With Nicholas Sparks’ books, you have to be ready for your dose of some serious medical ailment. In aptly named Dreamland, we see life through the lens of a unique character.
And while mentioning the condition would be a major spoiler at this point, it’s worth saying that the big reveal at the end is profound and stands in stark contrast with the otherwise tender love story going on in the other half of the plot.
Colby, a twenty-five-year-old former rebel, has his life turned on its head when he meets Morgan, a young girl with the world at her feet.
Their lives collide in a melody of song, and with each tune struck, they fall even more deeply for each other, until circumstance punctures their small bubble.
For Beverley, who struggles with demons from her past, it will be a matter of survival, or not, as her experiences will shape the very course, and indeed, the fallout in Colby and Morgan’s love story
To start with, I did not see that big connection coming, thunderstruck I was when it surfaced. Although I can’t make any direct reference to it without spoiling Dreamland for readers, I should say here that it was one of the most exciting things about the story.
I won’t say I was totally satisfied with the handling of Colby and Morgan’s romance, as, at some point, I had cause to suspect that she was simply using him for his musical talent. But, whether or not this was the case, she clearly fell in love with him somewhere along the way.
Still, I didn’t really feel the tenderness from her until the end, when she came into his life proper for a bit. There, we saw a feminine side to her that I wouldn’t have imagined she had in her locker, given how the author portrayed her from the start.
As such, I wouldn’t say Morgan was the best-written female character, which, once again, feeds into the controversial agenda that male romance authors don’t write female leads well.
The prologue made things a bit more unrealistic, as I think the author might have felt some compulsion to portray a bit of a happy ending, after the abruptness of the main conflict in the story. The resolution, as such, was far from satisfactory.
The health-related theme that this story touched on was powerfully delivered, and Dreamland is a better book for that reason.
Nicholas Sparks is my favourite romance author by far, and in this story, it’s easy to see why.
