Review: The Trajectory of Dreams by Nicole Wolverton

Title: The Trajectory of Dreams Author: Nicole Wolverton Expected Publication Date: March 2013
Synopsis:
For Lela White, a Houston sleep lab technician, sleep doesn’t come easy—there’s a price to be paid for a poor night’s sleep, and she’s the judge, jury, and executioner. 

Everyone around Lela considers her a private woman with a passion for her lab work. But nighttime reveals her for what she is: a woman on a critical secret mission. Lela lives in the grip of a mental disorder that compels her to break into astronauts’ homes to ensure they can sleep well and believes that by doing so, she keeps the revitalized U.S. space program safe from fatal accidents. What began at the age of ten when her mother confessed to blowing up the space shuttle has evolved into Lela’s life’s work. She dreads the day when an astronaut doesn’t pass her testing, but she’s prepared to kill for the greater good.

When Zory Korchagin, a Russian cosmonaut on loan to the U.S. shuttle program, finds himself drawn to Lela, he puts her carefully-constructed world at risk of an explosion as surely as he does his own upcoming launch. As Lela’s universe unravels, no one is safe. 

~My Thoughts~

The Trajectory of Dreams is the story of Lela White, a woman with many dark secrets. By day, Lela works as a sleep lab technician, but by night she runs her own sleep studies on astronauts by breaking into their homes and watching them sleep. You see, Lela's mother claims responsibility for the last space shuttle explosion and Lela has been called upon by the Universe to make sure that never happens again. If she can just make sure the astronauts are able to sleep during takeoff, she knows her mission will be successful, and Lela isn't going to let anything, or anyone, get in the way.

Whew! What a ride this book is! It is immediately apparent when starting this story that Lela is not well in the head. Right away you find yourself questioning her thoughts and actions. Lela is young, attractive and brilliant. You'd never think twice by looking at her that there is something other than reality going on in her head. But there is. Lela has a "mission" and even the slightest disturbance in her plan will set her off. She has the uncanny ability to seem completely normal and have a pleasant conversation with you, all the while plotting your death in her head. I actually felt somewhat sad for her, especially when Zory started paying attention to her. She seemed to come out of her shell and I had high hopes that their relationship would push Lela in the right direction mentally.
Poor Zory. An astronaut from Russia on loan to NASA, he meets Lela by chance and is immediately taken with her. He tries his best to woo her with flowers and poetry, but he just doesn't know the forces he is up against. I had my fingers crossed the entire time just hoping he was going to come out of this safely.
The story is told in the most brilliant of ways. We only hear Lela's point of view which leaves us to constantly wonder what is real and what isn't. There is no other character giving you their view, so you just have to take her word for it. Lela's thoughts and actions are enough to make you question your own sanity at times and it is a constant battle to determine just how much of Lela's world is to be believed. This is the kind of story that needs to be digested slowly so not to miss the tiniest of clues. There are some twists and turns that you will never see coming and it will have you amazed at how the author was able to pull one over on you.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. While I was kind of hoping for a different ending, I knew why it ended the way it did and it made total sense with the story. Still, I'd be more than open to hearing more of Lela's story in the future!
If you are looking for the kind of read that sucks you in and plays games with its reader, this is definitely the book for you. 

For more about Nicole Wolverton and The Trajectory of Dreams, visit her website here. 


Be sure to come back on March 11th for a guest post from Nicole Wolverton as part of The Trajectory of Dreams Blog Tour!






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