Page Count:309
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Rating: 1.5/10
Price: $12.99
*Source: Netgalley*
Goodreads Blurb:
A truth terrible enough to bury for a millennium …
A mysterious boy calling in her sleep …
A secret city that shouldn’t exist …
When Eila Doyle first sees the strange boy beckoning in whispers from somewhere deep in her imagination, she questioned her sanity. She was used to seeing strange things with her eyes closed — that’s what Eila did all day while strapped to the Blunderbuss, Building whatever the Ministry of Manifestation required — but never before have those images felt so real, or so dangerous.
After Eila learns the terrible truth about her reality and the monsters inside it, she thinks that maybe madness might be her only escape...
This thrilling young adult steampunk adventure is the first in the Dream Engine series by masters of story Platt & Truant, authors of The Beam, Unicorn Western, and many more.
Review:
So first of all, I have to praise the book cover artist for doing such an amazing job on the cover. It sets you in the perfect mood for the book. But the blurb, not so much. The purpose of the blurb is to get you excited for the book. Not twist your mind like a pretzel origami. Being confused doesn't make me want to read the book, the drama does. So you really seriously don't have to explain the whole thing to me, I'll get it along the way. Just FYI. And the blurb was way more interesting than the actual book, by a ton.
You know those book starts that when you read it over and you're like:
and you have to back it up and read it a couple of times? Yeah, usually not a great start. Look, it doesn't even have to be interesting. Just make it simple and quick. Save the confusing part for when we care enough that we can't put down the book.
Also, just another point, it's in third person, so one more strike against you. There are some good third persons, but this one unfortunately isn't one of them.
So let's me get this straight. I'm not stupid, I'm no Eistein either but I'm not stupid. So if a book makes me feel like:
There's a serious problem there. Let me get another thing straight. Most people read books, especially fiction books, for the plot. So when half the book sounds like an instruction manual, there's a problem. So this book really isn't a book, it's more like a story of how a girl name Eila went around and gathered fictional information from different people. So the book revolves around a machine called the Blunderbuss. How it functions, what it looks like, what it does, who does it, how does it help yada yada. I'm serious. This whole book is like a journey to acquire information. Kind of like Pokemon, but even that's more fun.
Let me give the authors some much needed advice. Listen closely. Words. Are. Precious. If you live by these three words, you'll never go wrong. I get it, there's a lot of ways you can take a book and there's a lot you feel like you need to clarify. But that's what an editors are for. And clearly yours didn't get the memo. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but the book is full of unnecessary details. I don't need to know every nail and screw that went into the Blunderbuss. Literally. They even tell you about how the building is designed for the Blunderbuss including the celing. Let me make it easy for you guys. "There's a Blunderbuss that helps people Build in their mind different things they think they need. But where did the power come from? Another world underground where they process dreams and gives ideas for Building." Believe it or not, I just summed up about 70% of the book. No exaggeration. At one point of the book, I even started drawing because this is way too complicated. There are about 20 pages where it's just a person(mainly Eila) asks one line question and cue the one page informational answer, then another one and it goes on. Seriously, do you think I read these word for word?
Here's some advice: keep the necessary information and just take out all the details! What do you pay the editors to do?
Another thing for you to work on: don't over exaggerate when it comes to emotions. I get that you're trying to spice things up. And yes, that's what readers like. But you have to have a good reason for the sudden burst of emotions. It's the typical story, everything she believed in was not exactly real. You have to make readers see what a big deal it is and how it changes things. I sort of understand to her how big the deal is but if you ask me how it changes things? I got nothing, you gained some information, good for you. Your life will change but not that drastically. Yes, she can dream. There's really no way to make it sound exciting. Like straight up, Eila couldn't tell her best friend something and this is her:
and this is the rest of us:
This really is all I need to say about this.
Now I wouldn't mind the TMIs if didn't they covered up everything else. Channel all that exaggeration to something meaningful, if you will. Like develop the freaking character. I feel like I know Mario better than I know any of the characters. Especially the main character. What's worse? You keep telling me she's strong, independent and smart. And I'm just sitting here like:
Cause you've given me no indication she's any of those things. In fact, you haven't given me any indication of who she is at all. She could be replaced by anyone for all I know. I don't know who she is. She's just like those video game character that you pick to do your missions. You know her name, you know she can get job done, but do you know her? No more than you know every celebrity out there. And other characters? Please. Besides from her best friend, every other person are just information spewers. I don't even remember half their names. That's sad. So here another piece of advice: showing is always better than telling. I gotta see it to believe it.
Guess what's the best part? The Blunderbuss was just the thing that started out the story. Kinda like Effie in the Hunger Games. Surprise! The story revolves around them trying to...... wait, what are they trying to do? Oh right, try to get through the Fog and spread a message about the world below. For those of you reading this. You're probably like "What? This is the first I've heard of this." I've read the whole book and I still feel like that. The plot that builds up and up for something else that has minimal to no correlation to most of the book. Because I don't see what the buildup has anything to do with the ultimate goal. I don't even see how the two end goal correlate. So at the end of the book I feel confused and regret. Regret for such a good book it could've been because it was a really good background story. Regret for how I wasted hours of my life reading this book.
So at the end of the book is a cliffhanger for the second book. You know the feeling like you just have to read on? Did not happen. Mostly because I stopped caring somewhere along the way and was just praying for the book to end. Darn my "always finish the book" rule. So needless to say I will absolutely not read the second book. Time is precious and so are words my friends.
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