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Lee Sinden (93 KP) created a poll

Apr 24, 2020  
Poll
Greatest female actress

Meryl Streep
Katherine Hepburn
Vivien Leigh
Jodie Foster
Judy Garland

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Grace Kelly

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renee zellweger

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Bette Davis

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Olivia de Havilland

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Elizabeth Taylor

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Cate Blanchett

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Maggie Smith
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D
Dreamstrider
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
Every time the concept “body invasion” appears in a book, I regard it with absolute awe and creepiness (an odd combination, methinks).
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Have I mentioned I feel really disturbed over the idea of someone – a dreamstrider – having the ability to take control of your body and access to your thoughts while unconscious, even for a short period of time?

The concept, however, is uber-cool. Smith brings us to a fantasy world where using dreams in the form of espionage is completely acceptable – as a dreamstrider, Livia works for the ministry, and she inhabits another person’s body while they are asleep.

If I placed Livia in a character category, she would be right next to Alina Starkov from Leigh Bardugo’s <i>Grisha</i> trilogy. Over the course of the book, she’s on the downside; on the plus side, it fits so well with Livia’s character and past. Livia lived her entire life as a tunneler, trying to survive day by day until she meets Professor Hesse, where she is introduced to her potential as a dreamstrider and the good she can do for the empire for her citizenship and freedom.
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Unlike Alina Starkov (Alina is too mopey over Mal, okay?), Livia’s mope is more realistic. She has big dreams and strives to achieve them, crushes over her best friend (it’s harder for males to be one of my best friends – that circle is <em>elite</em>), secretly sweet, and insecure/cautious about many things.

But enough about Livia and how she’s secretly awesome even though she will never <i>ever</i> admit it. I didn’t feel very into <em>Dreamstrider</em> – the passphrases in the Land of the Iron Winds are written in a very rhythmic style, but I didn’t care too much aside from the fact it sounds poetic. But poetry and I don’t get along, and this is why I will never read Ellen Hopkins. I have nothing against the author, though.
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Ellen Hopkins aside, dreaming is a big deal – it plays a part in almost everything in the Barstadt Empire, but it felt more like a cultural thing (like Greek myths are to Greeks). I’m taking it all in, but the whole dreaming thing? It’s just there, and the only big deal seemed to be using dreaming in detective work and finding out information. The whole point of the book is really just Livia becoming more confident in not just herself, but her abilities. By the end of the book, I felt satisfied, but I just wanted more from the book.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/arc-review-dreamstrider-by-lindsay-smi/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>