Dream Girl Review

Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Release date: November 10, 2009

Source: Author

Other books in the series: Dream Life (Book #2)

Claire Voyante has been having strange visions ever since she can remember. But the similarity between her name and her talents is purely coincidental. The name is French and unlike the psychics on TV, she can’t solve crimes or talk to the dead.

But that all changes on Claire’s 15th birthday, when her grandmother gives her something a little more extraordinary than one of her old cocktail dresses: a strange black-and-white onyx cameo on a gold chain. It’s not long before Claire’s world becomes a whole lot clearer. And a whole lot more dangerous.

Review:

Dream Girl was a witty, original, and well developed read. Claire, the main character, was awesome. She was smart, interesting, and kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. Mechling also has a great writing style, it's expressive and funny. The twists in the plot kept me wondering how things would end up, and the variety of interesting characters added a lot to the story.

Claire was a main character that just shone off the pages. At fifteen, she'd been through a lot and was a lot more adventurous then I ever was. Her family also played a large role in the story. Not only her parents, but her brother and grandmother, as well. Each of them had their own quirky traits that made them stand out right from the start. Kiki (her grandmother) and Claire had a great connection and Kiki was the only one that really believed/understood what Claire was going through.

This leads to me to the physic/mystery part of the novel. Claire's dreams and the mystery surrounding the necklace are a nice side to the story, but not the main plot. I did like how they helped her solve the mystery at the end and while I was not completely surprised at who the culprit was, it was an intriguing side to the book.

As I mentioned before, the characters are all unique and interesting. There is the typical mean girl clique, but they do get their comeuppance in the end. Claire's lunch crew were endearing and definitely full of individuality. Becca, Claire's best friend, was a great character that played a big role, especially in the mystery angle.

Dream Girl was an overall sweet and exciting read that will take you into Claire's life for a few hours. It really left me looking forward to the sequel, Dream Life. I'm also anxious to see where the physic angle goes, as well as seeing what role my favorite characters play, and what new ones are introduced.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars