2 out of 4 stars
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Some Dreams are for Real is a young adult novel by Garrett Lowry. The story focuses on fourteen-year-old Emma who dies after her family’s vehicle is involved in a car accident. Her spirit is guided on a new journey by her higher self as she tries to understand the spiritual realm and her true purpose. She develops angelic powers and uses them to help her family and friends after her death. Can she heal their grief and save them all from the struggles they are facing without her? Moreover, will she extend a spiritual helping hand to the teenage girl who was responsible for the accident that claimed her life? Emma touches many lives and continues to guide people away from the path of destruction, but the main question is whether or not she will get a second chance at life.
What I liked most about the book was that it dealt with many controversial issues that young people are likely to be a part of such as LGBTQ discrimination, partying with drugs and alcohol, sharing nude photos, and using cellphones while driving. Other issues were confronted in the novel as well, such as the sexual molestation of minors, homelessness, crime, family separation, immigration, and gun violence.
I appreciated that the author included aspects of Mexican culture in the book. Descriptions of Mexican food, Spanish phrases, and coming of age events like Emma’s quinceanera added a unique and exotic flair to the story. Side stories portraying the difficulties faced by more than one Mexican family as they struggled with immigration really highlighted the plight of Mexican migrants.
Despite these two positive features of the book, I felt like the author did a lot of telling rather than showing. This is what I disliked the most. For instance, if a character was fearful or anxious, this was simply stated. Instead, the author could have used descriptions of his/her body language and feelings to show this. Although the story was told from Emma’s perspective, many things were described outside of this. For instance, whenever a new character was introduced, a backstory was included. This was unnecessary for supporting characters.
Furthermore, a lot of statistical and scientific information was included in the book. This was most prevalent when a new social issue was revealed. Data from studies about teen sexting, violent video games, poor teen decisions due to underdeveloped brains, and cellphone use while driving were just a few things that were incorporated into the story. While this is important information, it made me feel as if I were reading an educational textbook rather than a novel. This aspect of the book was very off-putting to me and it may also repel some teen readers. Emma also intuitively seemed to know about all of these studies and statistics which was not credible at all.
Based on these flaws, the typographical errors, and the punctuation mistakes I spotted in the book, I have decided to award Some Dreams are for Real 2 out of 4 stars. The target audience for this novel would be teens and young adults who enjoy angelic and heroic stories. Young readers who don’t like reading about intense themes like those mentioned in the second paragraph of this review might also want to refrain from reading this one.
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"Some Dreams are for Real"
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