{Audiobook} Review: Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier

Title: Dream a Little Dream
Author: Kerstin Gier
Narrator(s): Marisa Calin
Series: The Silver Trilogy, book #1
Length: 10 hrs 6 mins
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: April 14, 2015
Source: ARC received from publisher, purchased audiobook
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Mysterious doors with lizard-head knobs. Talking stone statues. A crazy girl with a hatchet. Yes, Liv's dreams have been pretty weird lately. Especially the one where she's in a graveyard at night, watching four boys conduct dark magic rituals.

The strangest part is that Liv recognizes the boys in her dream. They're classmates from her new school in London, the school where she's starting over because her mom has moved them to a new country (again). But what's really scaring Liv is that the dream boys seem to know things about her in real life, things they couldn't possibly know--unless they actually are in her dreams? Luckily, Liv never could resist a good mystery, and all four of those boys are pretty cute....

Narrated by Marisa Calin, who also narrated The Ruby Red Trilogy on audio for Macmillan, Dream a Little Dream is a funny little jaunt into the world of witchcraft and demons and lucid dreams. It never deigns to take itself too seriously, much as the Ruby Red books never got overly technical when it came to time travel. Both stories are cute and enjoyable in their own right, but I'd have a dickens of a time deciding which I liked better. Especially seeing as how I like cheeky, talking inanimate objects, and those are present and accounted for in both. :)

I listened to this back in April I think and promptly forgot to review it. D'oh. So, I listened again a few days ago as a refresher. Some books I can read over and over again and others, it's a pain to read or listen to even once more. No problems listening to this one again because the main character is completely adorkable and the narrator does such a good job with Gier's books. It's actually rather interesting to experience this lighter take on dreams and the demons they harbor, considering I'm also reading the last book of the Nevermore trilogy, which takes a much darker look at this same subject. Completely different stories and the atmosphere is the exact opposite, but still interesting to compare.

Magic rituals. Cute boys. London. All things that appeal to me. And I love the new cover. The original cover wasn't bad, per se, but it was a little too cutesy for this story. And while this story is cute overall and kind of silly -- I mean, they found a book and raised a demon and he agreed to give each of them their dearest wish? -- it does have a darker side, especially when it comes to the lengths some will go to in order to appease said demon.

The dream interactions were my favorite aspect of this story, especially when Liv still believed that they were just dreams. But when she discovers that those four cute boys from school share her dreams, things really get interesting. I was admittedly a little worried about so many hot boys available for the choosing, but they're not really...available, I mean. :) One is soon to be Liv's stepbrother, another is in a long-distance relationship, another is a wanna-be player who's still hung up on his ex. That leaves just one, and he's the one I would've have picked for Liv from the beginning, so it all worked out. No strange love shapes to be had here. =)

I read a story the other day that mentioned "surface" friends, and that's kind of how I felt about this book: it's only just scratching the surface of what Liv and her new friends might be capable of -- or what they might be in store for. I'm sure the next book will dig a little deeper. And I'm just glad I didn't have to wait until the third book for the romance to really heat up, like in Gier's other series.

GIF it to me straight:

About the author:

Kerstin Gier is the bestselling author of the Ruby Red trilogy, as well as several popular novels for adults. This series was translated by Anthea Bell into English.

Find Kerstin:

Website | Goodreads | Facebook