Wake

Reader reviewed by Sara

From back cover: NOT ALL DREAMS ARE SWEET. For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other peoples dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janies seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.
She cant tell anybody about what she does theyd never believe her, or worse, theyd think shes a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesnt want and cant control.
Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone elses twisted psyche. She is a participant&

Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Janie: I was inspired by attitude and work/school ethics in spite of her mothers lack of interest and horrible parenting; Cabel: I really liked his character, he was so caring and protective of Janie& and I liked the twist about his character. Hes definitely a dynamic character!

When I finished this book I felt: I cant wait to read FADE, the sequel to WAKE. This book was amazing! It was such a quick read, only 210 pages, but it was surprisingly deep. One of my new favorite books!

Other books to read by this author: FADE, GONE (due out in Spring 2010)

I would recommend this book to: teen romance fans that like a

Reader reviewed by Bookmac

Wake wasn't what I expected but I liked it, a lot. The author's writing style was a bit weird, I felt like I was watching Janie rather than being in the story with her, but it sort of worked in this book. The book was a little choppy, it's told in dates, example: May 20th 6:45, so that was different, but I needed change so it was good.

Reader reviewed by AyeCaptain Reviews

Since eight years of age, Janie has been pulled into other peoples dreams. It's pretty easy to cover up at first, but when the dreams start including murderers and secrets, Janie wonders why its impossible for her to help. And then there's Cabel, and some of his dreams aren't so bad to be pulled into, but is he hiding things from her?

Reader reviewed by Amanda

Wake was full of what I like to call "sort of mystery" You're not exactly unsure about what is going on but you have a lot of unanswered questions, which isn't a bad thing. We know Janie get's sucked into dreams but we're not sure how exactly she's supposed to help people or the consequences. I'm really liking where Janie's story is going. She's actually accepting the amazing gift she has and was even able to help her love interest Cabe. Cabe oh Cabe, I'm not exactly sure about how I feel about you. He seemed pretty average and was kind of pissing me off until he revealed what he was part of. Thank god. An honest character! Cabe went above and beyond to earn Janie respect which is something I like to see in a character. I just wish that Janie was more open about her gift and would be open to her friends about it.

McMann writes in such a cryptic fashion. I was able to feel the emotion of Janie while she is experiencing the dreams. Goosebumps were being brought to my skin. Overall Wake was a new twist to the ever growing fantasy genre that kept my attention from beginning to end. I can not wait to read the second book in the trilogy, Fade.

Reader reviewed by Steph Su

Every time someone near her falls
asleep, Janie Hannagan gets sucked into their dreams. This is hardly fun at
all, as most peoples dreams consist of falling, nudity, or sex, and, while
Janie is technically awake through these experiences, shes blind to the real
world. Talk about an uncomfortable lifestyle.

Janies troubles only continue to
escalate when she starts to fall into the once troubled, now sexy Cabel
Strumhellers dreams&and finds that she appears in them as well, and that he,
too, is aware of her presence in his dreams. There may be more to her ability
to fall into peoples dreams than Janie realizes, more power than she realizes
she has. So begins a new chapter of Janies life, one where she learns to
control her abilities and use them for good.

What WAKE lacks in good writing
and comprehensible characters, it makes up in a stunning story idea. McManns
writing style is straightforward and succinct in an almost ethereal manner.
This, while effective in exposition, does not work as well when the plot really
needs to get going, and I felt like I was missing what was going on between
Janie and Cabel as their relationship developed.

Cabel, whom I at first thought to
be some sort of Marcus Flutie incarnate, is sadly underdeveloped; his character
is not clear to me. Janie passes through in a little better shape, as the
self-motivated white trash girl who learns to rely only on herself, which is
why I was upset when she seemed to lose perspective when things with Cabel hit
some bumps.

WAKE works fairly well as a
stand-alone novel, but thanks to its fascinating premise, I think I am going to
pick up the next book in the series, FADE, and see if Janie, Cabel, and the
situation theyre in become clearer to me over time. 

Reader reviewed by Cowgirl

Janie is almost normal, the one thing that separates her from everyone else is her ability to be inside of other peoples dreams. At first she sees it as a terrible thing, and regrets it happening. However, things get more difficult the higher grade she enters and when she starts working at the nursing home to earn money for college. When a lady at the nursing home dies, she also leaves Janie a note about her dreams and a good hunk of money for college. Janie learns that its not so bad to be in other peoples dreams, and she even learns how to help them out in their dreams. She even figures out how to use them to help solve a mystery that involves drugs. Throughout the story, Janie also has to struggle through boy problems and they learn some important things about each other. What will happen with the rest of the story? Thats for you to find out!


I enjoyed reading "Wake" it was one of those books that you constantly are reading! However, after finishing, I was asking myself "what were the main points of the story?" However, I still really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading "Fade!"

Also pulished by myself on my Young Adult book blog: http://booksforteensreviews.blogspot.com/

Reader reviewed by desi

this book oh my god is it wonderful!!! i loved the plot twist to. can you say uncalled for! it was just such great book that it left me speech less and the i told my friends "hey this book is amazing read it!!" the read thae back and thought it sounded good so the read it and was blown away as was i. :) thanks for reading what i thought. :DD ^.^

Reader reviewed by TheBookworm

Wake by Lisa McMann
Publication Date: March 2008
3 out of 5 stars
R- Sexual References, Sensuality, Profanity, Violence, Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Janies dreams are not her own. Since the age of 8, no matter where she is or what she is doing, if a person near by falls asleep she is dragged into their dream, be it a nightmare or not. She has seen it all, the falling dreams, the drowning dreams, the naked at school dreams and more. The worst is yet to come as the dreams tug grows stronger she begins to suffer physical pains. Now at the age of 17 and struggling to keep her secret, she wonders if there is anyone who can help. But what if that someone is a loner type who is a supposed drug dealer?

Wake was based on an interesting problem that translated into an easy to read paranormal mystery.

I flew through Wake. I was so caught up in Janies wretched predicament that I couldnt stop reading. Janies and Cabels relationship wasnt realistically solid enough to handle the stress between them, so no matter how much I disliked their slowness at getting back together after some fights, I have to agree that it fit the situation.

The profanity and sexual references didnt add any substance to the story, all it did was make it murkier. It wasnt needed. What added depth to Wake was Cabel. His past, his repentance for the wrong that he did, and then his turning away from that sin and setting out to do better was ultimately his greatest quality.

I recommend Wake because of its plot and the main characters interesting dilemmas. I suggest readers who want to read this book to be wary of sexual content and frequent cursing (f-word used often) and to try their best to skip over the inappropriate material.

Date Reviewed: December 17th, 2008

For more book reviews and book information, check out my website at www.inthecurrent.blogspot.com

Reader reviewed by Lizzie

Janie doesnt dream. Well not exactly anyway. When someone around her falls asleep, she is sucked into their dream. She cant control it and its getting annoying. When one of her favorite residents at the nursing home she works at dies and leaves her a mysterious note, Janies life is turned up-side down. Janie goes on a school trip to Canada and has a seizure on the bus. This forces her to reveal her secret to her crush, Cabel, who then admits that knew she was in his dream. Janie then goes on an adventure to discover her true powers and take hold of her life. But can she juggle being a catcher, her crush Cabel who is apparently selling drugs, and getting into college all at once?


At first I thought Wake was the perfect YA novel. It wasnt scared of swearing, and tackling hard subjects. It was fast-paced and fun. But at the end it got really corny. The sex scenes were unbearably cliché, and the story-line became even more unrealistic than it already was. The author definitely did her research on dreams, but it didnt have that paranormal feel I was hoping for. It was an OK quick read, and Ill probably pick up the sequel at the library when it comes out, but I wouldnt recommend it.

Reader reviewed by Jessica

Unbelievable and a glorious page turner, "WAKE" keeps the reader captivated throughout each page of the book. It is impossible to stop reading once you start and even more impossible not to fall in love with the characters that Lisa McMann develops throughout the novel.

Each page builds up the action and the mysterious intrigue until it all crashes down at the end, filling the reader with too many thoughts to manage at once. Unbelievable and wonderfully written. It will leave you begging for more.