The Wake Trilogy (Wake #1, Fade #2, Gone #3)

Guess who acquired and read a book trilogy the other day! Yes, me. You guessed it. Go ahead and grab a cookie, sweetie. I never had the chance to read the last book in this trilogy (despite having been deeply intrigued about it when they first came out). Anyhow, let's get on with it.

The Wake Trilogy

Genre: Paranormal Young Adult fiction

Pages: 225 (Wake #1), 248 (Fade #2), 214 (Gone #3)

Favourite Quotes: Wake: "Once you read something, you can't erase it from your brain." "Carrie doesn't seem to want to talk about anything with sharp edges. Maybe she's afraid they might poke her and then she'd burst." "Get me outta here. Fuckin' creepy cheerleaders."

Fade: "There is something about a guy who admits he's a jerk that makes him forgivable." "Janie always hated Bashful. Stupidest. Dwarf. Ever."

Gone: "You wanna go get Jimmy a raincoat and we'll take care of you?"

Janie Hannagan gets sucked into other people's dreams. It's an ability she always kept secret—until she met Cabel, and found herself with the best (secret) boyfriend ever. But Janie and Cabel are about to find out just how dark Janie's future as a Dream Catcher is... and whether Cabel will be a part of it.

I feel that it is necessary for me to talk about the individual books first before I sum up the trilogy, mostly due to how differently I responded to the three books and my own change in perception regarding the characters.

Wake: I'm going to say it upfront: I loved this book. I was intrigued by the concept of dream catchers, of Janie as a character and the whole mystery surrounding her existence, her abilities and the town itself. I saw endless possibilities with this story and was extremely eager to see what sort of path the author would shove these characters through. The characters were well-fleshed out, no two the same, and had valid reasons for their actions. I liked seeing the relationships between the characters - both their strengths and flaws. If there is anything that I particularly loved about this book, it would be Lisa McMann's authentic ability to portray the characters hardships and choices in a believable, realistic and valid manner. Janie was a character in the story that I found myself respecting - and not because of her narration. The author does not state her qualities, does not give her any defining features besides the dream catching. Her character is build from her actions, which are all impossibly (in a good way) upright and human. McMann does not simply throw a ready made character at you - she let's you figure out who Janie - and the other characters at that - is alone.

Fade: Of all the books, I would have to say that I enjoyed Fade the least. Despite the promising and intriguing story that I followed in Wake, I couldn't find myself pulled in into this story at all. While the writing was still perfect to the story, and the characters themselves are still amazingly constructed, I did not enjoy the actual plot of this book. From the countless of things that I imagined it to be, this was definitely not it. I didn't feel like there was an actual specific plot that was being followed - in fact, I thought that this book could have easily been integrated into Gone or omitted completely. Other than the progress and further insight into Janie and her life, this book did not add much to the story at hand - dream catchers. Why is she so caught up on school and her boyfriend? Sure, they are important things for the average teenager, but she is a dream catcher. I mean, this concept is unique. The characters are fabulous. What the hell happened to the plot? Come on guys, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. She's so focused on everything but the nature of her dreams - aside from her teaching herself to control them better - which defeats the point of reading this series. While her life intrigued me, I wanted to know more about the dream catchers. It left me reeling - what is the cause, why is it necessary, how does it work? How many others? Yes, I wanted to see some kick-ass Janie, but the dream catchers dammit. 

Now, I'm not saying that I hated the book. It still left me wanting to continue the series and was overall an alright read, but it could have been much better. If anything, I think I'm just disappointed because I anticipated it to be even better than Wake (see what expectations do to you? Tragic.) Still, I can't help but me annoyed that the series now appears to be focusing on how her ability conflicts with normality instead of the mystery and wonder of the ability. The limitations. Anything, but this plot, really, just please give my questions some answers.

Gone: I'm all winded up now that I have been thinking about Fade's inability to meet my expectations (they were not unreasonably high, right?). Alright. By the time I read the first couple of pages of this book, I resigned myself to the fact that this series was not going anywhere close to where I wanted it to go. Not that that was a bad thing necessarily - I really enjoyed these books, despite their unrelenting nature to disregard my wants (needs even; you know how emotional I get over books). I just wanted some closure to my questions. Now, the good thing about Gone is that it focuses on Janie's abilities and the choices she has to make because of them. With some surprising (I personally expected something like this to happen from the moment her mother's dream appeared hint hint nudge nudge) appearances in the book that lead to - finally - the right questions and answers (well, to an extent at least, ugh). I really liked how Janie focused on her own needs in this book - she approached her situation the way it should be approached in real life: by considering herself and whether, though she wants it, she is truly willing to pay the costs of her decisions. I've seen plenty of books that don't regard this issue at all, where the characters simply hold a person above everything else (not that I mind, if it is written well) so it's quite refreshing to encounter this different type of book. I have to say though, I found that the part where she actually makes her decision far too rushed - it was built up beautifully and the ending just didn't deliver (again, tragic.)

Overall: I loved the concept, there is no denying that. The idea was original and unique, a very interesting story to think and read about. While I'm disappointed with how it was integrated with Janie's life, the books were still great reads. The writing style that the author pursued was well chosen - any other writing format would not have offered the same feel and effect of the story. All the characters were excellently used. They were well fleshed out and realistic. The secondary characters weren't flat or blended together and I found myself genuinely interested in every one of them, especially their interactions. I liked Janie's personality in particularly, and her approach to who she is - not depended on others, but on herself. I also liked that, despite the character development, her essence stayed the same. Her relationship with Caleb, for instance, taught her many things. Yet, she still remained Janie. As I stated earlier, I am quite disappointed in the progression of the story - I kept waiting for something to happen, but I felt that the last two books consisted of several sub-plots thrown together rather than an actual main plot. I don't believe that there was an actual plot in the books, and that brought the whole series down a lot. In conclusion, I think these books are definitely a good read, and I recommend Wake in particularly, but I advice you all to not get your hopes up when it comes to the sequels. At. All.