The Cure for Dreaming

by Cat Winters

Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical, Romance, Fiction

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 14, 2014

About the author

Cat Winters is a critically acclaimed, award-winning author of five novels for teens: IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS, THE CURE FOR DREAMING, THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY, ODD & TRUE, and THE RAVEN'S TALE. She has been named a Morris Award finalist, a Bram Stoker Award nominee, and an Oregon Spirit Book Award winner, and her young adult novels have appeared on Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist best-of-the-year lists, as well as numerous state lists. She is also the author of two novels for adults, THE UNINVITED and YESTERNIGHT, and she contributed to the young adult horror anthology SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS. Her debut picture book, CUT!: HOW LOTTE REINIGER AND A PAIR OF SCISSORS REVOLUTIONIZED ANIMATION, written as C.E. Winters, will release from Greenwillow Books in Winter 2023.

Winters lives in Oregon. Visit her online at www.catwinters.com.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Come along. Let’s get out of here and go toast to youth and vampires and rebellion.”

Cat Winters has done it again. I have been captivated by this book for every spare minute of reading I've managed to fit in. I'm not quite sure how Winters manages to so thoroughly take me out of this world and plant me into another time full of atmosphere, history and a little dash of the paranormal. But she does.

“I’ve said this before,” he said through his teeth, “and I’ll say it again: This is all for your own good. You do not need to be burdened with impossible dreams.”

In the opening years of the twentieth century, women's dreams often remained just that. Expected to leave school, marry, and look after the home, the world's wonders would glitter off in the distance and women had to accept that they would never have the opportunity to reach for them. But that didn't mean these women didn't dream and want and hope and - eventually - fight. Winters has a certain knack for bringing ambitious and feisty women into a setting completely at odds with their personalities. As with her first novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, Winters once again portrays the difficulties of being a young woman with dreams in a society that won't let them happen.

“Your future is to become a respectable housewife and mother. Women belong in the home, and inside some man’s home you’ll stay.”

Prepare to be more than a little pissed off. And then be prepared to grin madly as Olivia repeatedly proves everyone wrong. Then there's that whole part of this novel with the sexy almost-French hypnotist... what more do you need from a book, anyway?

There are a number of interesting and complex things happening in this novel - all of which, I found fascinating. Firstly, there is the relationship between Olivia and her father - who I wanted to die a million painful deaths - and yet... I felt a certain glimmer of sadness for him in the end because he was nothing but his own worst enemy. Then there is the historical woven with the paranormal aspect that just completely transported me into the time and place of the novel. The author captures the time perfectly and the feeling of frustration that many women must have felt.

“I love that books allow us to experience other lives without us ever having to change where we live or who we are.”

In this book, Olivia's father hires a hypnotist to cure Olivia of her "unfeminine" dreams of college, suffrage and freedom. However, Henri Reverie instead makes her see the world "as it truly is", giving those she cannot trust a monstrous visage. I can hardly begin to describe the array of emotions this book took me through: anger, sadness, frustration, warm fuzzies... all of them in a good way. It is, in the end, a book about equality and how silencing a group of people will only make them more determined to fight harder.

I loved it.

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[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars There were some nicely atmospheric moments and the period setting is well-detailed, but somehow this story and these characters never quite grabbed me by the throat the way I'd hoped they would. I kept waiting to feel passion and outrage on behalf of these women, and yet I read about these events with curiosity and commiseration, but without any real sense of kinship or compassion.

I think the story could have benefited from more complex plotting, more intellectual discussion, more nuanced characters (particularly the men), and more feeling as well.

Full review is on the blog: http://www.themidnightgarden.net/2014...

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"As I've learned through my own ordeals, once you start viewing the world the way it truly is, it is impossible to ignore both its beauty and its ugliness. Look around you.
You can't stop seeing it, can you?"

These sentences here? They're worth 5 big shiny stars. Sadly, the book was not. If Cat Winters is without doubt a formidable storyteller and if I think the ideas she's trying to convey are absolutely fabulous (with all my heart, thank you), I felt let down by several aspects of this book.



The Cure for Dreaming offers us a demeaning, thoughts-inducing trip back in time when women were fighting for their rights - to vote, and more generally to be treated as equals as men.



In 1900s Portland, while suffragists are trying to make themselves heard, Olivia nurtures the dreams to attend College and to get the chance to participate in her country's future. Nothing wild, you think? It was without counting on her father's dreams which are in glaring contradiction with hers : indeed his sole aim is to make her marry "well' (think wealthy) and to perpetrate the way of life he always followed.

What I found fascinating is to see that the sexist situations Olivia is facing are the SAME as the ones that annoys me so much in romance novels nowadays. Cat Winters, on the contrary, presents these situations as they really are : controlling, demeaning, and so very sexist. Thank you. Let's play a little matching game, okay?

Rule #1 : You shall not express your anger.



... or speak your mind, for that matter.



Rule #2 : You shall love having no choices.



Rule #3 : You shall find forced kiss exciting



I could go round and round in circles, my point wouldn't be clearer : some of the sexist and infuriating stereotypes and behaviors Olivia denounces in 1900s women's life are still pictured as appealing and sexy in many romance novels. I'm kind of depressed right now.

Despite this oppressive atmosphere, Olivia stays strong-minded and I really liked her. Little by little, she's trying to make sense of her life and her relationships and I was happy to see her grow throughout the novel and finally start to publicly express her needs and thoughts. This is so very important. See, it took me time to realize that sometimes you HAD to speak up for yourself. People think you're a bitch? So what. No, really. So what.

As for the paranormal aspect, I'll let the mystery remain complete but I have to say that I found its introduction fabulous and unexpected. I LOVED IT. So imaginative and like nothing I read before.



Unfortunately, despite the atmospheric writing, the original and brilliant paranormal aspect and the oh-so-important issues tackled, my connection often wavered, letting me unable to trigger strong emotions : first because the dialogues sounded sometimes fake to me (issue I already had with The Steep and Thorny Way) but mostly because of the flat secondary characters, starting with Henry, the male lead. I mean, okay, he is sweet. Really. Yet he never triggered my aww button and even though I was rooting for them, he missed this little something more, this extra-layer that would have make my heart beat faster. As for her best friend, Tania - I think? GAH. I already forgot. See?? - I was pretty disappointed by the fact that she didn't play a greater role in the story. Yes she makes appearances but not near enough for me to care about her.



Oh, boy. What did happen to the men? Look, I do realize that women rights weren't popular among men at the time, and I do not have a problem with a rather unlikeable portrayal of men in that aspect. Yet I need nuances. As I said, aside from Olivia, the main character, the other characters are flat and pretty stereotypical (the father! GAH!), especially the villains. We're not offered a real development of the secondary characters, and the way they talk often made me roll my eyes, especially when it comes to the dialogues with her father. I mean, are you kidding me? Who is this crazy dentist who's talking with his daughter as if he killed puppies for a living?

Meet Olivia's father.


Meet the men, except Henry and one or two exceptions.


Look, I'm not denying that Cat Winters addressed the fact that some men shared suffragists views, because she did, but it remains that the male characters she offers us don't demonstrate critical thinking. They're plain villains. Boo-hiss.

That ending, though? It was amazing. Tears of joy inducing. I adored it.


For more of my reviews, please visit:

[༻gemma༺{one day im gonna grow wings} ఌ· ° . · Rating 5 out of 5]

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 5 Stars ꒱ ˎˊ˗
╰⪼𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙢𝙖'𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡₊˚⊹ᰔ (creds to mins for this detail!)

(Also a special shoutout to senny for persuading me to read this 🙂‍↕️)

𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘦. ♬ ݁˖

𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷'𝓽 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝔂𝓪
Wow. Olivia was one of my favorite book characters I have ever read about. She was so headstrong, knew what she wanted, and didn't care at ALL what other people thought. The concept of this book was also interesting. To get to read about before women had rights, to see how hard women fought to get their rights, and the whole hypnotizing aspect made the story 10 times better.

𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓘'𝓿𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓘 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓪𝔀 𝔂𝓪
oh my gawddddd I need Henry RIGH NOW. when he spoke French>>> I cant. ughhh Olivia doesn't even deserve him and I don't even know if I do, but I don't care. I need him, he's perfect, and that's all I need to say.

𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴:
"Ne Vous inquietez pas. Do not worry."
"I love that books allow us to experience other lives without us ever having to change where we live or who we are."
"His eyes held mine, and, despite his defensive words and taut mouth, he brought a sliver of warmth to that cold, hostile room."
"He looked up, revealing familiar blue eyes that brightened at the sight of me."
"I will see you in less than an hour-ma partenaire. My partner."
"But I'd be there for you, as a friend, if you needed anything."
"We're still partners, then? Partenaires?"
"Oui." A small smile rose to his lips. "Des partenaires qui s'embrassent."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you should learn more French if you're going to partner with me, ma Cherie."
He smiled and blushed a little. "Partners who kiss."

I cried during this one but we're not gonna talk about that:

"We clasped our arms around each other and hugged instead, and Henry whispered in my ear, "Un jour, lorsque tu es pretend, on se reverra encore."
"What does that mean?" I asked with the left side of my face pressed against his shoulder.
"One day, when you are ready, we will meet again."

⋆｡‧˚ʚPre-Readɞ˚‧｡⋆

Planning on taking this book slow bc my main priority is PJO (unless this book gets rlly good)

I’m so exciteddddd (senny this better be good)

[Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

The Cure for Dreaming is a thickly atmospheric Victorian Gothic novel for young adults (and me). Our heroine, Olivia Mead, is an intelligent but severely repressed young woman whose dreams for equal rights of women (to vote, study, work) conflict with the misogynist views of her bullying abusive father, Dr. Mead. Dr. Mead, was doing his dental apprenticeship in Portland, Oregon, when he met Olivia’s actress mother. She was in town performing with a touring theater company; they had a roll in the hay, backstage in the theater; she got pregnant and stayed on – but not for long. When Olivia was very young, her independent spirited mother left and went back to the theater. Dr. Meade was tasked with raising his daughter alone and he did so with a cruel bitterness, crushing every independent thought she had, and grooming Olivia to marry and become an obedient wife and mother upon graduation from High School (already a little claustrophobic, eh?).

Olivia does not really fit in with most popular girls her age, she is a burgeoning suffragette (admirer of Susan B. Anthony), an intellectual who reads feminist books (Anthony, Wollstonecraft, Cady, Perkins, Chopin), and her father won’t let her wear pantaloons/Turkish trousers when riding her bicycle around town.


Guess Who? “I think [bicycling] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”

Olivia celebrated her 17th birthday with her two BFFs at the Theater on Halloween Eve 1900, not long after Dracula (her favorite book) was published and shortly before McKinley was elected for his second term in office. Both Dracula and the Franchise are important themes in this novel. The author draws us into the period with her description of the theater and audience experience: velvet cushioned seats, boxes, heavy curtains, dim lighting, tightly bound corsets, gloves, top hats, tall collars, horses and buggies, and women wearing Charles Dana Gibson Hairdos…

Olivia spies Percy, her secret heart-throb, seated in one of the boxes and her friends chide her about her crush on him. The lights go out and the performers are announced – Monsieur Henri Reverie, Master Hypnotist, and his sister Mademoiselle Genevieve Reverie who came all the way from Montreal. M. Henri calls for a lady volunteer from the audience, asking if any of the ladies were born on Halloween. Olivia steps onto the stage to the tune of Genevieve playing Saint-Saëns Dans Macabre on a huge pipe organ. As she falls into a hypnotic state, Olivia remembers events of earlier in the day, a demonstration of women wearing yellow ribbons on their blouses, having rotten eggs and insults hurled at them by rowdy men. Both of the incidents were reported in The Oregonian and the sensations that followed gave her brute of a father the new and dangerous idea of how to break her spirit, guarantee her obedience, and put an end to her dreams. This will drive the plot of the story on a twisty road with funny and not so funny bumpy incidents along the way before arriving at a satisfactory conclusion.

TCFD is a beautiful heartwarming novel. The characters, Olivia and Henry, are extremely likable. I could not stop rooting for them throughout the book. There is a lot of fantasy in the book, but all of it was firmly grounded in Olivia’s own unique vision and sensitive perceptions of the people she meets, sees, and interacts with.

[Brigid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

I’m going to be the bitch today. Excuse me for a minute while I pour my Rosé wine and gather my thoughts for a minute…




What I mean is that I feel terrible that I didn’t like this book. I should have liked this book and I didn’t. I really enjoyed it at the start. Because I loved it so much in the beginning, I just didn’t think it would end so badly. So today, in this review, I’m just going have to admit: I’m a total bitch.

I’d seen many reviews of bloggers that I greatly admire, give this book a high rating. I still love you, I just didn’t like this book.

So, naturally I thought it would be right up my alley. It’s got suffragists, gender rights, history, and a little romance. What could go wrong?

Bad decision. This was a terrible mistake. I screamed into a bucket when I finished this book.

As a woman who is extraordinarily proud to be a woman and a feminist, I wanted this book to be my sweet treat. Even though feminism did not exactly exist back in 1900, I would have thought the inclusion of gender rights would interest me. Usually it does. But here’s my issue with this book: the majority of the characters in this book are flat. They’re like if you forget to add sugar to the list of ingredients in a pie. One-dimensional. No color. No depth. No layers. Should I continue?

See if you take away the main character, Olivia, and just look at the characterization of the side characters like her father or Sadie it’s like the MC made who those character’s are. Or it’s as if the subject of the suffragists and women's rights created those characters. While I love gender rights, the issue presented in the novel should not create character development or character depth for that character. Maybe it’s been part of who they are, but not their entire being. This was the case with Sadie, with Genevieve, with Olivia’s father, and even with some of the suffragists. Never ever a good thing by the way when another character give’s a side character their depth.

Then there’s the portrayal of certain characters. Men. Sigh…why is it always men that have to be the bad guys. They’re just so fucking awful aren’t they? Spoiler alert: I’m being sarcastic here.

Men in particular were portrayed as stereotypical ideals of anti-suffragists. Their chests puff with glory and gleam so everyone can see! Looksie: the men in this book are painted as shitheads. Complete and utter idiots. They’re brainless football players in a historical setting.



Have you ever read of the antagonist who starts to babble on what they’re going to do, thus giving away their entire evil plan? Olivia’s father is like that. The one who laughs twirling his Salvador Dali mustache and plotting schemes. That is her father, my dearies. Mr. Male Stereotype. Historical accuracy or not, he was a stereotype.

“But, despite feminine wiles,” said Father, “we gentlemen must be strong. We must protect the women from their own foolishness. They’re fragile and ignorant and need our constant care…”

See what I mean? He’s the evil father who thinks women shouldn’t vote.

Now men during this time greatly disliked the suffragists and thought they belonged in the kitchen. They saw suffragists as this:




Not flattering. Look at the teeth. This is ridiculous. It’s weird because a lot of men, even today, think of feminists as ugly hairy broads who hate men because they’re ugly and want gender equality. I for one am not ugly. I think this notion is butt-ugly. I’m glad that the author gave the suffragists normal descriptions, instead of what this picture above includes. We’re just too opinionated I guess. It’s stupid, these thoughts of having equal rights for both men and women. Sigh…. what have we been thinking? Stupid stupid stupid.

They thought other men didn’t support suffragist. Wrong. They did. And the author recognizes that. So this is correct, but they were tropes and didn’t really act like real people would. The negativity put on the suffragists was over-done. It’s not as if the real men and women who were anti-suffragist didn’t do incredibly awful things, but in this book, it was crap. Crap. That’s right. I said it: crap. I don’t even care anymore. I’m this far into my review. I’m just going to fucking let the swear words fly.



Anywho…

The dialogue, as you’ve already seen it's so fucking FAKE! It’s like the dialogue had been created solely to assure the reader how evil and conniving these anti-suffragists are. No. I already know how fucking bad they are. Show me. Don’t tell me through dialogue.

“Are you really forcing him into that chair? Am I really seeing this?”
“I’ve offered you a large sum of money, Mr. Reverie.” With one hand planted on Henry’s chest, not far from his throat, the horrific version of the man with whom I lived squeaked open a cabinet door.

Again, it just doesn’t feel real to me. I don’t know. I can’t really put my finger on it. But I believe it’s because the main character is repeating what we already know. That and this ridiculous guy forcing the love interest into a chair for “evil purposes” just doesn’t bode well either. I’ve read it before. Yawn. Move along.

For those who loved the book: please respect my opinion. My review may be snarky, but it's my honest opinion. Some things I loved: the independent heroine, the focus on the MC instead of the love interest, the author's voice and writing style, the eerie descriptions, the genuine female friendships, and the ARC is beautiful. My jaw dropped when I saw the pictures and style inside the book. But I just couldn't get past the faults. I can't raise the grade any higher. One dimensional characters are just something I can't see past.

You know what? I’m going to leave my review here because there’s only so much time I can spend talking about fake dialogue, men who think with their dicks, and one dimensional characters.


Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Giselle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh what a wonderful, incredible, and perfectly cryptic story! It's with no surprise that I absolutely adored this novel; having loved In the Shadow of Blackbirds a year back, I already knew the talents of Cat Winters' storytelling, and I thoroughly expected to be transported into yet another fantastic tale - this time full of magic, mystery, with a dash of horror and romance.

The year is 1900, and Olivia is one of many women who's currently fighting for the rights of women. But with a father who's determined to shut her up, dreaming of a better life is not an easy feat. Olivia is a girl with a lot of opinions and strong views. She's determined to have a future that is not controlled by men, to help bring change into the world. I loved her instantly. Her voice is one that immediately transported me into her world and dreams. Connecting with her was effortless, and rooting for her was a given. Her story begins when she meets Henrie Reverie, a hypnotist who chooses her to come on his stage where he demonstrates his skill. When her dentist father, who has equally large opinions on the roles of women, finds out a hypnotist is in town, he has this grand idea of shutting his daughter up for good. This is when the horror starts. Henri not only makes her unable to voice her dissent, he also makes her "see the world the way it truly is". Well as we all know, the world has a lot of evil, and evil is what she sees. Some people now appear to her as terrifying monsters and blood thirsty vampires. Talk about some creepily awesome stuff - all vividly detailed, of course! I also loved the many references to Bram Stoker's Dracula!

This leads me to talk about the fantastic atmosphere of this story. Just like her previous novel, Cat Winters has written this novel with such a rich, cinematic setting that you can't help but feel yourself walking these historical streets. You can all but smell the air and feel the electricity of the coming change in the world. I feel as if I experienced something of importance that we now find in our history books. The historical details on the women's suffrage movement is as fascinating as it is eye opening. The same could be said about the dentistry practices that are simply horrifying, yet that's how things were really done back then. But I digress. The writing is fabulous, the tone is perfectly eerie, the dialogue is sharp and engaging, and the story is filled with wonderfully realistic and vivid personalities.

One of my favorite aspects of this novel is the relationship that develops between Olivia and Henri. They don't jump into a romance right away. He comes off as a person of mystery at first, and as she gets to know him, she finds a partner and an equal. He's also burdened with some darkness of his own that forces him to agree to the dentist's evil demands - but unbeknownst to him, it makes him and Olivia grow closer. I loved the complexities of this story and its characters. No one is perfect, and sometimes you're forced to do what you gotta do. The ending is bittersweet, but satisfying. I loved the realism, the hope, the light at the end of the tunnel. And I especially loved the magical touch. The Cure for Dreaming only cemented my admiration for Cat Winters. If you're not a fan yet, read one of her books, asap!

--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.

For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

[Vanessa J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars, but I ended up rounding to 4 because I still think everyone should read this despite the major faults I found in it.

They say the past is always better. In some instances, I can agree, but not when it comes to women's suffrage. You know how sexist society in general has always been. The time in which women have been treated as humans and not as merely bearer of children is relatively short.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were fights to obtain better treatment, and 17-year-old Olivia Mead is one of the women who want their voice heard. Her father, the dentist better known as Mead the Mad, is one of the men who don't like changes in society and is opposed to women's suffrage.

Since he thinks Olivia has a rebellious mind and it will not be "repaired" on its own, he hires the hypnotist Henri Reverie to "cure" Olivia of these dangerous thoughts by making her avoid to fight back and to accept the world as it truly is. However, Henri played with the words and instead of making her accept the world, he made her see the world as it truly is, thus giving her the ability to know who to trust by merely looking at them. In the meanwhile, the fight continues and more conflicts take place.

My overall feel while reading this book was anger. I wan angry at the society Olivia lived in. I hated seeing the way they talked about women. One of the first shocking lines of the book happened almost at the beginning. You see, the first scene of it is a show the hypnotist is giving. He asks for volunteers and Olivia steps in. In the show he sleeps her and stands on her body to show the public how rigid her body became. Later, when the show is over, Percy (one of Livie's friends) tells her his father said to him during the presentation:

That’s the type of girl you want. Silent. Alluring. Submissive.

Oh, but those are not the worst things that happen in the book. The entire atmosphere reeked of sexism. It showed how difficult it was to live in that era. Part of a newspaper article said this:

(...) body built for childbear- ing and mothering is clearly a body meant to stay in the home. If females muddle their minds with politics and other matters confusing to a woman’s head, they will abandon their wifely and motherly duties and inevitably trigger the downfall of American society.

Which demonstrates perfectly what I said before.

Olivia was a great protagonist to the story. It's through her eyes that we see everything, and we get to be in the head of one of the oppressed women. She's also a lover of books, if I might say.

“I love that books allow us to experience other lives without us ever having to change where we live or who we are."

(I don't know about you, but I completely agree with that quote)

Sadly, she was the only character I can consider well-developed. The rest... they were one-dimensional. The Henri I mentioned at the beginning? I liked him, but his personality didn't stand out, and he wasn't fleshed out enough. Olivia's father felt almost formulaic, and so did everyone else. This aspect did not prevent me of enjoying the story, but for me, characterization is one of the most important parts of a novel, so I had to mention it.

The romance was another thing that made me lower my rating. I admit it, I liked Olivia and Henri together (please, it was obvious they were gonna end up together), but their relationship was rushed, bordering on instalove. They met one Wednesday, and less than a week after they were calling themselves partenaires qui s'embrassent ("partners who kiss" in French). Much suspicious, huh?

Aside from that, though, the book was truly fantastic. The writing, as the one in Cat Winters' other novels, is beautiful and descriptive without being tedious. You could be easily transported to the 1900's and ferl that oppression and hatred. You could almost smell the city and ser its colours as if you had lived there. It was great, I tell you.

It goes as an extra to say this is a highly recommended book by me. Now I am dying for the moment when I can have another book by Cat Winters in my hands, because she has gained my admiration and respect - a literary goddess (part of the group that includes Rick Yancey and Marcus Sedgwick amongst them), is what I consider her now, and tell me, what better praise is there than to call authors gods?

______________________________

Pre-review (November 11, 2015):

I very much need Cat Winters to publish another book (I know she has one coming!). What a genius. I do have complaints, though.

Review to come.

[♪‧◃✮ᴍᴀʀs✮▹‧♪ ~matching w my twin~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!Fair warning- there will probably be spoilers, but I am far too lazy to go back and cover them up. So if you haven't read the book and you're reading this review, BE WARNED!!

Ok, so I'm gonna be honest- I saw this book a few times but it never really piqued my interest. It had a cool cover, yes, but the synopsis didn't make me just NEED to read it, y'know? But lo and behold, my friend Sen recommended it to me. They LOVED this book, and I already knew they had peak taste so of course I had to read it.

This book immediately had my attention from the very start. Maybe it was the writing style, or the creepy atmosphere it had overall. Or maybe it was the mention of Dracula, which has to be one of my favorite books ever. Whatever it was, I couldn't stop reading it. And when I did stop reading it, all I could do was sit and think about it and how much I wanted to keep reading it. I finished it in a few hours, actually, but still it felt like I could not read this book fast enough.

Olivia was an absolute Diva. There were times where I wanted to shake her silly, (specifically during scenes with Henri/Henry) but she was still an amazing headstrong character. There wasn't a whole lot of 'woman-in-distress' (thank god) but she still did rely on Henry for most of the book... but at least he's an awesome character and not a complete douche. And for once, we have a fmc who is in fact NOT turned on by forced kissing!!! Huzzah!!! Yeah I knew from the start Percy was a slime. He just gave off 'green stink cloud surrounded by flies'. Like what do you mean you FINALLY noticed Olivia one day, and it was when she was literally as stiff as a board being stood on by another guy?? Is that like some weird fetish thing or..? I dunno. Well, long story short, he was an ass. And good on Olivia for not putting up with his bullshit even though she liked him for so long!! I feel like that's such a common trope in book seen it should in fact NOT be. Let's not romanticize assault!!

Now about Henry. Good lord Henry. From the very start I was absolutely in love with this dude. Maybe it was the French accent, who knows (I mean, it was fake, but still). He is literally the epitome of a perfect guy (saying this as a male btw). He was such a sweetheart. Sometimes I wish Olivia would have trusted him immediately, but I mean I understand why she was so hesitant. Maybe I'm just biased with my love for him, lol. He hasn't taken the place of Mr. Darcy, but he's still pretty up there.

THE ENDING. Oh my gosh the ending. I literally thought that my online copy had somehow glitched or something, but nope. It just... ended right there. I NEED MORE!!! Did Olivia ever visit her mother??? Was she able to finally vote and wear he bicycle trousers?? DID SHE EVER MEET UP WITH HENRY AGAIN??? Did they get married and live happily ever after??? Did Genevieve get the tumor out?? Is she ok????? There's just so much more I need. PLEASE CAT I NEED THIS!!! Even if it's just a little story... just a little. Please. I will force all my friends to read this book if you just give us a little SNIPPET of anything.

So overall, I really did like this book!! It was captivating and amazing. Thank you Senny for the recommendation!!

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book. It is a shameful reminder how badly women were treated as second-class citizens even though the women did all of the hard work and raised the men who thought that they were so superior and smarter than women Who in their opinion were not smart enough and too delicate to make decisions for themselves. I really love this story I loved how people on the other side were silenced and it made them change their mind I also love the semi non-romance, romance, i'm not a huge fan of romance but this little non-Romance Romance, also the one thing that I didn't like was the ending I wish that I had a bit more of a conclusion or like a prologue. I loved the story so much that I wanted to know more about what happened afterwords , I fell in love with these characters and I just wanted more of them it definitely left me wanting more for sure. I hope maybe there's a second book in the future although it seemed to wrap up pretty nicely so maybe not, but I really really really did like this book. The one thing that this book definitely did for me though was to be thankful that as a woman I'm born in a day and age where I can get out on my own make my own decisions read whatever kind of books I want get what kind of education I want and do whatever I want go wherever I want and not be shamed or told no or that I'm not smart enough or good enough so this really made me thankful for that. I have always been proud to be a woman and now I'm not only proud I am very thankful. We are sometimes the softer squishier Fairer sex but definitely not diminished or less than in any way, and I personally enjoy all of that about me.

[riri.⋆ᥫ᭡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

₊˚⊹☆ 4.5 stars

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD READDDDDD TY PRESS FOR RECOMMENDING IT TO ME AND THANK YOU SEN FOR RECOMMENDING IT TO PRESSSSSSS

But no seriously, I really did love this book. I read all of it in one sitting on an 12 hour flight and in my opinion it was the perfect length to leave enough time for a tiny bit of sleep and staring out the window. It was an easy read and I never got bored or tired while reading, it felt like no time passed at all. The story itself was beautiful and I immediately fell in love with the characters. I really loved the concept and think that it is overall a very inspiring book that is definitely worth a read!! It's also beautifully written, and the whole atmosphere and setting of the book was done amazingly.

pre-read ﹒⟢

my bestie boo press swears by this book, so OFC I GOTTA READ ITTTT AHHHHHHHH

[estelle. · Rating 5 out of 5]

my reviews suck but anyways
UM WHAT THE ACTUAL FREAK WAS THAT ENDING????!!?!??!?!?!! I NEED MORE. PLEASE. WHATTTT
SEN TYSM FOR THIS BOOK UR AMAZING
OH AND I LOVED OLIVIA SO FRICKING MUCH
DUDE I LITERALLY DEVOURED THIS BOOK.

yes this review in all caps shut up
can i give this book more than 5 stars like is that possible

~~~~
pre read:

GONNA READ THIS BCUZ SEN TOLD ME TO
HAHA
anyways

[press · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ erm..if I could give it ever damn star in the sky I would..this book was so damn good 😭(yes I did cry at the end..) and I had such a good time buddy reading it with sen!!! ❤️speaking of sen you better start running cuz I am gonna tackle you..jkjk THANK YOUU SO MUCH FOR SHOWING ME THIS BOOKK 😌 I LOVEDDD ITTTT (a better review may come soon, but who even knows at this point 🤷‍♀️)

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

""I love that books allow us to experience other lives without us ever having to change where we live or who we are."

As usual Miss Winters dazzles with her writing, pulling me into the story from the first page :).
Her descriptions are so rich, you literally feel as if you are there, seeing/touching/smelling everything:

"Frannie and I climbed the second flight of stairs, past piles of books perched on the rickety wooden steps--books that always appeared to have wandered in from the shop of their own accord and made themselves at home wherever they found space.The air up there was rich with the perfumes of paper and ink, along with a fine peppering of dust."

"The empty lobby felt like a hollowed-out husk compared to the hot and buzzing scene from Halloween night. My footsteps clapped across the black-and-white tiles, and the echoing, gilded ceiling above seemed a thousand feet high. I stopped and caught my breath, worried I'd get caught trespassing.

Olivia's father... oooh, many many words were said about him. He thinks he's doing the right thing but all he is doing is pushing his daughter further away.

“I’ve said this before,” he said through his teeth, “and I’ll say it again: This is all for your own good. You do not need to be burdened with impossible dreams.”

“Your future is to become a respectable housewife and mother. Women belong in the home, and inside some man’s home you’ll stay.”

That's only a couple of the things he says... what he is willing to do to 'save' his daughter and what he did to Henry to get him to sign a contract and re-hypnotise Olivia *shaking with anger* Prepare to be pissed off is all I will say.
As I said in a status update, Olivia's dad made me appreciate mine all the more... there was a couple moments were he softened but it didn't last long. It was hard to feel sorry for him.

The 'gift' that Olivia gets from the hypnotism isn't a huge part of the story but it is important.
It's more about Olivia and her journey to independence and knowing her own mind.

One instance with a certain boy had me wanting to smack him but Olivia handled it well.
And when Percy finds out her dad knows what happened to her neck, it was fun to watch him scurry off

Henri Reverie /Henry Rhodes and his sister are good people and talented at what they do. I really enjoyed getting to know them, and Frannie as well :). Frannie is a great friend to Olivia and her family is wonderful as well.

There is some romance but it's light and doesn't overwhelm the story.

I loved this one yet not as much as her other two. It didn't have quite the same punch but I really enjoyed it nonetheless :).

Would recommend, a book that is easy to get lost in *waves* Happy reading!

---
Emily's review here She says it best :)

[Readergirl (but also Izzy){finally winter break ❄️❄️} · Rating 5 out of 5]

First thoughts after finishing
I am left empty. This book took everything from me on its last page.

Now as I sit down to put my thoughts of mine about this book into words, I realize that I still stand by my very first thoughts about this book. Even thinking about it guts me to no end. I fear I will find no other book as good as this is. This has surpassed all other books that I used to call my favorites and sits, in all its glory, on the throne (and this is a huge deal because I almost NEVER change my fav book EVER)

This book had everything I could ever ask for in a book, wrapped lovingly into a parcel, just for me to open and revel in, in all its shining allure. It was such a unique book, it's varying themes and concepts mingle to form one, in beautiful threads of words sewn by Cat. Like how do the concepts of Women's Suffrage and Hypnosis even combine?? (Ask Cat, she worked so beautifully with these themes it's MINDBLOWING ughhh I love this book sm it's aggravating).

Olivia-my-queen-Mead- I cannot EXPRESS in words how much I LOVE HER. Like my queen MARRY ME love her. She wasn't like those mindless, dumb fmcs who are roaming around in books these days. She is strong and she actively DOES stuff to get out of her problems. She is put through so much i wished so many times to reach into my screen to hug her omg T_T. I love my Dracula-obsessed girl sm.
𝔐𝔶 𝔤𝔦𝔯𝔩 𝔏𝔦𝔳'𝔰 𝔮𝔲𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔢
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝑀𝓎 𝒷𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝒾𝓈𝓃'𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓇𝑜𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝑜𝑜𝓉𝒽. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎."

Clock it, gurlll
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁? 𝐵𝒶𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒶𝓈𝒽. 𝐵𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝓊𝓃𝑔."

₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑜𝓌 𝓊𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓈 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝑒."

The queen has spoken the WORD
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓈, 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝒸𝓎. 𝒜𝓇𝑒𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓅𝓅𝑜𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝒶𝒹𝒹𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌?"

You are my queen and I am your lowly servant 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

Henri Reverie- or should I say Henri-stole-my-heart-and-breath-away-Reverie. This MAN. This MAN omg. He just wanted to save his sister T_T. Okay, there was ONE part where i was SO MAD at him, but he redeemed himself pretty soon so it was okay, like I will survive.
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓎, 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓎, 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃."

In tears
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝒜𝓈 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝑜𝓇𝒹𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓈, 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓁𝓎 𝒾𝓈, 𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒾𝑔𝓃𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓉𝓈 𝓊𝑔𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈. 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊.
.
.
.
𝒦𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑒𝑒. 𝐻𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝒾𝓉, 𝓉𝑜𝑜."

How do I Amazon a man like that??? (gimme detailed steps cuz I'm dum)
Percy- This absolute BIT**(insert a string of profanities of choice 😊). HE IS THE WITCH I WILL GET BEHIND BURNING.

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔬𝔱𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔢 (more quotes cuz I ADORE this friggin book sm, if that wasn't clear)
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝐿𝒶𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝓈𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃'𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝒾𝑒𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝑔𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝓊𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒-𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑜𝑜𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝓋𝒶𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓁𝑒'𝓈 𝒻𝓁𝒶𝓂𝑒. 𝐼 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓌𝑒 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝒹- 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓌𝑒𝒹- 𝒷𝑒𝒻𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈."

*gasp* WOAH *majorly in tears*
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝐼𝓈 𝒾𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓃?" -𝐻𝑒𝓃𝓇𝓎
"𝒫𝒻𝒻𝓉. 𝒩𝑜, 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓌𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝒾𝒸𝓎𝒸𝓁𝑒." -𝐿𝒾𝓋"

Did I mention I worship her now? Cuz i do. She is on a pedestal. Don't even TRY to convince me otherwise.
₊˚ ✧ ‿︵‿୨୧‿︵‿ ✧ ₊˚

"𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈?"
"𝒪𝓊𝒾."
"𝒮𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒶 𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓋𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓅𝓉."

*high pitch squeals and spontaneously combusts*

This book has altered the way I look at life forever. Changed my brain chemistry. I will forever be enchanted by this book. This book will hold my life in its pages like its clay.

♾️ this-book-engulfed-me/5

And at the very end would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to Senpen for recommending this AMAZING book to me... and for putting up with me while I ranted and raved and spammed while reading this book. Thank you Senpen 💗💗

𝓟𝓻𝓮 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭

Reading this cuz senny got to me (too) and i'm convinced and defenseless against the constant rec. 😆

[karlie jane (stranger things version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 6 stars I would do it in a heartbeat. This book had me captivated from the first page and ultimately might be my new favorite book. It had a great mix of romance and heartbreak with also politics and magic and it was so beautifully crafted. CHEFS KISS

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘You will see the world the way it truly is. The roles of men and women will be clearer than they have ever been before. You will know whom to avoid.’

The Cure for Dreaming is set during the early 1900’s in Oregon where the fight for women’s suffrage is really starting to gather steam. It won’t be until August 26th, 1920 when the 19th amendment to the Constitution becomes ratified but even at this point, women are determined to speak their mind. Olivia Mead is a modern girl with hopes and dreams of one day being able to wear pantaloons in public, of going to college and getting a job and of one day being able to vote for President. Her mother had these same hopes and left her with her father when she was just four years old to follow her dreams. Not wanting to be accused of being just like her mother, Olivia has kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, for the most part. When her father determines it’s his duty to cure her of her dreaming, he hires a hypnotist, Henri Reverie, to remove any thoughts or feelings that would be considered inappropriate for a lady to possess. Instead of doing what was intended, the hypnotist opens her mind to see the world exactly how it is, showing her the true monsters around us.

“She’s only a bird in a gilded cage...”

What I loved most about Cat Winters debut novel In the Shadow of Blackbirds was the interesting fusion of historical and supernatural elements. She uses this same technique in The Cure for Dreaming, however, it didn’t seem as fitting in this situation. After being hypnotized, Olivia is able to see the true ugliness of people. The mean-spirited and nastiness within causes them to be reflected in her eyes as legit monsters with fangs and claws. Often compared to the descriptions of her favorite book Dracula, suddenly she’s seeing these monsters in real life. The constant references to Dracula made it all seem like a strange coincidence and made it seem as if it was just a product of an overactive imagination. In addition to the monsters, she also begins to witness women throughout town literally fading into existence yet there are other women, those who are in support of the women’s suffrage movement, who shine brightly with their determination to have their voices be heard. I loved the message, but the supernatural elements made the evil villains feel like a caricature and essentially lessened the true strength of it for me.

What this atmospheric story does do extraordinary well is bring the 1900’s to life with a wonderful amount of detail. Cat Winters also incorporated various black and white photographs from the period with fantastic quotes as she did in her previous novel, which I loved. What I also loved, which was a surprise to me, was the romantic element. It was crafted slowly, there was a distinct lack of insta-love and didn’t get overly focused on at all. It was incredibly sweet and touching and I loved that it was all a part of her journey of self-discovery rather than a deterrent. I may not have loved this one as much as her debut, but there’s still something incredibly intriguing about the stories that Winters decides to tell and the way in which she brings them to life.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cure for Dreaming is Cat Winters’ breathlessly anticipated sophomore novel. After last year’s brilliant debut, expectations from this book were sky high, but we needn’t have feared. Winters was more than up to the task. Although not as emotionally intense and tragic as In the Shadow of Blackbirds, The Cure for Dreaming has a different kind of strength; the kind that inspires us to fight for our place in the world, to give everything and do everything to achieve what we think is right.

One would think that today, 114 years after this story takes place, its educational value would be limited to history alone, but one would be truly, utterly wrong. It is clear (and wonderfully articulated by young Emma Watson in her recent UN speech for gender equality) that women are still far from being equals in our male oriented societies. The right to vote and the suffragist movement were just a first step in achieving something that has yet to be fully accomplished, and that makes Cat Winters’ new novel much more than just a brilliant piece of fiction. The relevance of this book is, in fact, immeasurable.

Olivia Mead is an open-minded, highly intelligent girl in a time when girls are expected to be pretty and silent, just decoration in a male-dominated world. After finding out that she participated in a suffragist rally, her father hires a young hypnotist to cure Olivia of her unfeminine thoughts. Obviously, a deep-seated belief can’t just disappear, but if thinking and talking about it can be made unpleasant enough, it was his hope that Olivia (and other women after her) could be trained through simple classical conditioning to remain silent and demure, like a proper woman should.

There were times when this book made me so angry it made my stomach churn, and then there were times when I was ready to burst with pride, because as hard as Olivia’s father, her would-be suitor and other men around her tried to tame her, she simply refused to stay silent. With a little help from the young hypnotist himself, she handled everything that was thrown at her, and even managed to teach them all a lesson.

Once again, Winters added authentic photographs to strengthen the effect of her story. It was a brilliant move on her part and I hope she’ll keep doing it in her future works as well. After this, there is no more doubt: Cat Winters is an unstoppable literary force. She does her research, she combines fact with simply marvelous fiction, she touches our hearts and somehow teaches us all a valuable lesson in the process. What more could we possibly want?

I say Printz. What say you?

[Nortia · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 I think, but I cannot bring myself to give this 4 stars.

I will start with the good stuff. The theme and setting is utterly original. The start of s. XX on Oregon, when suffragettes where trying to get the right of voting? Woah. Tell me more.

And the premise is very, very original too: Olivia is a rich young lady who is a little too opinionated about things that she shouldn't concern about, like studying in University, politics and equal rights. After her father discovers she not only sympathizes with the suffragette movement, but also participates in strikes that could damage her marriage prospects greatly, he decides to hire Henri Reverie, an hypnotist, to take those dangerous ideas out of her head. Buuut the wording that Henri uses is: "You will see the world as it truly is", which makes Olivia start seeing visions that will show her strange visions: Women in chains, her father as a monster, poor people in the brink of dying, etc.

One of the things I really loved about the book is, it shows clearly that the suffragette movement was NOT only about getting the right to vote. It was about men recognizing that women had other values than being silent and meek and staying home being good housewifes having children and taking care of them. It was about women being recognized as human beings with dreams and aspirations, with abilities and intelligence. All though the novel Olivia must fight against society as a whole to show that she is a capable woman who needs no man to help her stand on her own two feet.

But. Oh, yep, there had to be a but. Nothing happens in the book. This is a book about Olivia and her journey to discover how the world is and for her (and other women along the way) to shake the chains she was born with. And yeah sure Henri offers an interesting subplot as well, but the book is mainly about Olivia's journey, everything else is secondary. So by the half of the book I was getting quite bored to be honest, only for the ending to get a little better but not a lot. There were too little things actually happening and moving the plot along for me to give this more stars, no matter how much I liked the theme and Olivia's character. Nevertheless, I recommend the read.

[Sen (Gibsie’s pierced pp & Henry’s gloves) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed a lot about my views on feminism and women’s history

2nd read: I don’t want to spoil this but I Buddy read with Press and I am so… sad? Happy? I couldn’t tell you. The fact I didn’t reread this for a year unlike my usual annual read of it definitely helped me feel everything again… even if I wanted to cry several times. Thank everyone who followed me while reading this and chose to pick it up because it cooled good… this book changed my life and I hope it does for you to. The ending is bittersweet but every part is so meaningful… the lack of a proper villain just heavily flawed people of their time is so refreshing…
Thank you Press for reading with me!!!

[Mauoijenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, better than any of her other books I have read. But it still felt lacking with the characters. I don't know, they aren't jumping off the page at me, screaming to get my attention. On to the next.

[Arthur]

If Sen mentions this book ONE more damn time y’all are never hearing from them again it is so annoying just yapping constantly

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like any good performer, The Cure for Dreaming presents itself well. The cover of the book is eye catching and a little bit creepy. The fonts are equally interesting and the sometimes odd historical photographs in the book add to the general atmosphere of a story that takes place in 1900 Oregon and combines suffragists with hypnotism. I also loved the opening scene, where heroine Olivia Mead gets called up on stage by mesmerist Henri Reverie to be hypnotized at a performance on Halloween. It's a strong start, but, unfortunately, as the stage lights dimmed, and I got a better look at story in the book, I found that what was underneath had lost its luster.

I had a few issues with this book, and the first is definitely more of a 'it's me, not you" situation. I have talked about this before, but I love fantasy and I love realistic fiction - including historical realistic fiction; however, sometimes I struggle when the two are combined without proper context. The Cure for Dreaming is mostly historical fiction about a girl who has become impassioned by the the women's rights, voting moment, while her traditional father wants to erase that dangerous part of her. But the story adds this hypnotism component that started off interesting and became a bit to fantastical for my tastes. I don't know a lot about mesmerism, but some of the things Olivia is made to do - and is able to see - while under hypnosis, was just too much for me to buy. While reading, I spent too much time wondering if plot elements were possible. For me, this book needed to go deeper into the historical fantasy direction, or stay in the bounds of more realistic historical fiction.

I didn't read this author's other book, and so maybe my expectations for this story were way off (i.e. my expectations were't based on any real fact, just my own suppositions), but I expected it to be creepier, and it never really got there for me. Olivia's father's behavior becomes pretty scary/crazy, but I also thought he didn't go far enough with it for the story to feel intense enough for me. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen, like a more serious villain than the general anti-suffragist population and handsy rich boys. The plot just felt a little scattered in the middle, and in the end, it wasn't really any big surprise how it all turned out. For me, this book didn't really offer me anything better than other suffragist type books I've read, and because the hypnotism angle didn't full work for me, the story as a whole fell flat.

Some spoilery thoughts regarding Olivia's mom:
I wanted to see Olivia struggle a bit more with going to live with a mother - a woman who left when Olivia was little and has only sent birthday cards since then. I can understand Olivia's curiosity about her mom, but I wish Olivia had been more conflicted about their relationship. There's a difference between wanting freedom for women and abandoning your daughter, and this book could have been more complex if it had explored those questions a little deeper.

I also didn't love the romance. It starts off with sort of a love triangle. Or actually, it has more of a love progression, or Decoy Boy. It's clear immediately that one of theses guys is a Bad Choice. Thankfully, it doesn't take Olivia too long to figure that out, and let the wrong one go. And that aspect of the story wasn't that threatening and didn't bother me. Unfortunately, I never really connected to Olivia's romance with Henri. The whole story takes place over a very short time, and I had trouble with the fact that Henri kept hypnotizing Olivia against her will. Though, there are bigger circumstances at play, and that does sound worse than it was. I just needed more to feel anything from them, and I wasn't emotionally roused by Henri's tragic life situations either. The romance isn't a huge element, and the end is more open, but what was here, didn't grab me.

However, I did get some good things from this book. The story made me re-prioritize reading Dracula. That's a classic that has been on my list forever, but I've never gotten to it. I'd like to do that soon during this fall season. Dracula is a theme in this story, and it made me want to read it ASAP. Secondly, I definitely want to do some more reading on the hypnotism movement. I hoped that the author would include a note about it, because I was especially curious about the bounds of what is possible under hypnotism. But I'm excited to do my own research, instead.

Love Triangle Factor: Mild
Cliffhanger Scale: Standalone

[Felix · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Updated with trigger warnings added*

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters
Genre: YA feminist historical fantasy
My rating: 4.75/5
Short Summary: Olivia Mead is a suffragist, but her alcoholic dentist father doesn't approve, to say the least. When the new hyptoninst arrives in town, Olivia's father hires him to 'cure' Olivia of her 'unladylike' ambitions.
>>TRIGGER WARNINGS: Emotional abuse, alcoholism, sexism<<

My thoughts:
Plot: 5/5
This is a fairly quiet story, but it sure packs a punch. There is no action, but it's fast-paced. There is no violence, but it's ever-so-slightly disturbing -- and rightly so. The feminism is spot-on. The ending is perfect, probably one of my favorite endings ever.

Characters: 5/5
I love every single character in the book except Olivia's father, but even he I can sympathize with.

Writing: 5/5
The writing style is so beautiful.

Setting: 3/5
The magic system needed a little more detail to be more believable, and the setting itself isn't very detailed either, but these are fairly minor quibbles.

Do I recommend it? Yes! To everyone! Whoever is reading this, you must read it!

[Mackenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

I'm chalking my low rating up to the fact that I was expecting something totally different. And that's mainly my own fault. I picked this book up thinking it'd be more paranormal-heavy & historical fiction-lite, but it was historical fiction-heavy and paranormal-extra lite, and I really was in the mood for an eerie, creepy read. And this, unfortunately, was not it.

All that aside, the story in and of itself just wasn't that complex. The writing and plot were simple, and I never found myself invested in or caring for our main character, Olivia. I loved that she wanted to fight for women's voting rights, especially in light of how anti-suffrage her father was. But all Olivia went through for Henri/Henry and his sick sister, Genevieve, never made any sense to me, and I attribute that to a serious lack of exposition.

Some of the things her father made Olivia and Henri/Henry do were a teeny bit ridiculous. Like, I don't know if that was the author's intent, you know, showing how "ridiculous" it is to think men can make women do/say/live however they see fit, which I believe was the whole message of the book...but man, even if that was her intention, it did not translate well. For how dramatic Olivia reacted to certain situations, it felt like a dramedy soap opera in book form. I mean, if you like that sort of thing, then boy oh boy is this the book for you. Sadly, I am not into it.

Overall, I didn't think the story or the characters were engaging whatsoever, and I have no doubt that in a few days, I will have forgotten most of the book. Which I'm aware sounds so harsh! But the message of the book is good!! Yay for women's rights! But this book also spoiled me for Dracula which is decidedly NOT COOL.

[Megan (thebookishtwins) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this free from the publisher via NetGalley

Release date - The publishers website says October 14th, Book Depository says November 1st, and Amazon says October 1st, so I haven't got a clue.

'There is some of the unexplainable in me, ma cherie, but there is also a great deal of enchantment in you. Keep telling the world what you see. Help other to see it, too.'

One day, Olivia Mead stands outside the courthouse with a group of suffragist women shouting along with them for the right to vote. Her father fears she is no longer docile and she needs to be restrained before she becomes rebellious and gets herself in trouble. So, he hires a hypnotist to cure her ‘dreams’. The hypnotist is called Henri Reverie, and instead of making her accept the world as it is, he makes her see it how it truly is, while making her unable to speak her anger. Olivia becomes more determined to fight for the rights of women who, like herself, have had their voices taken away.

What a brilliantly vivid and fantastic novel. I got Cat Winter’s debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, for Christmas last year and I really did love it, especially the atmosphere Winters manages to make with the old photography, yet I found The Cure For Dreaming far better. A read that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would not hesitate to recommend either books from Cat Winters.

How can I not love The Cure For Dreaming? It had everything I ever want from a book. A strong willed independent female character that doesn’t want to rely on men, a romance that is based on equality, and a riveting story that keeps you engaged from the very first page, and a vivid historical setting.

Olivia Mead wants her life to be hers. She wants to make her own choices and go to college and get an education and a career. I highly admired her for that. She feared sometimes speaking out, but I loved her character development throughout the book, and I loved that vulnerability that she had. Henri/Henry was also a great character. He wanted equality between the sexes and even though he hated what he did to Olivia, he still did because he needed to and had no other choice and he didn’t see her as some fragile woman who can’t handle it. He tried his best to take is all away and make it up to her and I really did like their relationship development. I also liked that she was her own person, even when with him and she always wanted to follow her own dreams and find her own way out even when he offered her one. A definite positive.

The photographs in the book were great. It really does create the historical setting perfectly and it really adds to the feel of the book. If you buy this book, I really do suggest buying the paperback or hardback version because I believe that it will make your experience of this book so much better.

There were also some great secondary characters in the book, and some character that you were made to hate - rightfully so. Each character felt like they had so much depth to them. Cat Winters really is a fantastic writer, and I will be sure to pick up all future books of hers, because I feel they will all be up to the same high standard.

The Cure For Dreaming is a book that I would definitely recommend to anyone.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Right off one of the issues I had with this book was the modern writing and dialogue which comes off as both too modern and also wooden. I had this same issue with Winters' In the Shadow of Blackbirds, but it bothered me a bit more in this story because this story seems set earlier and so it was even a bit more jarring.

I will say, though, that the modern style bothered me less as the story progressed, but the dialogue was often whincingly bad throughout.

My other issue is that while I fully support the themes of the story - women's rights and agency, mostly - I found the book a bit anvilicious and on-the-nose. I suppose you could argue that it was purposely on-the-nose since Olivia's hypnosis makes her "see the world as it really is", but the symbolism was just way too heavy-handed. (It's likely to make supporters a bit ra-ra, but would never serve to make converts. Of course, I'm not saying that's the point of the book, but it became a bit much, even just as narrative.)

Lastly, the characters were pretty thin, especially the villains - who also often had the most cringe-worthy dialogue. One almost expected them to start twirling their moustahces.

And I was conflicted about Henry. I wanted to sympathize with him, but kept running into the wall of what he was doing to acheive his goals - admirable as they may be. And I seriously wondered why Olivia didn't think of the money sooner, when he said the only reason he had to keep her under hypnosis was the money from her father.


That said - much like 'Blackbirds', despite it's flaws, I did get wrapped up into the story as it was going. Winters is one of those authors, for me, who has myriad flaws, and yet whose stories kind of win me over anyway - thus the 2.5. It's a bit better than ok, but I was a bit disappointed, in the end, that it wasn't better.

I did like, however, that Olivia went off to New York to find her mother and didn't run off with Henry and his sister.

[Joana Gonzalez (Elphaba) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confesso que não sabia muito bem o que esperar deste livro. Comprei-o há alguns anos e na altura fui conquistada pela capa. Mas ainda bem que o fiz, gostei imenso!

Apesar de ser uma leitura de época, situada no ano 1900, consegui ambientar-me à escrita da autora (recordem-se que este é só 2.º livro que leio em inglês em muito anos). Dito isto, a história acompanha uma jovem adulta que sente inclinações sufragistas, numa altura em que USA estava ao rubro, com as mulheres a lutarem pelo direito de voto, autonomia e emancipação.

Cat Winters abordou todas as temáticas com esmero e adicionou algumas imagens no início de cada capitulo, reais da época, que dão consistência e credibilidade ao seu enredo, que por sua vez tem uma vertente sobrenatural – algo que esta leitora adora!

Desta feita, conhecemos Olivia no dia do seu aniversário, 31 de Outubro, numa apresentação de hipnose – magia e hipnotismo faziam as delicias das elites naquela altura. No decorrer do espetáculo, ela acaba por ter uma experiência de alguma forma transcendente e que acabará por mudar o seu rumo na sociedade e junto do seu pai conservador.
Como sempre não quero fazer spoiler, mas a sua visão do mundo que a rodeia vai mudar de forma abrupta e, enquanto viramos as páginas, vemos esta jovem transformar-se em mulher e viver diversas aventuras que vão além do que poderia ter imaginado.

Sou muito curiosa sobre o sufragismo e gostei muito de ver a temática tratada numa ficção que visa o entretenimento, cujo complemento visual faz a diferença. Igualmente, gostei da protagonista e dos seus pares, do tom sóbrio da narrativa sem que esta deixasse de ser ligeira e do seu lado um pouco mais “dark”, no que diz respeito ao fantástico mas também no trato social da época.

Este é, assim, um livro diferente para quem gosta de ficção de época e fantasia, que para mim se torna difícil de comparar. Creio que nunca tinha lido nada parecido o que é, desde já, muito positivo.

[Mel (Daily Prophecy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

http://thedailyprophecy.blogspot.nl/2...

I had high expectations for The cure for dreaming, because I fell in love with In the shadow of blackbirds. I love how her work is combined with pictures to make the atmosphere complete. The art and photographs match with the story. There is something haunting about the things she writes and Cat has found the perfect way to create an interesting setting.

Olivia is everything you could ask for in a character. She is stubborn, headstrong en she won’t be silenced or dominated by males. She is part of the suffragist movement and she will do everything to ensure she – and every other woman – can vote in the future. This is unacceptable for her father, who wants her to be docile, obedient and most of all silent like a ‘good woman’. There is no place for women in society; they should take care of the household and children.

Olivia crosses the line when her father finds out she was part of a demonstration. He is afraid she is going to destroy his name and his career as a dentist. That is how Henri Reverie comes into her life. He is a hypnotist and Olivia’s father wants him to alter her personality. She must sees the world, women and men for what they are. She can’t speak her dangerous thoughts and instead, she will say ‘all is well’ Her father has no idea that with his decision, Olivia becomes even more hell bent on finding her voice and getting her rights.

It was frustrating to see how belittling everyone is when it comes to women – and it’s sad to realize that it’s still that way sometimes. Women aren’t equal to men and it’s great that Olivia fights against this idea. I love it when characters are strong and confident like her. Even with her mind hypnotized, Olivia isn’t going to back down. It was interesting to see how her father’s decision backfires.

Besides Olivia, I also really liked Henri. The more you find out about him and his motives, the more you sympathize with him. He was a bit mysterious in the beginning, but it was easy to warm up for him. It was clear he saw Olivia as his equal and their unusual friendship that slowly grows into more was heart-warming. It made the ending a little bittersweet, but also fitting for the story. I must admit that it took 0,5 of the rating, but that is very personal and I know a lot of people will like how it ends.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olivia Mead is a suffragist during a time that prefers its girls to be quiet and obedient. Olivia’s father, upset by her lack of femininity, hires a stage mesmerist to hypnotize the rebellion out of her and make her the perfect future wife for a young man. However, Henri, the hypnotist with interesting motives of his own, gives her the ability to see people’s true natures, even though she is unable to speak her mind and verbally express her anger. These challenges only make her all the more determined to speak her mind and fight for women's basic rights as American citizens.

The Cure for Dreaming is only the second book I've read by Cat Winters, but I would say that she is well on her way to becoming one of my favorite authors. I love how she is able to so expertly combine a stirring historical fiction novel with paranormal elements that really enrich and complement the well-researched historical (great selection of real-life photos included) aspect of the novel. I've always been fascinated with this time period and Olivia's story is a fantastic glimpse into the era. As a character, Olivia is a great heroine to take us on this journey. As a modern woman of the 21st century, following Olivia's story makes it quite accessible and her voice is refreshing in the light of those she faces in the novel. Even though the story is set in 1900, the subject matter still feels timely and urgent.

I highly recommend The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters. If you liked her previous release, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, you should not miss her newest book. I, for one, am interested in reading anything and everything she will write in the future. Since I've always been interested in the topics this story revolves around, I also plan on checking out the recommended reading at the end of the book.