Review: THE DREAMER (Book One in The Dreamland Series) By E.J Mellow

Rating: 4/5

I've been staring at this keyboard for about five minutes trying to pick my starting point with this review, and can I just say, it is not easy. E.J Mellow, you have done a very good job at captivating me. I have not read very many contemporary fantasies, actually, I haven't read any, and I am so glad I started with this one, especially because I am a big dreamer. Introducing my new found love for the genre. 

Let's talk about our star pupil (you'll only get this pun once you read the book, so read it), Molly. The 24 year old who lives in a comfy studio home in the middle of manhatten, has a best friend named Becca who she spends her days with, a new hunk of a boyfriend named Jared who, might I add, is a lawer and is completely smitten over Molly, an awesome job, and pretty much has the normal awesome life. Definitiely not somebody you'd ever think to have happen what has happened to her that makes her life completely shift in a way she did not ask for, and a way us readers were not ready for. With one strike of a lightening bolt, literally. On the night of her birthday when leaving Jared after their dinner to walk home, I immediately knew as soon as the clouds began to stir to darkness that it wouldn't end well. talk about an awesome birthday present. So, The night she is hit by lightening something changed Molly; not physically, not mentally, but in a way that will change the way her life is lived out, Opening up a very impatient door that has long since been waiting for her entrance. Only, this door can only be entered in her dreams, and you'll come to find out that dreams are anything but dreams in this book. Terra Somniorium. Terra somniorium is the place that Molly gets lost in every night, whether she wants to or not, and most often, it's not. 

 This is where everything gets interested. Have you ever had a reoccuring dream that you swore felt so real, one that you looked forward to seeing if you'd dream about it again when you go to sleep, only to usually be disappointed when you don't? Well, that's what is happening to Molly, except she can't escape it, and she doesn't look forward to having it again, most of the times. And this is also where I begin to hold my breath every time she lays down to go to sleep. Here, we are introduced to a tree that we become all too familiar with as she wakes up under it almost every time, solace. It's also where another important figure stands waiting for her almost every time. We're introduced to mystery and beauty and the Nocturna and the Metus and the Counsil and so many other things that have me googling my dreams every time I turn a page. We're introduced to Dev. Oh, let me tell you about Dev, but I have already called dibs, so don't get too comfortable. 

"You're my hope Molly"

Dev is the one who finds Molly, who is waiting for her every time she gets lost in sleep by the tree, the keeper of the beautiful blue eyes who follow her even when she wakes up. Who shows her around and makes it his mission to keep her safe, did I mention he's incredibly handsome and that his blue crystal eyes not only follow Molly outside of the dream, but they have found there way into mine as well and have set up camp (crosses my fingers and only hopes this is the start of a beautiful dream). He will make you love him but also want to deflate his head all at the same time. The way he protects her and cares for her and challenges her,then the way he is so cocky about everything and so confident about who he is and how he makes Molly feel, but even with that, he will make you swoon, the two of them will make you swoon. The only problem is...she has a boyfriend in the real world, but I mean, is it really cheating if it's in a dream? With her feelings quickly igniting with every second shared with her "dream man" confusing her to the extreme, and her unanswered curiosity stealing every last bit of sanity she has left, it begins to affect the way she lives when she isnt awake. Which makes it hard to even read, because it's not like she can just tell the people in her life "well you know I go into the same dream every night except it's real and the people are real and it's taking over my life" Causing disruptions in the realtionships with the closest people in her life. and you want desperately to jump into the pages and help her out.

She's introduced to powers in this dream that couldn't be worldly possible and are much more than what she thinks, she is much more than what she thinks. With Dev by her side she has nothing to worry about though, right? He will guide her through all of this, right? That is..until he pushes her off the cliff in her dream, when something goes wrong, causing me to choke on my own gasp. Nocturna. The nocturna are everything that is wrong in the dream world, and the real world, and Molly plays a big role in this. Really makes you feel like you have a very small role in the book of life to be honest, like where the heck is my chance to kick some butt? With this weight baring on her eyelids with every passing second she is awake, my heart breaks reading because even I am frustrated with her unanswered questions! It isn't all fun and games anymore, its desperation and insanity but also wonderful and impossible and sorta romantic all at the same time. And as she fights to hold on to the little life she has left, by basically forcing herself to stay awake to not fall asleep, everything she thought she knew about this dream comes crumbling right before her, except, it comes in the form of a seashell placed in the palm of her hand, in the real world. Ugh my heart can't take it. (you'll understand) and when her guard is finally shattered and she allows sleep to finally wash over her, she's given the curveball of her life that answers everything and opens the door to a world of new questions. And gives a new meaning to her world both in the dream and outside of it. A world she decides is time to embrace considering it won't be going away any time soon. A world where she is Molly Spero, Star of hope. (again, I feel sorta really irrelevant now...)

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- ABOUT THE AUTHOR - 

E.J. Mellow is the author behind the NA Contemporary Fantasy The Dreamland Series. When she’s not busy moonlighting in the realm of make-believe, she can be found doodling, buried in a book (usually this one), or playing video games.

Becoming obsessed with the written word at a young age, E.J. has been swimming in the creative writing field ever since penning a story about a family of hairballs that overtook her childhood bathroom. While that story might stand as her greatest yet, she’s still determined to beat it.

E.J. resides in NYC and is a member of Romance Writers of America and their Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter.