(This review is an excerpt of a longer review that appeared on Readers in Wonderland)

DREAMFIRE was such an interesting book to read. I mean, it’s about Dreamwalkers, people who enter nightmares and help resolve them. Add in some villains and character conflicts to the dream lore and you have a nice little novel there. It was the perfect thing to keep me entertained while I had no internet for a few days (the struggles).

The plot of DREAMFIRE is quite slow to build. Most of the first half of the novel is introducing you to the hundreds of characters (there are so many and they all have strange names), the dreamwalker society, and the dream lore itself. We learnt a lot of things as Will, the new apprentice, did which was probably the best way to do it because there was a lot of info to digest. At the same time, hints are dropped about past character conflicts and the new threat to the dream world of the main plot. The information overload did feel a little overwhelming at first, but as we moved through into the greater plot and connections started being made, DREAMFIRE became very interesting (and there were some great little twists/plot developments I didn’t expect). Speed does pick up at the end, but overall DREAMFIRE isn’t an action packed, fast paced novel.

The villains were so intriguing and I’m sad more time wasn’t developing them. Though there are hints that we haven’t seen the last of them. They have the potential to be some of the creepiest, most villainous villains I’ve ever read in fiction and I am excited. Especially after that epilogue.

DREAMFIRE never blew me away, but is was an enjoyable read. (I read it after a five star read. It had a lot to live up to) I loved the dream lore and the walking through nightmares, and the villains who could have been developed more and played bigger roles in the plot of this first book, which really just set a lot of things up for the sequels. The only thing that really let me down was that most of the characters were meh, though they did start to show more personality as the story moved on. I would like to read the rest of the sequels when they come out because I have the feeling everything is going to get bigger and better from here. I’d recommend DREAMFIRE to people looking for an interesting new YA paranormal read that won’t emotionally traumatize you.