Review: Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev

(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

Yay. It's been a long month, but I finished Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev last night.

I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this one as much as the first. But I loved it.

The first book had me hating Ariel who, in my opinion, didn't really love Bertie but only wanted her to say he possessed her. The second, well, there were still parts where if I'd been Bertie I'd have slapped him in the face and never spoken to him again, but, you could see it was genuine love. And Nate. He'd been my favorite of the last book. I kind of have a thing for sexy pirates. But even he made me mad for a bit in this one. Tricking Bertie the way he did.

There were some parts in the story where, had it been a movie on TV or DVD, I'd have either had to change the channel or skip the scene. Those parts were the ones that make you embarassed for the character. That make you want to rush up to them and tell them to STOP TALKING because they're just making themselves look like an idiot. I.E. Bertie telling the woman she'd take her daughter with her and raise her. Ugh. It was a train wreck.

I liked the addition of the sneak thief. He seemed like a genuinely good guy, even if he was a bit of a thief. And he proved to be a valuable addition to their little troop. The faeries, as usual, were more concerned with their bellies than anything else around them. But even that was comical in most parts. The Scrimshander made me angry for the most part. Until he had a chance to explain everything to Bertie. Then I felt sorry for him. And Sedna... well, I just tried to type up what I wanted to say about her several times but I can't without giving away too much so I'll stop there.

I loved learning more about who Bertie was and where she came from. I liked watching her grow from the troublemaking girl at the theater to what she became throughout the course of this story. She is definitely a strong female lead who, even though she finds herself in bad spots quite often, never EXPECTS a man to save her. You know, the whole "damsel in distress" bit. Not that I have anything against that but I grow tired of reading about helpless women who can't keep themselves out of trouble long enough to take 2 consecutive breaths and expect everyone to trip over themselves to save her.

Definitely a great story though. I look forward to reading the 3rd installment!!