Wake by Lisa McMann

Janie, 17, is different from other teenagers. When somebody falls asleep around her, she’ll be involuntarily sucked into their dreams. This is why she could never get much sleep if she participates in sleepovers and she dreads if sleepy classmates doze off in class.

When she goes into somebody’s dream, she can only observe. But she’s trying to do something about it. She wants to try to resist being pulled into others’ dreams. Hey, it may be a special gift but it’s not worth it if she cannot handle it until it becomes a disruption in life.

Janie also gets friendly with a schoolmate named Cable. He was quite a mess when they were younger but he has changed since in terms of his looks. The other girls in school begin to pour attention on him but he is only drawn to Janie. They have a love-hate kind of relationship but while it was blossoming, it was sweet.

Janie’s friendship with her best friend, Carrie is interesting because Carrie is also good friends with other people who do not like Janie. Still, they turn to each other most of the time when there are problems. Carrie is not aware of Janie’s ability to see dreams though.

Wake was going pretty well in the beginning. I liked how the relationship developed between Janie and Cable. But it was a bit confusing when he started going out with another girl, right after he ‘broke off’ with Janie. He kept sending her ‘sorry’ notes though.

Unfortunately, I did not really like the way the book ended. I expected something more dramatic. I expected something more paranormal. The way the story turned out was just not how I imagined it would be.

However, the story behind the novel is fascinating. The author apparently had a dream that she was in her husband’s dream and was watching what he was dreaming about. That was how the incident inspired the creation of Wake, which is followed by Fade and Gone.

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