Book reviews: Just Dreaming | Rebel Belle | Miss Mayhem

Title: Just Dreaming
Author: Kerstin Gier
Original title: Das dritte Buch der Träume
First published: 2015
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: The Silver Trilogy #3
Publisher: Square Fish
Format: Paperback
Pages: 349
Finished: 06/05/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! The course of dream travel never did run smooth--at least, not in Liv Silver's experience. Able to visit other people's dreams (whether they want her to or not), Liv has solved mysteries, unearthed difficult truths, fought madmen, and escaped life-threatening peril, all from the comfort of her own bed. But Liv's troubles are just beginning...

My thoughts: I didn’t let as much time go by as I did between reading the first and second book of this trilogy. I read “Dream On” in January and realized that I wanted to finish the series soon, before I forgot too much. Now I’ve completed the whole thing, and I’m happy that I did so now and not later on.
I appreciate Gier’s writing mostly because of the way she portrays her protagonists. Both Gwen from the “Ruby Red” trilogy and Liv from this trilogy share the same humour and absolute awkwardness when it comes to pretty much everything in life. I feel that I have been able to relate a lot to both of these characters’ quirky and insecure sides, as well as their sarcastic and snarky ones. What’s more, I love the interactions between Liv and other characters; she has such different ways of acting with them, which I find very realistic. The romance was also chill; it wasn’t necessarily explosive or too dramatic, like most young adult romances. No, it was more laid back, and their relationship went through problems that I felt are more true to actual teenage couple problems. I appreciated that a lot.

The main problem I found with this series was its handling of mental illnesses; more specifically psychopaths. Liv has the same assumptions about psychopaths that most people seem to have; that someone who “acts crazy” and has bad intentions is immediately labled as a psychopath. I found that the way in which the topic was treated in this series heavily alienated the illness in a way that definitely isn’t good for anyone. Ultimately, this is what lowered my grade from a 4,5/5 stars to 4,25/5 stars. It’s not a huge change in rating, but it matters to me.
Besides that flaw, I recommend this series to anyone who wants to read quirky and fun young adult fantasy, and to anyone who has enjoyed other works by Gier. Let’s hope more books by her get translated into English!

Rating: 4,25/5

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Title: Rebel Belle
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Original title: Rebel Belle
First published: 2014
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Rebel Belle #1
Publisher: Putnam
Format: Hardback
Pages: 345
Finished: 18/05/2019
Summary: Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

My thoughts: “Rebel Belle” was the book that I decided to read for May month’s reading theme; something pink on the cover. If this cover isn’t pink, I don’t know what is.
I have earlier read the first two books in Rachel Hawkins’ “Hex Hall” trilogy, which I remember that I enjoyed a lot. This book had a lot in common with those books; the main character has the same type of humour and cluelessness in the face of epicness. “Rebel Belle” was a light read that didn’t demand much concentration or emotional dedication, which I can appreciate from time to time. Overall it was decent; the plot was pretty investing, the romance was nice, and the protagonist was entertaining. Nothing mind-blowing, but totally alright.

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: Miss Mayhem
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Original title: Miss Mayhem
First published: 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: Rebel Belle #2
Publisher: Putnam
Format: Hardback
Pages: 272
Finished: 23/05/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant.
Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.

My thoughts: Slight spoiler alert I'm sad to say that this second book in the series was a disappointment compared to the first one. I had several problems with it, though I admit I didn't hate it. I'm just underwhelmed. No one flaw was greater than the others for me, and had there been less of them, I might have liked this as much as the first. However, I expected more.
First of all, the story lacks character interactions in general. Because the main character does not interact with the other characters in the story (even though she mentions them in her narration) they fall flat, and the story starts appearing fabricated. Of course I know that the story is fictional, but a good book should have you feeling that the story has some truth to it. Miss Mayhem, or rather this series, does not deliver on that front.
Another problem was the plot of this book, which was typical for the second installment in young adult trilogies. Sure, things happened, but they were rushed through and easily forgettable, causing me to think that the author only wanted to brush over this novel in order to get to the third and final one. I can understand that urge, but a good trilogy contains three good books, not just two.
There were smaller things that it lacked as well. Most of all, I think it lost its charm. I laughed at parts in the first book, but I found no such moments in this one. I also found that the romance, which I enjoyed before, felt very bland now. In fact, all but one of the relationships between protagonist and supporting character were bland.
All of this, despite that I still kind of like the story and want to know what happens, urges me to give this book a lower grade than I thought I would. I will most likely not finish reading this trilogy.

Rating: 2,75/5