Fade by Lisa McMann

Title: Fade
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 10, 2009)
My Rating: ★★★★
Description:

This sequel to Wake (2008) follows dream-catcher Janie as she navigates the treacherous world of dreaming the dreams of others. Janie and her boyfriend, Cabel, use their skills to work undercover investigating teachers suspected of drugging and abusing students at class parties. Janie takes on more than she can handle in cracking the case, and Cabel is unable to intervene to his satisfaction, which strains their relationship. Janie also comes to understand more about her dream-catching ability and the consequences in store for her, most notably a heavy, irreversible physical toll. The series is moving in a darker, more dramatic direction, with Janie facing evil and needing to decide if she can sacrifice her own health for the greater good. Series of sentence fragments (“She scratches her head. Looks around. Laughs”) take some getting used to but keep the action firmly in the present tense and build suspense. A great blend of mystery, romance, and supernatural elements, and featuring a strong but vulnerable female protagonist, this episode ends with an irresistible hook for the final installment. 

---

Since this is a sequel, I will try not to go into too much detail as not to give anything away from this or the first book. You can go back and read my review of Wake for more info.


So, I had a few problems with this second installment. Firstly, what's with all the cuss words? Not that I am against them, but I feel when they are used in abundance, (and I mean abundance in this case) especially in a teen book, that's just saying that the author can't think of anything better for them to say. It makes the characters sound quite moronic, and I would rather read books about people who actually may be smarter than I am.


Aside from that, I felt like this book really didn't get good until about halfway. I think the thing that bugged me the most, in the beginning, Janie and Cabel are a happy couple. Tra-la-la. Boring and sappy. Not really romantic, and that could be attributed to the fact the book is so fast-paced, there isn't time to form a connection with them as a couple.


But on to the good part of this book. The case that Janie and Cabel are working on is about teachers at her school allegedly molesting students. Whoa. That is a touchy subject, but intensely real. Janie puts herself out there as bait and tries to find the culprit(s). To be honest, her dreamcatcher skill isn't used very much in this book, and rightly so. I don't see how it would be useful, and really, the fact that she seems to be around sleeping people so often can get old. This is the best book in the series by far, so I suggest to all who are interested, read only Wake and Fade. Do not bother with Gone. Trust me.

★★★★

Wake by Lisa McMann

Title: Wake
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: ★★★

Not all dreams are sweet. 

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody- notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

 She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

---

Wake is about a girl, Janie, who has the uncontrollable ability to enter people's dreams when they fall asleep in her vicinity. Growing up, this ability really hindered her having normal relationships. She couldn't attend sleepovers, and always dreaded the days when her classmates fell asleep during school. Janie doesn't want to know what her friends dream about. She hasn't been able to tell anyone her secret, especially not her alcholic mother who could care less, or even her best friend. The bulk of the story takes place during Janie's senior year at high school. Janie gets involved with brooding (yet once geeky outcast) Cabel, but things take a turn when she inadvertanly wanders into Cabel's horrible nightmare.

I felt that Wake had a good mix of the paranormal aspect and romance. The writing style is very unique; it is present tense, third person, and set up with dates and time stamps. It can take some getting used to. The book progressed at a speedy pace and was extremely short (took me about 3 hours to read.) Janie and Cabel's relationship was better than the normal ones we see in today's young adult books, but the fact that other kids in school weren't recognizing Cabel and calling him "the hot new guy" because he cut his hair and dressed differently, was a little silly.

On the upside, Lisa McMann wasn't afraid to be real. Teenage life isn't butterflies and sexy vampires all the time! There was mention of drugs, underage drinking and the like which some people may not find appealing, but come on....that's reality. Well not the going into people's dreams part, but you know what I mean.

★★★