Hello,
My thanks to Julie C. Gilbert for sending me an autographed copy of this book for me to read. She sent me a copy of the book so that I would read it and review it. The publisher is iUniverse- their website is iuniverse.com
This book's two main characters are Jillian Marie Antel Blarington, or is it Ashylnn Annabel Ayers, and her babysitter Danielle Matheson. I know you're probably wondering who is the Ashlyn mentioned in the title of the book. And why isn't she mentioned in the book's title? Well you are just going to have to read and find out. Don't worry you'll find out pretty quickly, I gave you a hint at the beginning of this paragraph.
Twelve year old Jillian, is quite a character, she doesn't have a shy bone in her body. She has no problem telling you all about her 4 daddies and 2 mommies. While reading the book keep track of who every one is, although thankfully the author includes a handy Dramatic Personae. Figure out who Jillian and Ashylnn are first. Jillian speaks in a very backwoods dialect that took a bit to get used to. She also very much has a mind of her own and isn't the kind of person that likes to be held back or told there are things she can't do. I found rereading some confusing parts also helped.
We know from Jillian's Mom that Jillian and Danielle were gone for 22 days after being kidnapped.
This novel starts out as one kind of book as there's a kidnapping at the beginning. It seemed like it was going to be a detective novel. But when I expected it to continue on that course the book made a crazy zig. (Although thankfully the zig isn't as dramatic as in "The Bridge to Terabithia".) When Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped, and why, the book takes on a sci fi angle.
What's going on? They are being trained for something, but what? Why all the secrecy? These are all questions you will get answers to as you read the book. Again keeping a few notes will help as there's a lot going on and there are a lot of characters.
Ashlynn can manipulate other people's dreams in order to figure out things about them. While Jillian is kidnapped she runs into a few other "gifted" kids held at some sort of research place. The gifted kids are the so-called Devya's Children. Dustin, who's a few years younger than Jillian. Aiden, who's about 2 years old and obviously knows Ashlyn, but she doesn't know him. Varick, a 14 year old soldier, and very tall. Malia and Nadia are about Jillian's age. Malia can give a calm warm feeling when holding hands with someone. Let's just say Michio has very explosive gifts.
Following the huge success of "The Hunger Games" books and movies next came the "Divergent" series. One of the criticisms of "Divergent" is that it wasn't really breaking new ground. Another novel with a similar theme is Ann Brashares "The Here and Now". Now here's "Ashlynn's Dreams", a story that seems to follow the same blueprint. A female teenage protagonist, fighting against a repressive organization. So what makes "Ashlynn's Dreams" different?
I'm not going to answer that question, but it's worth the time to read "Ashlynn's Dreams" and answer that question on your own. Gilbert is a young author working to find her voice. I'd give this book a grade of C+, it's not in the same league as the excellent "Hunger Games" trilogy. However "Dreams" is an interesting twist on the Young Adult novel. I expect Gilbert to continue to grow as a writer and look forward to following her career going forward.
themusicaddict
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