[Book Review] Jillian Spectre & The Dream Weaver By Nic Tatano & Paramount Coffee Almond Amaretto
Title: Jillian Spectre & The Dream Weaver
Series/Universe: The Adventures of Jillian Spectre #2
Author: Nic Tatano
Publisher: HarperCollins UK / HarperImpulse
Publication date: April 16th 2015
Page Count: 288 pages
Age Rating:Young Adult & Up (some violence, vague sexual references, death)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a ARC to review
Publisher’s page: Jillian Spectre & The Dream Weaver
There’s a new villain in town…
One who can manipulate dreams and reality to the point that people can’t tell the difference.
This is a job for Jillian Spectre.
The snarky eighteen year old redhead with paranormal powers has already saved the world once but now she’s under attack by a force that might be above her pay grade.
The Dream Weaver.
When Jillian’s own dreams are invaded she finds herself desperately trying to separate reality from fantasy – and struggle with a totally inappropriate crush on someone who isn’t her mind reading boyfriend, Ryan.
When her own soul is on the line as the Dream Weaver manipulates her, Jillian has one shot to save herself and the rest of the world… or she and the rest of the world could be trapped in their dreams forever.
My Review
When last we saw seer/astral projector/healer Jillian Spectre and her also-paranormally-gifted friends, they were busy getting through their senior year of high school and stopping Jillian’s deadbeat, technopathic (and kind of psychopathic) dad from taking over society. Now, while facing the challenges of their first year of college, the group is once again called upon to save the world as they know it – this time from the Dream Weaver, a powerful enemy who can bend a person’s reality and manipulate them into a dream-like state, even if they’re wide awake at the time.
Like the book before it, Jillian Spectre And The Dream Weaver has a lot of character and voice. Reading it was like being told a story by a charismatic friend – every page was just awash with personality. The book has a really interesting story line, one which managed to throw me a few curveballs in the end. I really thought I had predicted what was going to happen and then –Wham! – what? Fantastic. I love being surprised like that, especially when I was kind of thinking the plot might be a little too predictable. I also loved how this book was able to take things that every college student experiences – that teacher that should have retired a decade ago, the hot teacher, the temptation to stray from your high school sweetheart (if you have one) – and blend it in with a fight to save society from a paranormal bad guy. Kind of made me nostalgic for my college days (which, sadly, were paranormal plot free 🙁 )
Overall, Jillian Spectra And The Dream Weaver was fast and fun and engaging all the way through; there seriously were no slow parts where I was even tempted to put the book down. While the book can tentatively be read as a standalone if you want to, there are a few things that you’ll understand better if you read the first book in the series (see my review: The Adventures of Jillian Spectra), but you won’t be completely lost if you don’t.
When Jillian enjoyed a cup of Almond Amaretto coffee at the campus coffee bar in Jillian Spectra And The Dream Weaver it was a very pleasant surprise for me and brought a very large smile to my face. You see, last year when I reviewed The Adventures Of Jillian Spectra, the author sent me a lovely thank you note and included some coffee recommendations of his own. One of those recommendations was Paramount Coffee Ugly Sweater Almond Amaretto. Sadly, I was unable to get my hands on that particular coffee. However, I was able to try some Paramount Coffee Almond Amaretto (which I’m pretty sure is a rose by another name) and it was delicious – the medium roast coffee tasted just like the almond liqueur for which it’s named. So, technically, this coffee recommendation comes from the author, not me, but I’m happy to pass it on 🙂 .
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One Comment
Nic Tatano
Thanks for the kind review. As for the coffee, when I couldn’t find “Ugly Sweater” I called Paramount Coffee and they dropped that name, just calling it almond amaretto. It’s the exact same thing. So you got the same flavor we love…we actually buy it in five pound bags directly from them.