Heather’s Bookshelf: I Dream in Color
Author: Sarah Mazza
Released: 11/7/2020
Genre: Dystopian SciFi
“My name is Alex Johansson, and I am a man who chose this. I chose to give up my body. To become lost in a dream. To never wake up again. Except that I did.”
“I Dream in Color” begins by introducing Alex Johansson as he wakes up after choosing to donate his body to science. Alex agreed to do so with the promise of placing his consciousness in a dream world that removed him from the trauma of the real world. He was never supposed to wake up, but he did, and now he must deal with everything that he was trying to escape from in the first place.
Alex begins his re-entry into the world (a moon satellite colony far away from Earth) with aspirations of bettering himself. He seeks staying sober, employment, and a place to live all his own. But soon he finds that while he dreamed the world around him did not improve and neither did his standing in that world. He both experiences and witnesses several kinds of discrimination and violence that threaten to break his spirit and dissolve his hope.
There are several scenes in this book that are absolutely heartbreaking. I found the scene with Alex and his brother to be especially poignant and excruciating. The distressing nature of the story begs for signs of positivity, so when something with even a little bit of light happens it really shines through.
Fair Warning: Adult language, violence, several forms of discrimination, references to sexual abuse, drug abuse, suicide
Overall, I found the book to be an interesting backstory and setup for a series. I thought that the main character of Alex was well developed and his interactions with many of the ancillary characters believable. Alex’s journey and emotional roller coaster left me so hoping that he would find happiness or at least peace. My heart went out to him, his friends, and their desire to make something more of their lives just to have it snatched away at every turn. I found the structure of the story to be a little confusing at times although it was mostly cleared up by the end of the story. The ending was also a completely different direction than the rest of the story, which I appreciated for future tales, but thought that it took away from the trauma of the first 75% of the book. It also seemed really rushed especially compared with the rest of the well paced novel. I am interested in seeing where the scifi portion of this story goes in the future.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A heartbreaking and dark journey into a dystopian world. The ending’s a little rushed, but an interesting setup for future stories.
Want to learn more about the author? Check out my interview with Sarah Mazza:
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
Find it for purchase here:
(paid link by Amazon Associates)
Interested in submitting your book for review? Visit my review page for guidelines and submission requirements.
