Wake

Reader reviewed by Holly

Wake by Lisa McMann is a bout a girl who gets pulled into peoples dream and no one in the dream notices her until she fall into Cabels dream, a bad boy who lives down the road, and the dream chills her to the bone. This book will keep you thinking about it even once you ahve finished reading it. It made me turn page after page and I was one in two days. A great chilling read!

Reader reviewed by Kelsey

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, and the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime. She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't 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 else's twisted psyche. She is a participant...


Wake was the novel I was waiting to read. I've heard good things and I've heard OK things. I loved the story line but I hated the point of view Miss McMann made. The characters where so real and deliberate. The family lives felt standoffish in a good way. Although I wish there was a bit more description and detail to the story. As I said, I'm not a big fan on the point of view the author wrote with but in the end, I didn't really care.


I loved it a lot and can't wait until Lisa McMann's sequel to Wake, Fade, comes out in February '09.

Reader reviewed by LIzzy

Who hasn't wished
to have a super power? I know that I personally would love to fly, or
be able to become invisible. McMann's story, however, is a little
different from the typical "super" human story. Janie has the power to
see into other people's dreams, which is actually a huge pain. For
example, when she is pulled into someone else's dream, she ends up
unconscious as well. So, she's never really safe. It could be the kid
in the back of English class, or someone napping while she walks past
their house, she's never really safe from them. She also sees the most
subconscious thoughts and feelings manifest themselves. Like, being
naked in class, or attacking someone who you hate.

This is going
to be a fairly short review, but overall I enjoyed the book. It was
realistic enough to make me think, "I wonder if anyone has ever really
been able to look into someone else's dream" and then question my
friends suspiciously. I wish there had been a little more character
development from Cabel. He wasn't the main character of the story, but
he plays an important role in helping Janie learn more about her power.
It wasn't enough of an issue to detract seriously from the story, and
there are two other books to learn a little more about him.

I'll be picking up the Fade, the sequel, soon!

Reader reviewed by Hillary

Janie has always been sucked into the dreams of whoever is near her. She can't help it, it's uncontrollable and unpredictable, and she wants it all to stop. But it's been happening to her ever since she could remember. It's more of a burden then a gift really, especially with the nightmares. You think dreaming them is bad, imagine what Janie feels like. But somehow she keeps it together and is quite sane for a person with problems like hers.

Then there's this guy at her school. He always sleeps during her study halls. When she gets sucked into his dreams it's not a pretty picture. His are possibly the worst nightmares. Then she gets to know him. And for the first time in her life, she has her own dream...and he's in it.

Will Janie ever be able to control her problem?

I thought that Wake was a fantastic book. I was totally captivated for beginning to end. It was fabulously written. The characters were great. I could very easy compare them to real people that I know. (I know a few Melissas!) I would recommend it to anyone. Which I pretty much all ready have. My best friend got the book too and she told me she really liked it also.

The sequel is coming out sometime next year...maybe. Amazon was once again withholding valuable information. Why do they do this to me? Whatever, I can live without knowing. That way I won't be creepily counting down until then like I'm doing with multiple other books.

Reader reviewed by Yan

Lisa McMann, you have just found yourself another fan girl. I started to readWake last night and finished it the following morning. After chatting with Carolyesterday night regarding my disappointment with Chasing Boys, I decided to seek some guidance with choosing my next book to read/review. I wanted something in my currently reading pile, killing two birds with one stone, which consisted of fifteen (now thirteen) books. She chose Wake and Triple Shot of Bettys. I decided to start the Wakeseries. And. I. Loved. It!

My expectations for Wake were moderate, I read some good reviews but the summary did not draw me in. And the cover as well (Im a cover whore). So imagine my surprise when I was half way in and an hour past my curfew, not to mention my lack of interest in preparing for the test the next day; or the fact that I dragged the book to school to read during advisory when I should have been studying just to finish the book. And lets not forget the fact that I am going all fan girl mode here, typing this review up and ignoring my upcoming quiz tomorrow.

What I loved about Wake was the fresh idea! Finally, something other than faeries and vampires! Now we have dream catchers, which that idea itself was new. I read somewhere that someone had issues with the many fragment sentences. I, however, found the sentence structure fun and lyrical. It was like little mini poem verses, small breaks from the extensive details. Despite the details, Wake can hide little details along the story and catch you in surprise! This kept the excitement going and the action not too predictable.

The characters were amazing! I like how each and every character had a certain set of traits, one was the strict leader, and the other was the flirty cheerleader and so forth. And the relationship with Janie and Cabel had me swooning and squealing like a pig being fed a five course dinner.

Of course, there were some issues. The ending was rather rushed. I had some questions about the police force that employed Janie. And I felt that the relationship with Janie and Cabel, while great, was too fast paced and too soon. I guess a bit of more build up would have been nice.

Overall: I needed this book after going through a not so pleasant stream of novels.Wake was a fascinating read that will keep the reader entertained even after finishing the book. I just could not help myself but to reread some sections after sighing with satisfaction.

Reader reviewed by Cassie

Cassie Aguayo

Wake Review

            In the book Wake, Janie is sucked into peoples dreams whenever there is someone sleeping around her. She cant control it, cant get out of it. She can hardly stay awake at school because there are constantly kids sleeping and dozing off during class. Stuck in this world that she cant escape, she eventually discovers that she has more power than she thinks she does. The book keeps you interested and always wanting to know what happens next. The teenage dialogue in the book makes the story believable like Janie is a typical high school student, but with a big secret.  

What I really liked about the book was that it goes back and forth from dream to reality, and it makes you feel the confusion Janie must feel. She can hardly grasp what is real-life and what is only a dream. Shes slowing slipping out of her reality and losing herself. The only thing to criticize in the book would be the ending, after everything, the ending is boring and tasteless. It lacks the need for more information and the wondering of what will happen in the characters lives next. The ending almost takes away from all the books good qualities. But, the constant twists and turns in the plot keeps it exciting enough to hold your interest enough to continue reading. It makes you feel vulnerable for Janie. Shes her own victim and keeps her problems bottled up inside her making you wonder when theyre all going to come out.

There a lot of small characters in the book that have a big impact on Janie. She is on her own until she starts talking to Cable, whose shes known of since she can remember. Thats when things really start to take a turn for the good. Janie will reveal her secret in the book eventually to the least expected person, which makes you wonder if she really does cherish her talent. Towards the end shell have a change of heart towards her ability to see peoples dreams. Its still unclear whether she accepts it for what its worth, or if she cant get past falling asleep unexpectedly. The inability to ever get rid of her talent makes you think throughout the whole book if anyone will ever accept her for who she is. It makes you curious if people really knew who she was if they would cast her out as a freak or invite her in and be supportive. Shes always spiraling out of control into another world. While keeping her secret she has to come up with excuses as to why she dozes off, paralyzed almost. This is probably the biggest hardship for her, becoming paranoid if anyone is suspicious of her, or if anyone is catching onto her sudden naps throughout her day at school. Wake is an enticing book that is definitely worth reading. The excitement never ends, and the drama crashes down on Janie constantly.

Reader reviewed by Kendall

The novel Wake by Lisa McMann is about a teenage girl named Janie who has the ability to get sucked in to other peoples dreams.  One may think that her talent is all positive however she hates it.  Janie can not control her ability, therefore it affects her everyday life; she looks at it as more of a set back than a gift or ability.  While trying to cope with her disorder Janie finds a love interest which definitely has its ups and downs.  Janie later realizes that she has a gift rather than a disorder.  

Lisa McMann does an excellent job in drawing the readers into the book; her book relates to teenagers lives and is pretty realistic.  One thing that McMann portrayed in a realistic manner is the difference between the more wealthy families and the not as wealthy.  The more financially stable students hang out together where as the lower income kids hang out together.  McMann hit the bulls eye with that one, money is a big deal in high school.  McMann also was correct when writing that her character Janie hates the fact that her ability keeps her from being a normal teenager, in that most people do not realize what abilities they have and some times sees them more as disabilities.  And unfortunately it does seem that teenagers are growing farther and farther apart from their parents.  After reading Wake, I realized how independent Janie was  and how strong willed she was; her mother was not there for her and played a poor mother figure in her daughters life, Janie had to figure out all her problems herself and had no one to talk to until Cabel came into her life.  McMann also did a superior job in making her characters normal and not annoyingly perfect, she made sure to show her readers that no one is perfect and that everyone has problems or setbacks that they struggle with.  Another positive about the novel is that it was always changing and was never boring or predictable, it was one of those books that one was easily sucked into and always wanted to know what happened next.  The part in the novel where Janie got sucked into a dream while driving really made me realize that her condition can have dangerous or even fatal consequences if not careful.  If Janie was on a busy street it is possible that her blackout could have killed her, that was the point in the book when i realized that her condition is more severe than thought to be. 

Lisa McMann did a great job in attracting teenagers to her novel.  It is a book that teenagers can relate to and seems more typical and relatable than fairy tails and is not as plastic and fake.  Over all this book is excellent for the high school group.    

Reader reviewed by brenna

            Wake is a book about a teenage girl who has the power to get sucked into other peoples dreams while they sleep near her. Although some people would love the ability to see into the subconscious mind of others, Janie views it as a curse that she can never give back to wherever it came from. Her gift leads her down many conflicting paths and makes her ask questions that no one knows the answers to; it makes her look inside herself and underneath the surface of other. Although she may find some things that she doesnt agree with or exactly understand, they help her in the long run and help understand how the mind of the world works. She experiences hard ships and confusion, but with the help of unexpected friends, she figures out how to deal with what she thinks is a burden. This book includes graphic dreams and intense realities, but it relates to the lives of many teens and young adults in our time.

            In my opinion, the author hit it right on the bulls eye. I liked the book because it gave me an inside look into something that I am really interested in knowing more about: dreams. In this book dreams are more like reoccurring nightmares that Janie gets sucked into. I believe that the author wrote the dreams to be so intense so that the reader would feel the suspense and the curiosity the characters have in the book. I also like the more romantic side of the book; it shows that books can have more than one side other than just having mystery or suspense. Having more than one aspect of reading genres helped me relate to the book better verses how it would be if it was just one genre. When the author puts in the twist, that I think basically makes the book better, it helps the reader get some unanswered questions, answered. I really liked this book because there was so many things that I could understand and I loved how when the author described the dreams, you felt as if you were in the dream yourself; that skill, I find, is hard to see in modern young adult books. I think Wake is a book I would easily want to read again.

            I think teens would enjoy this book because it has some aspects in it that relate to some teens lives. I think they would enjoy this book because once you get into it, it is difficult to put the book down, it keeps you guessing and has a new twist at every corner. Wake, a book about dreams, troubles, love, and hate, is a great read and I think people of all ages, even beyond teens, would enjoy wake by: Lisa Mcmann.

Reader reviewed by Veronica

                           

                                                             Wake         

              

                    

                  

                

            A young girl that gets trapped in other peoples dreams falls into a nightmare like no other she has never experienced before. Young Janie alone, and scared in other peoples dreams can not take it anymore. Another thing that just doesnt help with the situation is that Janie can not tell anybody about her problem because they would think that she must be crazy and making up lies which arent good for her at all .Wake is the type of book that you can not put it down for one second. It has mystery in it, which most people enjoy because it keeps you thinking, about whats going to happen next.  

            The way this book was formatted was another thing that made me enjoy it even more. The set-up of it being in diary formation made it more interesting, even by putting the times, dates, and places because it wasnt set-up to be like any other type of book. Because its set-up like this it makes the young readers more interested because its not set up like a normal boring book would be like. But sometimes the format of the book could be kind of confusing because it would switch from different times in the story either its from the past or the present time, which was confusing because sometimes you would have to re read what happened from what you red previous to what you just read.  So in this book you would have to pay really close attention to because its the type of book you would get lost on because of the time of book changes constantly through out the story. 

            Wake leaves you with confusion after every chapter, making you want to keep reading to know what happens next and then so on, it leaves a mystery behind, which makes the book so much more interesting. The story line in this book is so unique and different which makes the book perfect for young teenage readers. Her writing style had a good flow as well that just kept them interested every bit of the story. She made the storyline of the book as interesting as the main character in it. Janie was a unique and interesting character; she was a good representation for a teenager, which made it seem realistic.  

            I recommend this book to many young teenage readers because it has tons of mystery and excitement in the book. I think young girl readers would appreciate this book a bit more than boys would because it has more of a girl background to it. I also like how they put a sequel to this book, so that you could read on to what happened. Get ready for some more excitement coming your way!!!!

Reader reviewed by courteney123

This book was really good... and very original. Jannie lives on the poor side of town and as if that's not bad enough, she gets pulled into people's dreams and she can't controle it. She's never let anyone know about this but she finally spills ... GREAT BOOK!!! I can't wait to see the following book FADE !!! I definetly recommend for all those who like an author who dosn't describe much and gets to the point and for those who wish they could see what others are dreaming.