I really loved the book, Dreamland by Sarah Dessen. It's about a girl named Caitlin, who gets physically abused by her boyfriend, Rogerson. Rogerson is from a rich family but gets abused by his dad. He sells drugs to rich kids out of rebellion. Caitlin meets Rogerson at a party one day and they hit it off. Everything is going great after she starts dating this bad boy, until one day she was late meeting him somewhere. He was mad and she jokingly said, "Don't be a baby, I'm sorry." This triggered him to turn around and slap her. Then, after that shocking incident, Rogerson takes her for ice cream to make up for the pain he has inflicted on her. She tells herself he will never do it again and she starts wearing clothes to cover up the bruises. Finally, at a barbecue, he comes to pick her up and she gets in the car. They have some argument and then he punches her in the face and she falls out of the car. A neighbor sees from out his window, calls the cops, and the drama continues from there.
My favorite part was Caitlin's reunion with her big sister. In the beginning of the story, she talks about how her sister just ran away without telling anyone. Their parents wanted her to go to Yale but that was not what she wanted and she runs away with some guy. One day they are watching a Jerry Springer-like show and they see the sister on it! Totally worth a laugh or two.
I love this book because the character was so real. I was able to feel the emotions that she felt and I loved how there were no boring moments anywhere in the story. Everything flowed together so nicely. The book has every quality: humor, heartbreak, anger, happiness, and hope. It was also very unexpected when her boyfriend hit her and it made me angry. It made me cry at the end because it was so beautifully written. Sarah Dessen does a marvelous job capturing the raw emotions of this girl. It was very touching and after I finished reading, I felt like it left a footprint on my heart.
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This book look's really interesting to read, it kind of reminds me of a book I read myself called "White Oleander". Similarly they both deal with abuse, drug use, and such things like that. If you like that book I do recommend "White Oleander". I will most definitley be reading up more on "Dreamland".
ReplyDeleteWhen I finished reading your review I felt like reading this book. This book sounds like a page turner, it also sounds like it has some valuable lessons inside. I really like stories that are realistic; there are so many things a person can relate too. When you wrote about the boyfriend I thought that this kind of thing happens so many times but in many of the cases a girl is just silent. I love how you write about Jerry Springer and the sister. I like a book that has drama, but I love a book that is also humorous. I will definitely look up this book.
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