Dream Student (The Dream Doctor Mysteries Book 1)

Dream Student started out with such potential, but it progressively just got worse and worse for me. I was really excited to start reading it at first, the first few chapters drew me in and made me want to find out what was going on. It quickly became tedious and kind of boring though. Unfortunate.**some spoilers ahead**Sara is a pre-med college student and suddenly she starts being able to see other people's dreams. Not often, usually her roommate or boyfriend, but then they jump to a murderer. It is always the same thing until he kills the current girl and moves on to the next one. An interesting idea, and the dreams were the best part of the book, but it just didn't work for me. Maybe if they would have been a bigger part, and there would have been more dreams that weren't so normal, or just more people's dreams, it would have been more interesting. That and if Sara did something about the dreams, or used them for good, for the first 75% of the book.So what was the first 75% of the book? Well it was a pretty boring, detailed description of Sara going to school. I swear you were told everything she ate, or didn't eat, or when she forgot to eat. It seemed like every single mealtime was in there. Why? I am not sure. I don't care. That is just one of the over detailed descriptions about her life in this book. There are also way too much detail about what classes she was going to and her study habits and just everything about her life. She is a college kid, finals are coming up, you don't have to detail every hour of her day. I will assume she is studying and going to class and eating sometimes. It was a bit too much.The other issue with the book? It was almost all telling not showing. I like showing. If you just tell me I don't connect with the characters or what is happening. Sara meets Brian shortly after she sees his dream where he is dreaming of her. I actually liked that scene, liked how Sara described the love at first sight thing. I got it, but then it quickly just was not right for me. I don't know what it was. It was like someone who didn't know what this would be like writing what they think people would want to see or something. It was just off for me. Sara and Brian are both in love right away which was actually fine for me, but some of the thoughts she had about Brian...some of the ways she thought of him were just...I wouldn't want someone to think of me that way. It was almost like she didn't really like him that much at times, but for some reason she felt like she had to be with him. It was odd and I didn't like it. I didn't see the connection because once again we were told not shown. That and sometimes she spoke about herself in a strange way as well. She also got a different personality when all of this started, and she commented on it like why did I say that? I didn't know I wanted to do that until I said it? Odd. I've never spoken like that to anyone before, etc. It was just like she was being controlled by something or someone else, but nothing ever happened with that. It was just the way it was.One last thing, this book is set in 1989/1990. I am not sure why. Really the only reason I know this is because the date was at the beginning of every chapter. It was just like if you are going to set the book at a certain time then set it in that time. There was only one or two scenes where I thought oh if this were now they would just use their cell phone or something. Basically there was no way to tell this was set in 1989/1990. It was just another thing I found odd.So the last 25% of the book Sara finally decides to start trying to do something with her dreams. She finally figures out who the killer is (who unfortunately is the guy I figured it would be when you first see him at the beginning of the story) and then instead of going to the police they try and solve the crime themselves! I mean what if the police don't believe them? I get that, but really if it were me I would go to them first. If they did nothing then maybe I would try and stop it myself. But police first. Really when I saw the first girl who was killed and recognized her from my dreams I would have went to them to try and help with the next girl. Even if they didn't believe me I would have tried, and afterwards I would start trying to figure out if I can find a way to figure out who the killer is. I mean you have access to his dreams so maybe you can find something. I wouldn't just try not to think about it and hope it goes away and I don't have to continue seeing girls who are murdered every night. I guess that is just me.Overall not a very good read. It had so much promise, but it just didn't work for me.This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

For me this book starts out very slow it than takes off as Sarah starts dreaming. She wakes up in a nightmare but soon comes to realize that she is seeing into other people’s dreams. When she first sees Brian and knows he is the man in her dreams she goes over to him to talk. They soon become very close as you watch their relationship grow. The author gives a very unique twist to this story which makes it very interesting. The author does but a twist in with her having nightmares about a girl getting raped and killed. She doesn’t know this girl but the face of the attacker is knows she knows him. The ending does play apart with her dreams It does end on a good note. Some will love this book others will not it will depend on what you like.I did like Sarah she is just a great character the author told her story very well. She is just the sweeties thing. Brian was a great guy who doesn’t know how to take her at first. When he first sees her he tries to talk his self into going to talk to her but as he finally gets there she comes up missing. He dreams of her each night. When they finally get it together and talk it is a very touching story.This isn’t a completely dark story nor is it a touchy feeling one but somewhere in between. There are areas I loved and others I did not. I had thought it would be more supernatural but I did not find it so. It was a good read the author gives you wonderful characters and a great plot. I wouldn’t say this book did it for me nor would I say it did not. I am kind of on the fence. I am glad I did read it and thought it was a different kind of read that I enjoyed. The author does give you a good base for the rest of the series. I am going to wait and see what I think if the whole pictures but for now I give it a 4 star and look forward to reading more from this author.

My reading this book, was a direct result of my avoiding reading something from my huge TBR pile. I received it from one of the freebie book sites that I get daily emails from, just this week. This book combined my love of the supernatural, with a serial killer read, also a favorite of mine.Sara is twenty one, and a premed student at a Cleveland college. The year is 1989. She lives with her best friend, Beth, in a dorm. Out of the blue, she dreams about a young man that she doesn’t know, and he in turn, dreams about her-at the same time. While he is dreaming about her, they are aware of each other, as if it was really happening. One night, while out with her friends, she actually sees the man from her dreams, and they both know each other. And they immediately fall for each other-insta-love, and all that. At that point, Brian becomes a main character, along with Sara and Beth. It’s not long before Sara dreams of another man, one that is murdering young girls. Not only is she seeing it, but actually feels like she is in the room, while it is happening.This is told in the first person of Sara for the most part, but the dreams are told in the 3rd person. That was really different for me. It worked because I wasn’t confused, but at first it took a bit to get used to. The character of Sara was smart, pretty, and although she goes after Brian when she first sees him, that’s not the type of person she normally is-an introvert. Brian is two years younger than Sara, and only a freshman. He is already smitten with Sara before he meets her, so he is more then willing to get involved with her. Beth is the beautiful one, but she is a great best friend, and sidekick for Sara. Both Sara and Beth, are pretty fully realized by the author, but at the end of the book, I still didn’t feel like I knew Brian that well. He’s just a nice young guy, with a controlling mother, and other then that, I kept waiting for more from him. He does have his sweet moments with Sara, of course, but I just wanted more from him.Nightmares happen throughout this book, and actually carry over into real life, courtesy of a serial killer. When Sara realizes who the killer is, there is a lot of back story to explain the whys, and that was a good thing. However, I knew who the killer was very early on in the story. I really don’t like figuring things out that early. Another aspect I wasn’t a fan of, was the insta-love thing. I know it is used a lot in books, but I think that part could have been done a bit better. I also, would really like to better understand why no one bothers to go to the police? At times, I just wanted to yell at the characters to do so!This book reads as young adult at times, but due to sexual situations, is actually an adult read-although nothing too specific. At times, it was a bit slow, and I think it could have benefited from some more of the serial killer, or paranormal aspects. However, that being said, I actually,for the most part, enjoyed the story. The use of the year 1989, was kind of fun, as it pointed out how we used to live without cell phones, or decent computers. It is part one of eight books, but I am not sure yet, if I will be continuing on with it-which brings me back full circle to my huge TBR pile, for my reason not to continue. If you enjoy psychic mysteries, that take place at college, this could be a good read for you.(RabidReads.com)

I received a copy of Dream Student in exchange for an honest review (thank you very much!).I did really like the premise of Dream Student from the start, but I did find it hard to get into at first. It took me a few times to really get into the book and see what it had to offer. Overall, it was really good but I do agree with other reviewers that the beginning was a bit slow. Although, once I read through a couple of the chapters I was sucked in and I finished the book within a few hours. The plot was very enticing and I constantly wanted to know what would happen next.The highlight of this book for me, were the characters. This was one of the rare books that had clearly well-developed characters who were unique compared to other typical young adult characters. The characters also further develop over the journey of the book but in their own time. Mr. DiBenedetto did this perfectly making the characters feel real to me! I've sometimes felt that authors push their characters to develop far to quickly, taking the journey out of the book but I didn't feel like that for one second over the duration of this book.The only reason I gave Dream Student a four star rating instead of a five, is because I did feel that some parts of the book just moved too slow for my liking. I would recommend this book to all of my friends. It was absolutely amazing!I can't wait to read the next books!

Nightmares are bad enough, but to find that you are in some one else's dreams, and then to find that the dreams are a precursor to murder, that would do anyone's head in.However, are you heroine is made of stancer stuff than that. Having meet her "boyfriend", Brian,through a dream, she was the one to take the initiative in real life, and boy, was that an electric mixer!!Then, with the help of her friends, they figure out who, what, when and why, about the murderer and his next victim. Do they succeed?? You best read, or as I did, listen, to the author's words, they tell the full and complete story, in such a way, you feel like one of the group. Fantastic read!!

Enjoyable read, different and good characters, looking forward to reading more of this series and following her explodes, should be interesting

I really enjoyed reading dream student and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. It is an easy, light hearted book which kept you interested until the end

This book was a good read and had a romantic ideal of true love as well as a more pragmatic character more inclined towards baser needs (not in the same relationship, thankfully). The friendships were strong and realisic and the plot was well paced.The central idea of dreaming the future was done well and you could believe the central character's despair and emotional distress at what they were forced to watch each night.There are many aspects of this story which are strong but it did not leave me with a lingering impression and the ending was a little too gung-ho for my tastes. The characters could have left an anonymous tip for the police, for example. I also felt that the relationships were at times a little too cosy and at others a little too geared towards the young adult market for me to enjoy, which is why I couldn't give it the full five stars.Having said this, younger readers and lovers of young adult fiction should love the book as a laidback, romantic read with a dangerous mystery threaded throughout.