Dreamer

by Multi Mind

Vera has unusual dreams—anything she dreams comes alive. Dream traveling, her family calls it. Doing it all her life, dream traveling doesn't affect Vera as much as it used to. She has her rules and her methods—as long as she follows them, all is fine until she sees something she discovered she couldn't handle.

Now, her dreams are plagued by the Hunter, a deadly character that wants nothing more than to haunt her mind and leave behind a bloody spree. Vera must find a way to get the Hunter out of her head before he makes sure she never wakes up again.

So much for "sweet dreams".

Genres: Audiobook, Fantasy

Audible Audio

Published April 21, 2022

Reviews

[Amanda at Bookish Brews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreamer comes out next week so I'm doing a giveaway over on Twitter from March 12-19!! Check it out here!

Imaginative, dark, sharp, enthralling, magical, exciting, dangerous

Dreamer is a wonderfully imaginative novella for those who love light magic and rock music. Dream Traveling is such a captivating magic that it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. My dreams are heavily influenced by real-life (especially horror movies) and so seeing Vera be tormented by her dreams like this poured right into my subconscious. Highly imaginative and smart, this novella is sure to pull you in.

Quick Summary: Vera’s family has a secret power that is passed down through the generations. They call it Dream Traveling, anything they dream comes to life. Since Vera has been doing it her whole life, she knows the rules to keep herself safe but after discovering something that she couldn’t handle, she finds herself plagued by violent and dangerous dreams and her injuries follow her into the real world. Now, Vera must find a way to get this out of her head so she can rest safely before she ends up not waking up ever again.

Dreamer is a delight for music lovers and people who love when stories make them believe in magic. Vera’s ability is imaginative and hidden from the world, it is also something that sparks an innate wonder (and fear!) in us. Could this be real? Is it just hidden from us? Dreams becoming a reality is both an immense joy, an overwhelming terror, a useful escape, and a generational gift and MultiMind manages to capture it all in Dreamer. Continue reading...

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[dreamgirlreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this quick read about a Dream Traveler, her nightmares, and how she overcomes them but I wanted more. Will definitely check out other works by this author.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreamer though a short novel, packs an incredible punch overall. It’s a thrill ride where once you start reading the book you won’t want to stop. Readers follow Vera, who has the ability to “dream travel”. This special ability was passed down through her family in multiple generations. She and her mom have been grappling with this all their lives and try to balance the real world and the dreamscape. But what happens when dreams turn into a seemingly neverending nightmare?

Read the full book review on the blog at: https://www.lifeofafemalebibliophile....

[Amara Brianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

thank you to netgalley for providing me with this arc!! 3.5 stars! i was pleasantly surprised by this book! as someone who always used to wish my dreams would come true in a sense, this book definitely taught me to be careful what you wish for. I liked the main character Vera a lot, and i loved her relationship with her mom. The storytelling, plot and vivid descriptions the author provided in this book were really astonishing. The only thing i would change is the ending. i would of loved a more intense final battle between vera and the hunter, had that happened this would of easily been a 4 star read.

[Fini (Hozier’s Version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆

How is this so criminally underrated???

I genuinely found the ambience and plot amazing; I loved the setting of the record store, I loved the characters, I loved the "magic" system, and I overall just enjoyed this book, and it was scary af at times.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good start for an up & coming author!

The descriptions are vivid, and just when you feel like the story is slowing down, it picks up and shocks you. The fear element, especially from the dream aspect, is very relatable--how quickly dreams can go from lovely to horrifying. The mind is a wild thing.

There were a few moments that dragged a little, and they were actually outside of the dream world. A little more sharpening, and MM will go far with their writing! I want to more about the dream gift and the Hunter, because there was a hint based on something he said in one of the dreams near the end of the book. I need to know more! I can't wait to see what happens next.

[ywanderingreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can we take a second to appreciate how gorgeous this cover is? It really fits the title and gave me a sense of what the story is going to be about. I went into this one blind and purely requested for this based off the cover!

This story follows Vera who has the ability to bring her dreams to life, an ability that has been passed down form her family and everything she dreamed about will follow her to real life. She has never had any issues with her ability until the Hunter, a dark figure enters her dreams and aims to take her life. She can no longer keep this a secret as her life is in danger. How can she defeat the Hunter and keep herself safe?

Since this is a novella, there are alot of details packed into this short story but even then I feel it is not enough. There isn’t any real backstory to Vera and how she learnt to control her abilities. I would loved to have read more about Vera’s family and how their abilities came about.

There was already such a great plot to the story but the ending was quite a let down. The part that let me down was how quickly Hunter was defeated considering how powerful he claimed to be. I also had some trouble with the pacing. The first part of the story felt draggy as there isn’t much going on with the plot. A big chunk consisted of Vera’s mundane life at the music store and nothing happens with her dreams until more than halfway through which is also the part I enjoyed the most.

I did enjoy reading some parts of this but I wished there were more. Thank you Netgalley and MultiMind Publishing for the arc.

[Fable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a copy of this novella on NetGalley. I love dream magic stories, I love characters that can influence reality in their dreams by their wish or involuntarily. I read the synopsis and had to give this one a try. Vera has a power, a hereditary power, that makes her dreams come to life. She has always been able to ‘Dream Travel’ and knows how to keep herself safe. Until her safety maneuvers fail to work and she finds herself trapped in dreams with a murderous character from a horror movie. The concept is intriguing and brought forth well, the small cast of characters are likeable and relatable, and the imagery is really well done. I adore the music shop, I know a store just like it and it is so well developed in this story. I also am super interested in more Viper content, I would read a book just about her. I think this was set up to be a series and I hope that comes through because I like what is going on here. There were a few things that were questionable though.

The MC receives life-threateningly deep wounds and partially bleeds out and she gets saved by her coworker who dropped out of med school and some gauze from Walgreens, not stitches, antibiotics, or a blood transfusion. She then refuses to sleep and survives like this for about a week before she dreams herself healed. The dreaming herself healed is fine, that is within the mechanics of her dream power. Surviving a week with no real medical care for her slashed arteries and blood loss is not a mechanic normally found in the waking world. The other thing that I thought was odd was the epilogue being an LGBT+ therapy circle. It was mentioned as existing in a single line in the main text and then nothing more, but then it is the entire epilogue. I am queer, I understand the author is too, and this feels like some rep thrown in as an afterthought. It would have been better placed into the main text in my opinion, and then let the epilogue have more of a focus on the plot.
I think this book has a good foundation and could be something great moving forward, I would read more from this author.

[Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

1, Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to be part of MultiMinds ARC. I received this book free and my review is done voluntarily.

2. The Artwork on this Novella is absolutely exquisite!

Synopsis Review: Vera Florence dream travels, she works in an ultra cool music store, with an equally cool (dropped out of medical school) boss named Derrick Ma.

Vera's family has a genetic mystery gene that allows them to dream travel. This gene has gone back in her family all the way to slavery times. During slavery times, Dream travelers would use it as a way to escape or find their way back to their families.

Enter Vera, who since she was a little girl would wake up drenced in sweat, have snow in her hair, or dirt on her pajamas.

But when she encounter the Hunter that's not what she expected to be bringing forth from her dreams.

MultiMind mixes music into her characters and a diverse culture.

I will say that I was a little suprised by the LGBT + Therapy Circle, because (unless I missed something, and I could have) I can't remember anywhere saying this book was listed as such.

However! Neither, here nor there. MultiMind made this book "PERFECT" for all "groups" of people..

The story was perfectly developed, with realatable and likeable characters.

I can truly see this author going far.

[Emily Shark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
I really loved the writing style and most of the characters in this book. The main character and her boss were really fun to read about, and I really loved the way it was written so detailed, that it almost felt like a movie playing in my head. However, what led to me not enjoying it as much as I wanted to was the pacing. The first half seemed to go on forever, without really anything happening. There is a whole chunk of the book that’s only about Vera’s job at a music store before the antagonist is even mentioned. And it takes until about halfway through the book for the story to really start happening. After that, I thought it was really good, up until the very end. The ‘final fight’ between the main character and the Hunter took about two seconds and then it was done. Overall, the book almost felt like the first third of a way longer book, with the end, quickly tacked on and a whole chunk missing in the middle.
I still had an enjoyable time though, and maybe I just went in with the wrong expectations, so I’d still recommend this book to people who are looking for a short, weird, and dark read and don’t mind long descriptions of the protagonist's daily life.

[Kristin Sledge · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars and alot more questions than answers. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dreamer tells the story of a family of Dream Travelers through the youngest descendant, Vera. She can manifest items from her dreams into reality. After watching a scary movie, the sinister being stalks her in her dreams. How will Vera cope with these dangers, or will she die in her sleep?

This novel is short and simple. The premise promises big things that were super watered down, almost glossed over, and doesn't deliver much on the main draw of the plot: manifesting dreams to reality. The story takes so long to set up, giving way too much detail into Vera's day to day life that holds no purpose to the plot. Once the dream ball gets rolling she spends so much time staying awake that the magic is completely gone.

I really wanted to like this novel, and given more time and editing I think it could have blossomed into something extremely cool. Sadly, this is a 2 star read for me. Recommended for those 12+ looking for a quick read to add to their yearly goal.

[shahd hazem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you netgalley for giving me an ARC from this and here is my honest review I loved the idea of the book so much just the thought of your dreams coming true is magnificent but I learned from this story that nothing always goes as you want. I loved the main character Vera and the author has a great writing style I loved her description but the book felt a little bland for me after like the half of it. I get that this is a short story and should just evolve on one subject but I thought maybe somethings could've been more interesting than it turned out also would've loved to know more about Vera's family and how the trait of dream travelling goes. I thought the story had a great potential and honestly the author kinda let it down by making it a short one. Overall it was a great experience these are the only comments I had I definitely enjoyed my time reading it and would most certainly read for multimind again!

[Courtney (withabookproblem) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vera has what her family calls dream traveling, anything she dreams comes to life. She has her dreams under control, until she doesn’t.

Her dreams begin to be plagued by The Hunter. It’s a race against the clock to get The Hunter out of her head, because if she doesn’t she may never wake up again.

This is a quick read that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. If you like SCI-Fi and Horror, go ahead and give this a chance.


Thanks to Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review

[DarkS · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's exciting to see more BIPOC voices making waves in horror, and this story is a powerful example. Vera's dreams don't just haunt her—they break into reality, blurring the line between nightmare and truth. With The Hunter stalking the shadows as a chilling adversary, the tension stays high from start to finish. Though it’s a quick read, it packs in plenty of emotion and adrenaline. Honestly, it feels like the kind of concept Jordan Peele would turn into something unforgettable on screen.

[lucy♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was fine, i guess. nothing special or memorable.

[Jacob Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐'s

[4loveofbooksnkc · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Vera sleeps, her dreams become her reality. This inherited gift has both positive and negative aspects. But when a hunter enters the dream world, the situation turns dangerous. I mean, it was already risky, depending on what Vera dreams. It was a short read, but it was pretty good.

[Laken Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but needed any kind of character development. I feel like the plot should've been more personal to the MC.

At least the cover is beautiful!

[Nelda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review will be really short. I literally hated everything about this book. I recognize that this is a short story, so I wasn’t expecting the story to be that thorough. This story follows a woman who is gifted with the ability to dream travel meaning she’s living out her dreams, and the effects follow her into the 3D plane. That idea had me intrigued to read more, but it failed me. There were no rules or guidelines for her ability; there was no real backstory, and it felt kinda lost to even the characters. The bulk of the story happens either in her bed or at the music store that she worked at which didn’t leave much to her development. The book itself left me feeling bored, and I don’t think there was any real conclusion here.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Kimberly Swartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsically and magically with a horrific twist. Vera is an interesting character who just wants to live her magical dreaming life when she is attacked by her mind and she can't escape. Overall, I liked the concept and the side characters. Each one was interesting and brought something to the table. While I do question the stitching up her arms, I felt like it was real enough.

Solid book and would read more from the author.

(Also isn't it excited to be the first review?)