Dream to Me

4 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Eva and her adult sister Rhonda are moving to a new town far from home. After the death of their father, they're looking to make a new start, and have bet all their limited resources on a house left to Eva by their aunt. But as soon as they reach town, they realize the aunt left the family a reputation as well. And that's before people Eva falls out with start falling ill.

Review
There's nothing greatly new in Dream to Me – poor memory, mental powers, a dark shadow, unexplained tragedy – but Paasch does a great job of working with familiar elements to bring an engaging story together. There is, as often with these kinds of stories, too much withholding of information for too long, but broadly, it works.

The core of the book is its characters – specifically teen protagonist Eva, her older sister Rhonda, and troubled new friend Cal. Paasch moves breezily through the setup – the kids are orphaned, there's been tragedy, they're moving to a new place – and it works well. The information about all that past comes in gradually and effectively. There's maybe a little too much eliding of basic survival information (they're almost out of money, but they're not too worried), but I was willing to buy into it. Eva is engaging and appealing without being artificial – she feels like a real kid, facing real problems.

The withholding is a practical stumbling block. Eva and Rhonda get to the town their aunt lived in, and already they have a bad reputation because of their last name. Fine. But it goes on and on and on – people shying away, but never giving any specifics. And when we finally do learn about the aunt, it's not particularly shocking. I felt that prolonged withholding was a distraction and an irritant in an otherwise solid story.

Paasch introduces an interesting character in the form of the aunt's friend Jolee – who is equally or more irritating in her witholding of information – but then underuses her. Jolee feels like a character who deserves more development. Maybe that comes in a sequel; there's none signaled, but there is room for one. I tend to prefer successful standalone books be left that way, but I've seen worse cases for a follow on.

All in all, a strong, engaging story – built on familiar elements, but a good read.