VAULT OF DREAMERS
By Caragh M. O’Brien
Genre: YA Dystopian
Pages: 418 (Hardcover)
Publisher: Holtzbrink
The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success: every moment of the students’ lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students’ schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What’s worse is, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I liked this book for the most part. The concept was super interesting, a bit of a reality show/survivor aspect that’s been really popular lately with a dash of some Frankenstein-esque science going on in the background. I have to say, Caragh M. O’Brien really did her research from video editing to brain surgery as far as I can tell. Like, wow. It wasn’t overly technical either. Just those spots of information were really well done. The plot was unique too; but the ending threw me for a bit of a loop and I have to say I was disappointed by it.
I think O’Brien does a nice job of having a full cast. Each member seems to have their own worries, but they don’t extend very far into the book. In the opening, it’s clear it’s every student for him or herself until they can fortify a friend group to rely on. After that, those outside worries (concerns of the minor characters) seemed to disappear. Which I thought was kind of sad because they were set up so well in the opening few chapters.
I think Rosie is certainly her own person and super-relatable being an artist myself. I liked her imagination a lot as well. She was a bit angsty and temperamental but with good reasons in this book, unlike the random MC who get angry over nothing, Rosie had reasons.
Linus is interesting as well and the typical teenage boy. Trust me. You’ll understand.
The Dean was fascinating, but confusing, as I guess he’s supposed to be given his overall roll. But it almost felt wrong, like O’Brien stayed too mainstream with her antagonist despite her conceptual twists.
Plot: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I liked the plot. The reality show made it hard for the characters to be themselves, and conversations were really had through passing notes and not the dry stuff that got sent over the feeds, which I thought was really nicely done. It kept readers and some other characters in the dark about who knew what parts when and how that all worked out. The ending of it took a really sharp twist thought, and while I understand why it did, it was still really jarring. And to be honest I’m not sure I understood what happened overall to Rosie in the end….
Style: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
O’Brien definitely has the teenager voice down. It was an interesting read about a world set slightly in our future but there weren’t any super-strange names for technology, so it wasn’t quite science fiction because they still had video cameras, etc. I just know it happens after 2040-something. So it’s also not that big of a time-jump.
I really didn’t have any complaints per say with this one, other than the jarring bit at the end.
I’d recommend this book to someone looking for an interesting book that questions the differences between imagination and reality and just how far we can push the boundaries of both.
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@hannahhuntwrite gives 4/5 stars to #VaultofDreamers by Caragh M. O’Brein #yalit #dystopian #imagination
Want a read that pushes the boundaries of reality and imagination? Check out #VaultofDreamers by Caragh M. O’Brien
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