Reviewed by Ashley B for TeensReadToo.com
Kara Foster and her father just moved to Japan to follow their dreams after the death of Kara's mother. She is the American girl, an outsider. Then she meets Sakura, another outsider at the private school.
Sakura is haunted by her sister's death that happened during the previous school year. Then, Kara starts having nightmares. Other students turn up dead. But who is killing them?
The story went on pretty slow from the start. Being a supernatural book, I was confused about it until it really picked up the pace, which was actually not until the last few chapters. That being said, I wish the book had been paced differently to make it more interesting.
However, I was interested in the Japanese culture included in the story. I enjoyed the characters, though sometimes I did not understand Kara. DREAMS OF THE DEAD ended on a cliffhanger that intrigued me enough to want to know what will happen in the next book in the series.
Kara Foster and her father just moved to Japan to follow their dreams after the death of Kara's mother. She is the American girl, an outsider. Then she meets Sakura, another outsider at the private school.
Sakura is haunted by her sister's death that happened during the previous school year. Then, Kara starts having nightmares. Other students turn up dead. But who is killing them?
The story went on pretty slow from the start. Being a supernatural book, I was confused about it until it really picked up the pace, which was actually not until the last few chapters. That being said, I wish the book had been paced differently to make it more interesting.
However, I was interested in the Japanese culture included in the story. I enjoyed the characters, though sometimes I did not understand Kara. DREAMS OF THE DEAD ended on a cliffhanger that intrigued me enough to want to know what will happen in the next book in the series.
DREAMS OF THE DEAD is a well-written novel that combines the fascinating ways of Japanese life with your typical horror story. It may satisfy young horror fans' appetite for creepiness, but others may find it difficult to stay engaged with the slow-moving plot.
Perhaps most brilliant about this book are its endless depictions of Japanese customs. We truly get to experience Kara's discomforts, difficulties, and simultaneous fascination with Japan. Reading DREAMS OF THE DEAD was like effortlessly taking a semester abroad in Japan.
The slow plot often hinders the horror component of this book. Much remains a mystery as Kara experiences her nightmares and is forced to observe her classmates' deaths, and while this was suspenseful at first, it quickly grew too prolonged to hold my attention. Honestly, not enough interesting and horrifying things happen to justify the number of pages it takes to get to the sadly rushed ending.
That being said, there aren't that many straightforward, classic horror stories anymore, and so DREAMS OF THE DEAD fills a welcome deficient spot in the YA genre. Pick this up to experience a slightly creepy story in a fascinating foreign world; it'll make you want to move to Japan yourself--though not for the horror part.
Perhaps most brilliant about this book are its endless depictions of Japanese customs. We truly get to experience Kara's discomforts, difficulties, and simultaneous fascination with Japan. Reading DREAMS OF THE DEAD was like effortlessly taking a semester abroad in Japan.
The slow plot often hinders the horror component of this book. Much remains a mystery as Kara experiences her nightmares and is forced to observe her classmates' deaths, and while this was suspenseful at first, it quickly grew too prolonged to hold my attention. Honestly, not enough interesting and horrifying things happen to justify the number of pages it takes to get to the sadly rushed ending.
That being said, there aren't that many straightforward, classic horror stories anymore, and so DREAMS OF THE DEAD fills a welcome deficient spot in the YA genre. Pick this up to experience a slightly creepy story in a fascinating foreign world; it'll make you want to move to Japan yourself--though not for the horror part.
