Cheap Dreamland (Book) (Sarah Dessen) Price

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Customer Reviews of Dreamland

Still amazing
I've read this book three times now, and it still astounds me how real the writing, plot, and characters feel. Rogerson is Sarah Dessen's best written character to date. You know while reading the book that you're supposed to hate him, but before he starts hitting Caitlin you actually start to feel sympathetic to his character, especially after the scene where his father hits him. She makes him a very memorable character with the trivia he always seems to know the answers to. So many authors would make him a clear cut villian type, but instead Sarah Dessen makes you hate him one minute and feel sorry for him the next.
This book is so much more than just a story about an abusive relationship, too. It's more of a story about a girl's downward spiral after she feels her family doesn't value her. One thing I've noticed about this book, is that the more into the relationship with Rogerson Caitlin gets, the less she sees of her family and friends. The author could have just told the reader that, but instead she shows it, by having less and less of Boo and Stewart, Rina, and even Caitlin's mom and dad in the book.
I admit that I don't like the last 30 pages as well as the rest of the book. It's okay, but not nearly as powerful and good as it could, or should, have been. Nevertheless, this is an amazing book you won't soon forget.

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Excellent characters, plot, and message
Once again, Sarah Dessen brings to life wonderfully vivid and imaginative characters. Dreamland will make you laugh, cry, and wish you could keep on reading Caitlin O'Koren's story. Caitlin has always felt like she was in her "perfect" older sister's shadows until her sister runs away. Suddenly Caitlin's life has changed, not only because of her sister, but because of her new boyfriend, Rogerson Biscoe. It is the story of an abusive adolescent relationship and the story of the search for one's self. Dreamland teaches you the importance of loving and caring for yourself and also teaches you that each and every person is important no matter what. A must read for teenage girls. This book made me take a really good look at my life and what I wanted out of it.

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deliciously different
The thing that struck me while reading Dreamland is the same element that causes many people to label the book 'disturbing'... the focus on how Caitlin let herself be abused and hurt. The language is beautiful and honest, and the characters are remarkably sympathetic- not in the sense that the reader feels sorry for them, but that the reader understands the reasons behind their behavior. Dreamland may be dark and gloomy, but it is also painfully honest, realistic, and compelling. A must read for anyone that isn't under the delusion that all teen literature has to be coated with happy pills!