#Tuesday Review - Sixteen by Jen Estes #YALit #Science Fiction @jenestesdotcom @CuriosityQuills

Series: The Dreamwalker Diaries # 2
Format: Kindle 
Release Date: January 17th 2017
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Six months ago, Ashling Campbell’s life was good. Okay, so the sleep deprivation sucked, but that’s what happens when you’re murdered by bloodthirsty demons on a nightly basis via freaky supernatural nightmares. That’s why she stepped up to her calling as a dreamwalker. But if she’d known that saving her town meant giving up everyone she loved, she’d have let that call go straight to voicemail.

She wants another chance. Just one. And the key to that chance lies with finding the mysterious stranger who disappeared shortly after her life went to hell. Her new mission is to dreamwalk again, or die trying.

The Jumlin wants another chance too. Just one. And the key to that chance lies with finding the weird sophomore who showed up just before he could summon hell on earth. His new mission is to stop the line of dreamwalkers, by killing just one – a girl that seems all too eager to die.
If Ash’s plan is to succeed, she’ll have to outsmart the immortal demon, piece together her thorny family tree, deal with a friend’s untimely return, and pass her driver’s test – all before she turns… SIXTEEN.

Sixteen is the second installment in author Jen Estes' The Dreamwalker Diaries. 16-year old Ashling (Ash) Campbell is a sophomore at Billings HS in Montana. She once believed that if you died in your dreams, you died in real life. In Fifteen, Ash discovered that she is someone who is extremely rare. She is a dreamwalker. She can travel to the future, & arrive in an older version of herself. She even learns about a bleak future where she joins a rebellion and fights against evil.  

Thanks to her extraordinary efforts 6 months ago, Walker Smith, aka the Bad Guy, aka Jumlin Demon Spawn who was responsible for Ash's horrific loss, was stopped in his tracks. He plans for Billings was stopped, and his one piece that could have made Smith win, was taken off the board, and sent away. Ash is still suffering from that loss, and the betrayal of her best friend Tate Witko who left her behind to run away with her foster sister Nadette.

Ash has tried a number of different avenues to time travel back to the day of the incident, but her attempts have landed her in hot water with the law, and with her surrogate Aunt Levaughn. Ash realizes that something drastic needs to be done since the next celestial event that will allow her to Dreamwalk, won't happen for another 15 years. Her search for Dr. Robert Dietz, who she met in Fifteen, ends up with some very interesting revelations, and an emotional visit to the past, and a plan to ensure that Smith never gets the chance to hurt anyone Ash knows again.

There are several parts of this story that stood out for me. The first was the prologue which took readers back in time to the very first Dreamwalker. I liked this because it puts Ash's and her fellow Dreamwalker's purpose into perspective, and also adds a diverse addition to the series. The second is that Ash has a bit of a romance angle going on in this book, and it is not who you would have thought. In fact, her love interest isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty in order to help Ash with her counter punch to Walker Smith. 

The character I most feel for is Skylar Smith. She's Ash's friend, and one that has done whatever she can to make Ash feel like she's necessary in the face of antagonism from Skylar's rich friends. But, there are spoiler issues that I can't nor won't discuss with regards to Skylar. One can hope that she lands on her feet, and gets the payback she deserves. I also love Aunt Levaughn for simplistic reasons. Here is a woman who is now mayor, who is guardian to Ash, who has to watch as Ash unravels, and then she finds herself being part of Ash's new demon hunters. 

I do hope that the author and publisher releases the third installment within the next year. We have waited two long years for this novel to be released, and even though it doesn't

disappoint, one can not know where they will be in a year, or even if they will still be alive by then.

#Wednesday Review - Fifteen by Jen Estes (Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel)

Series: The Dreamwalker Diaries # 1
Format: MOBI, 233 pages
Release Date: January 15, 2015
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Time Travel

Legend has it if you die in your dreams, you die in real life. Fifteen-year-old Ashling Campbell knows that’s not true because when she closes her eyes each night, she doesn’t dream about public nudity or Prom dates. Instead, she’s catapulted to the front row of her future self’s execution - fifteen years from now - where monsters have taken control of her hometown and she, or rather, her 30-year-old counterpart, is their public enemy number one.

For three months and counting, it’s been the same dream… until an encounter with an antique dreamcatcher. Ash falls asleep to discover she’s no longer a mere spectator in these dreams - now she’s astral-projecting into the body of her future self. Each night, she goes on the run with a ragtag group of rebels - who have no idea she’s really a high school sophomore and not their noble warrior. She has to make it through each night so that she can wake up and find a way to change the future. For every action she does in the present day, she falls asleep to discover it had an equal impact fifteen years later. It’s up to her to manage her two worlds and make sure she’s still got a place in both.

Fifteen is the first installment in Jen Estes The Dreamwalker Diaries. Meet 15 year old Ashling Campbell. Ash once believed that if you died in your dreams, you died in real life. Thankfully for Ash, that legend is debunked each time she falls asleep. Especially the last 90 days. You see, Ash has been having dreams about her 30-year old future self. It is a future where Billings is a dark, bleak town run by demons and she is enemy number one. But, after tampering with a dreamcatcher and coming back with clear injuries, things take a turn leading Ash to be more than an unwilling participant in her future selves actions. 

Thanks also to a chance encounter with the mysterious Dr. Robert Dietz, Ash is able to enter into dreams at a certain points, and twist events that go in her favor. Perhaps over eagerly. Think the Butterfly Effect. Future Billings, Montana is ruled by his Royal creepiness, Walker Smith, and laws of the Jumlin rule the land. Ash has her own group of rebels including Coop, Reyna, James, and Cyrus. But it is her present day that is chaotic, and trying to balance between her two realities definitely takes a toll. 

I truly abhorred her twisted foster sister Nadette. She, like Walker Smith, are truly evil and deserve each other. Then there is the supposed best friend, Tate. Tate is all in when it comes to Lakota mythology and legends and how it ties to Ash. He is also all about Nadette even knowing that Ash needs someone to help her figure out what is happening to her. He knows things that eventually do add up to a stunned and confused Ash who had that she's a dreamwalker. 

There are some things I am hoping to see a change in the sequel. I would like to know more about 30-year old Ash who is apparently some sort of badass, unlike her 15-year old self. I won't begrudge the younger Ash. Ash is thrown into a difficult situations, faces shocking events and twists, and handles herself remarkably well considering. I liked the romance between future Ash and Coop, but again, I need more. Perhaps the next book can spend more time in the future tying up questions.

I do hope we see a sequel this year. Apparently the author spent #NaNoWriMo writing the sequel. I truly hope Fifteen isn't a one hit wonder. Readers like me get immersed into the story, the world building, and the characters. We need to have our egos stoked, and our conscious clear when the series has made it to the final gates and became a successful series. I also need to have the ending explained a bit more to me. After all, leaving a book on that note, makes me crazy!

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