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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Lucid in Books

Jan 23, 2020  
L
Lucid
Jay Bonansinga | 2015
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<i>Lucid</i> is really weird – it's <b>not exactly a book with contents that I usually come across.</b> The last time I actually read a book that dealt with dreams was <i><a title="The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-the-vault-of-dreamers-by-caragh-m-obrien/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Vault of Dreamers</a></i>. <i>Lucid</i> kind of... <b>throws in dreams and nightmares together</b> when Lori Blaine's psychologist encourages her to finally go through a door reoccurring in her dreams for years. When Lori does, she is plunged into another world entirely where danger lurks around every corner.

<b>Bonansinga writes in a different style than what you might be used to.</b> As I read <i>Lucid</i>, <b>I felt like I was watching an episode of a TV series, or just merely an actress reading a script.</b> While Lori is our main character most of the time, <b>the author shifts outside of the character's thoughts every so often</b> and focuses on the dialogue and actions of the people around her. There's are a few moments where it's <b>almost as though there's a narrator observing everything going on but accidentally slips up and quickly tries to fix everything by repositioning the camera. Meanwhile, the characters, or "actors," pretend not to notice.</b>
<blockquote style="text-align: left;">They swerved around the body, which lay in a heap near the shoulder—giving it a wide berth—and then roared off into the night.

They never saw the body behind them casually sit up, rise to its feet, and walk away.

“I promise I’ll tell you everything,” Lori was saying, searching through the glove box, as the damaged Geo chugged down a hill.</blockquote>
I've also <b>never seen so many caps in a book before.</b> I don't mean the first letter in every sentence, I mean the I'M YELLING AT YOU THOUGH INTERMASPACE kind. (Or <a title="Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/dnf-review-daughter-of-deep-silence-by-carrie-ryan/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">my brain is raging at a book.</a> It's not necessarily one I didn't finish.)

<i>Lucid</i> is very <b>action-packed and vivid, but I don't really feel like this is a stand alone.</b> There's a pretty solid ending, but there may be a subtle loose end or two (I'll have to mull it over in my brain). <b>The dream world, however...</b>

I'm still very confused. I know there are five stages of sleep: brain activity slows down in the first, brain activity is everywhere in the second as the body transitions into the third stage, where brain activity is low. The fourth stage is similar to the third stage as the body prepares for the fifth stage, which is known as REM, or rapid eye movement, and dreams come alive.

I totally summarized that part. I probably came across this on a boring day and didn't remember anything but rapid eye movement is where dreams occur. REM is also a unit of measurement measuring the amount of radiation absorbed by human tissue. *drum rolls* I promise I'm not showing off.

Anyhoo, back to this whole dream world thing Bonansinga built <i>Lucid</i> on. According to the book, <b>there are three dimensions.</b> There's <b>WAKEworld</b>, which I assume is when all of us are awake and slouching in office/desk chairs (or curled up with a good book); <b>REMspace</b>, which I assume is the dream world and where you dream; and then there's <b>LIMBOspace/LIMBOworld</b>, which, knowing the word limbo, it's the middle world between dreams and wakefulness.

<b>I get the gist. But I don't <i>understand</i> how this whole LIMBOspace/LIMBOworld works.</b> I mean, <b>is it connected to that in-between where you're not living or dead,</b> because it's connected to comatose states? <b>What happens if Lori actually "ran out of time?"</b> She'll be a vegetable, most likely, but <b>if she runs out of time... is she a vegetable forever until her body is just a pile of bones and dust somewhere? But then what happens when you <i>are</i> a pile of bones and dust somewhere? Do you continue existing in this LIMBOspace, or do you just disappear?</b>

I could be over thinking this and taking it a curious step further than what is actually necessary (I would still wonder about that connection to comatose states though). <b><i>Lucid</i> has mind-boggling and creepy moments throughout the book, but it's really just similar to someone trying to stop demons entering the real world. Bonansinga just takes it from a dream level rather than an inferno one.</b> Points given for a unique take on an overused plot.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-lucid-by-jay-bonansinga/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
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Rachel King (13 KP) rated Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers, #2) in Books

Feb 11, 2019  
TF
Thunderbird Falls (Walker Papers, #2)
C.E. Murphy | 2006
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The second book in the Walker Papers series was more enjoyable than the first one for me, simple because I like Joanne's sense of humor. She pokes fun at herself relentlessly, whether it be in her thoughts or outloud in conversation, which makes her superhuman abilities not so off-putting. At one part she makes the remark that the people who are given the strongest powers usually don't even want them - the universe's way of creating balance. This is a great summary of Joanne's reluctance to be who she is supposed to be. The irony of this book is that reluctance is what she needs most in this book in order to defeat the Big Bad of this book, but she spends most of the book working on acceptance. She has a certain klutz factor in everything she does, and yet she still ends up on top no matter what the situation is.
The lack of romantic interludes I find rather discouraging, since she seems to have a few potential men in her sights but refuses to act on her attractions. With the chemistry building between her and her boss, a lack of activity feels like a loose end left hanging.
Another factor that felt like a loose end was Joanne's search for a spirit animal. While she did the search in the plot, and did come out with one, the ending made it look like she lost her spirit animal, so does she still have one or not? It seems like an awful lot of work to come up empty-handed.
Loose end number three was the outcome of the coven that Joanne joined. Nothing was stated to indicate if she was still a member, or what they intend to do about the events that they played a part in.
I was also rather confused about what the meaning of several of the scenes was, such as her encounter with the big Coyote and her sight-reversal of color. Neither of these, as well as other things, were explained much at all. I feel like I should research what shamanism is before I read anymore of this series, as it does not look like the author is inclined to delve into the details.