Review: Dream Magic: Awakenings by Dawn Harshaw

Title: Dream Magic: Awakenings Author: Dawn Harshaw Publication Date: February 3, 2012


From Goodreads:
Eric, a young boy, has enough of nightmares ruining his dreams. Determined to grow stronger, he tackles magical disciplines one at a time - be it flying, blade magic, or telepathy - and stares down his fears. But, will he survive the battles and the trial of nightmare mastery? And at what cost?



My Thoughts:
Dream Magic: Awakenings is the story of Eric, a teenage boy who has had way too many nightmares. After a terrifying nightmare featuring goblins, Eric finds himself in a strange dream camp. There are a lot of other people in the camp, ranging from toddlers and up, and Eric quickly makes friends with Lucy and Rose, two other teenagers who have recently found their way there. While at camp, the three of them take classes and learn how to master magic in their dreams, the only way to ultimately master their nightmares.

The Characters: Eric, the main character, was friendly and likable, the same as Rose and Lucy. While we spend a lot of time with them, I didn't get drawn into them as much as I would have liked. Since the book takes place while they are dreaming, I felt like we didn't get a chance to really know about their day to day lives and it was harder to connect with them. I didn't think this was as important with the smaller side characters, like Lyle and Kyle the crazy brothers who love to stir up trouble. I found them refreshing and funny and knew something fun was around the corner when they came around.
The Setting: Since this story takes place at Dream Camp, somewhere imaginary, it was extremely important that the author paint a vivid picture for us. Thankfully, she does just that. Harshaw does a wonderful job of walking us through the camp and surrounding areas, describing each location in fantastic detail, never failing to give us as complete a picture as an actual photograph. I had no trouble walking around the camp in my head along with the characters.
The Storyline: I have crazy dreams on a regular basis, almost every night. I liked the idea of Eric and the others meeting up at the camp every night to learn how to overcome their nightmares. Each chapter is a new lesson in magic, whether it be teleportation, flying (my personal favorite) or even demonology. Each lesson brings new struggles to the trio. As I said before, I would have liked to have learned more about their day to day lives, when they weren't sleeping, but it wasn't necessarily important to the story. 
The Writing: Excellent! The story progresses at a steady rate and each chapter has a fun new obstacle for Eric and the girls to complete. 
Overall, this book was very interesting and much different from anything that I've read lately. If you are a magic fan or find dreams fascinating, then this is definitely the book for you. And right now, you can download this book for free on the author's website! Don't miss out on this!

To learn more about Dawn Harshaw or to download Dream Magic: Awakenings for FREE, check out her website.





*I received this book for free in exchange of an honest review. This did not influence my opinion in any way and all views and opinions expressed are 100% my own.