Review: Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg

Dream Boy by Mary Crockett and Madelyn Rosenberg

Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Page Count: 336
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: eArc received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Annabelle Manning feels like she’s doing time at her high school in Chilton, Virginia. She has her friends at her lunchtime table of nobodies. What she doesn’t have are possibilities. Or a date for Homecoming. Things get more interesting at night, when she spends time with the boy of her dreams. But the blue-eyed boy with the fairytale smile is just that—a dream. Until the Friday afternoon he walks into her chemistry class.

One of friends suspects he’s an alien. Another is pretty sure it’s all one big case of deja vu. While Annabelle doesn’t know what to think, she’s willing to believe that the charming Martin Zirkle may just be her dream come true. But as Annabelle discovers the truth behind dreams—where they come from and what they mean—she is forced to face a dark reality she had not expected. More than just Martin has arrived in Chilton. As Annabelle learns, if dreams can come true, so can nightmares.

Dream Boy was a book that I first saw on NetGalley, and the synopsis intrigued me enough that I immediately requested it. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed after reading this book. Not that it was terrible, it's just that all of the elements didn't quite come together in a good way, and that made it a bit boring.

My main problems with this story were that I didn't really like any of the characters, and they weren't very well developed. I thought Annabelle was okay, but she was waaaaaay too accepting of what was happening, almost like she was afraid to question Martin's appearance. Martin, aka Dream Boy, wasn't all that dreamy to me. In fact, he really didn't impress me at all. He was kind of weird and quite clingy and possessive and just too 'perfect'. I think Will was the best of the bunch. He seemed cute and sweet, and I really wish I had gotten to see more of him. Even though I didn't really 'like' her, Talon was probably the most interesting character because she possessed quite an attitude. She was full of spunk and wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

I was really surprised by Annabelle's lack of shock over her dream boy coming to life. This guy straight up walked right out of her dreams and she didn't give it a second thought. I know I would have been more than a little freaked out! After Martin arrived, other weird things started going on, and Annabelle had to figure out the mystery of her disturbing nightmare before it became a reality too!

Dream Boy had such an intriguing premise, but the story just fell short for me. The concept of how Annabelle dreamed Martin into existence wasn't explained well enough, so it left me with more questions than answers. The story was interesting enough to keep me reading, but it wasn't enough to make this more than just an average book. Overall, this was just an okay read for me, and that makes me sad because I had such high hopes going into it.

My rating: 3 stars