah in her dreams is now in reality, hunting her from the shadows. And it wants her dead.
Somehow as the lines between reality and nightmare blur, Natalie must discover hidden strength to pull her friends and family back from the brink of madness.
Review:
Natalie Johnson is a girl tormented by a bully at school and her alcoholic father at home, but when she dreams Natalie is the Slayer. Strong, beautiful, and completely in control, the Slayer is everything that Natalie isn't but desperately wishes she was. When the Real World and the Dream World begin merging together, Natalie will need to find the strength hidden deep inside herself to claim her destiny and save both worlds from destruction.
When I first started reading The Dream Slayer I was a little confused. The book starts with Natalie (the Slayer) trying to stop a runaway school bus. She succeeds and proceeds to chase her arch nemesis, Morach, behind the school where she loses him. Shortly thereafter, the story moves to Natalie being beaten up by her bully at school, Sarah, on the bus to school. I couldn't tell which world was supposed to be the real one, but as I kept reading it all began to make sense and I really started enjoying the book.
We have the Real World and the Dream World. In the Real World Natalie is a shy girl who is the target for bullies; whereas in the Dream World Natalie is the Slayer, kicking demon butt and looking good while doing it. In the Real World Natalie's enemy is the Patricians--magicians with the power to manipulate dreams for their own purposes--and in the Dream World Natalie's enemy is Morach the Great, a demon master of great power. And in the Real World Natalie's love interest is her best friend, Tristan; and in the Dream World Natalie is deeply in love with Damien, a half-demon warrior. Though there are similarities between the two worlds there are also a lot of differences to look out for.
There were two things that I thought were pretty cool:
1) Natalie may not be a Slayer, but she has a role just as important.
2) Natalie created a growing, thinking world that is more than just a dream. What was not real before may very well be real now.
I would very much like to learn more about WOMP (World Organization of Magical Protection) and about who Marcus is. He just shows up one day and all of a sudden is pretty chummy with Natalie and her friends. He's not even surprised by the mention of demon slaying. Just who is he??
I loved seeing Natalie finally stand up and fight. I could picture the battle in my head and it was just amazing!
I can't wait to read the sequel, Demon Royale, and see how Natalie has changed, what's going on with the Slayer, and what new adventure there is to be had!
About this Author:
Dream Slayer was read during the Once Upon a Read-A-Thon
Thanks for reviewing the book :) I'm looking forward to the Twitter chat next week! Annnd getting the sequel out there later this year!
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