Hi and welcome to my stop on the A Sleep So Dark Blog Tour hosted by Girls Heart Books Tours. Click here to follow along with the full blog tour. :D
Title: A Sleep So Dark Publication date: October 25th 2013
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Review copy
Add to Goodreads
~ Synopsis ~
Haunted...
After watching her mother die in a car accident, sixteen-year-old Tandy McIntyre is plagued by violent dreams. Terrified to sleep and losing her grip on reality, she agrees to attend an experimental group retreat with Dr. Robert Gillman, an expert in lucid dreaming.
Trapped...
In the bitter cold of a Colorado winter, Tandy follows Dr. Gillman and his enigmatic son Cade as they lead a group of troubled teens into the wilderness. There, Dr. Gillman claims he will teach them to control their unconscious minds and master their dreams. But when the dreaming and the waking collide, will Tandy ever be safe again?
Don't fall asleep...
~ My Thoughts ~
My Rating: 5 / 5
The synopsis for A Sleep So Dark was so utterly intriguing to me that I knew I had to read this. And what better time of year than close to Halloween? The entire premise just sounded so deliciously creepy to me that I couldn't resist. I love discussing dreams and the conscious/unconscious - as an undergrad studying for my degree in Psychology, I didn't put a lot of stock into Freudian theories but do think there's a lot we don't know about the unconscious part of our mind.
I dream almost every night, even if it seems the dream only lasted for a few minutes. Some people I know claim they don't dream, or if they do, then they almost never remember what they dreamed about. On the other hand, I remember most of the time - if not right when I wake up, then later in the day when something else triggers my memory. I find it so interesting that people can have such widely varying experiences while sleeping, something that we all do, or at least try to do.
The promise that Dr. Gillman makes when he says he can teach the group of teens how to control their dreams and the lines between waking and sleeping blurring really drew me to this book. I started freaking out in a Nightmare on Elm Street kind of way just thinking about the blurring of those lines. What's real and not real is or at least can be tenuous at best. When I'm dreaming, I rarely know in the dream that I'm not awake, which can get really scary when I'm having a horrific nightmare. With all of the horror movies, TV shows, and of course books I consume on a weekly basis, having nightmares is no surprise to me. Kind of comes with the territory. But it's still not fun while you're having the nightmare!
To begin with, Dr. Gillman is creepy to the point where I wouldn't want to be in the same house with him, let alone the same room. You just know deep down that something is very wrong with him. On top of that, the teens, including Dr. Gillman's son Cade, are isolated with him in a snowstorm at a remote lodge. They're in the middle of nowhere. A creepy doctor, a group of teens, an isolated location...the perfect setup for a heart stopping, nerve wracking, fingernail biting kind of reading experience.
There's a lot of tension between Dr. Gillman and Cade - it's obvious Cade knows his father is up to something, but it's a mystery as to exactly what Dr. Gillman is going to do and what he wants from it. That's one of the things that scared me the most. I read this in the middle of the night and jumped at the slightest noise. The tension was ratcheted up to a level I wasn't sure my heart or my nerves could take! Just be warned - if you chose to read this in the middle of the night like I did, you may find yourself staring up at the ceiling with your heart pounding out of your chest nowhere close to sleep.
Along with the mystery, tension, and creep factor, there's even romance. I don't know how Inara Scott managed to blend all of these elements together so beautifully, but she did a fantastic job. I found myself rooting for Cade and Tandy from the beginning. I really loved the characters in A Sleep So Dark. Each character in the group had his or her own distinct voice and personality. They were there for the same reason just with different circumstances. The characters were intriguing, the plot thickened, and I had to know what was going to happen next.
A Sleep So Dark has a beautifully haunting title and is a well thought out and written thriller that will keep you hooked until the very end.
~ Purchase Link ~
~ About the Author: Inara Scott ~
I read my first romance when I was twelve, hiding in a storage closet among hat boxes and old shoes. When I was in high school, I wrote my first novel, a pirate romance called A Wild and Stormy Passion. (The heroine was the pirate, in case you're wondering.) Since then, I've written young adult novels and romance in almost every category.
I am a dabbler and an emotional sponge. I can't read scary books or anything with an unhappy ending. I reserve the right to love country music, puppies, true love, and happily ever after.
I review books I want to share the word about.
Life's too short to read something you don't enjoy!
~ Social Links ~
I love that this book freaked you out. Uh, I mean that in a nice way. The Dr. would freak me out completely. He knows how to manipulate first off and he's in charge out in the middle of a storm. Yikes! Psychological thrillers always freak me out the most. Do you have flying dreams? Oprah always talked about wishing she'd dream about flying.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I knew what you meant! You know I love being freaked out! :) The Dr. is definitely a manipulator - I mean, who would let their kid go to this program? It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. He's run this program for adults but never for teens until now, and as a parent, I'd be like no way in hell is my daughter or son going on this "retreat." I'd find some other way to help my child.
DeleteWhen I was younger, I used to have flying dreams all the time, and then I'd wake up sad that it wasn't real. They were always a lot of fun to have even though I'm afraid of heights, lol. Maybe if I could really fly, I wouldn't have that fear. How about you? Have you had flying dreams?
See, I'm like the only one who doesn't like the flying dreams. I still have them, but they freak me out because I fly so fast. I'm some crazy daredevil, flying straight down the side of buildings and leveling off at the last second. My favorite dreams are the laughing ones where I wake up laughing. Usually someone fell down, okay, always someone falls down. The worst are the boys dying in my dreams.
DeleteAs for flying for real, have you heard about indoor skydiving? Doesn't look too expensive and you don't have to jump out of a plane.
I haven't had a flying dream in a long time. I've always heard that they mean you feel free and there's nothing holding you back. :) I miss my flying dreams. I might have had one in the last year if at all. You sound like Superwoman, lol. Which you are anyhow. :D
DeleteI love laughing dreams! I've had those, too. My kids laugh and/or smile in their sleep but don't wake up because it usually happens in the middle of the night. Dreams are so interesting. I always wonder what they're dreaming about. "Usually someone fell down..." LOL Omigod, that's perfect!!
Those are the worst kinds of dreams ever. I've had those dreams, too. I've had all kinds of dreams about my mom and my grandma. In some they're alive and healthy. Others they're alive but sick. Still others, they were thought to be dead but actually were alive. Or they died and came back to life. I had one the other night where I found out my mom had never died, and I was crying and so happy, then I woke up to bitter disappointment. Again.
I'm terrified of heights, so I'm not even sure if I could handle it indoors, lol. Imagine, me terrified!