Dreamfall by Amy Plum Review!

Title: Dreamfall

Author: Amy Plum

Pages: 288

Published: May 2nd 2017 by HarperTeen
Source: For review from the publisher

Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse...but she was terribly wrong.
Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dreamworld with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

My Thoughts: 

I went into this only knowing that Amy Plum wrote it. I really enjoyed her Die for Me series and loved her After the End series and this sounded right up my alley!! This focuses on a group of teenagers who are brought together because they all suffer the same thing... insomnia. Each of them have their other problems, but insomnia is why they are here. They agree to take part in an experimental trial, that sees them being put into a sleep state and their brain being gently pulsed with electricity to help them sleep. But something goes wrong with the trial and now all the teens are stuck in a shared dream world, with no recollection of how they got there or how to leave. Every 20 mins, they are sucked into one of their nightmares, with creatures and things better left in the imagination. What happens if you get hurt here? Can they get out with their sanity?

So, this pretty much rocked!! I remember watching a Nightmare on Elm Street when I was young and it absolutely terrifying me. The idea of being stuck in nightmare after nightmare was even worse! The poor kids, they went from dream to dream with only about 20 mins between them. Starting off they are by themselves but eventually they find each other and I loved it.  It was like all your worst things come to life!!! *Shudder* The author really put a lot of effort into the details and it showed. Each world/situation they went into was worse as they went along!!

The characters were all well written. Each of them have a story to tell and we get to see some of them unravel throughout. Fergus, BethAnn, George, Remi, Sinclair, Ant and Cata are all intriguing and extraordinary characters, that you can't help but like and root for. We see some of the chapters from each of their POVs and it helped create a bond. I'm already so excited to read the conclusion of this and see what happens these awesome characters, even though this isn't out yet!! 

Anyway, this was an intense, scary and emotional read. I loved reading about the characters, but I also loved reading the "behind the scenes" parts in the lab. The author must have done a lot of research into insomnia and sleep studies because the detail in the book was interesting and intriguing. I googled some of the conditions the characters had because I didn't know what some of them were. The nightmare realm was also amazing. The author created some horrifying situations that will give me nightmares ;) Brilliantly written and developed, I can't recommend this enough. I so want to see this as a movie, though I'd be hiding behind my hands for most of it, lol.