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Off My Feet
Lone wolf coffee-slinger and accidental oneironaut Edie Stacks has her life turned upside down by reality-altering lucid dreams, and space invaders!
Off My Feet is a Neverwhere-meets-Inception psychedelic chronicle of female experience where trust is learned the hard way, the hard knocks of life are explored, and love and friendship are pushed to their limits. Watch Edie make a mess of everything! Sh*t gets weird!
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Edie is a broke but happy thirty-year-old with too many one-dollar Phil Collins records, a perfect circadian rhythm, and big trust issues. She lives on her own terms, keeping everyone at an emotional arm’s length.
Plagued with insomnolence after having relocated into a new home, strange circumstances provide her the sleep she yearns for, but also vivid dreams that meddle with her waking life.
Using her dreamscapades to create a situation that appeals to her, she realizes that she does not have the control she wants. In fact, she’s making a mess of everything.
To make matters worse, she’s adopted aliens and they have no intention of leaving.
Somehow Edie is stuck with the mission to save Earth from extraterrestrial world domination. And here she thought she was just minding her own business. Surprise!
Off My Feet is a Neverwhere-meets-Inception psychedelic chronicle of female experience where trust is learned the hard way, the hard knocks of life are explored, and love and friendship are pushed to their limits. Watch Edie make a mess of everything! Sh*t gets weird!
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Edie is a broke but happy thirty-year-old with too many one-dollar Phil Collins records, a perfect circadian rhythm, and big trust issues. She lives on her own terms, keeping everyone at an emotional arm’s length.
Plagued with insomnolence after having relocated into a new home, strange circumstances provide her the sleep she yearns for, but also vivid dreams that meddle with her waking life.
Using her dreamscapades to create a situation that appeals to her, she realizes that she does not have the control she wants. In fact, she’s making a mess of everything.
To make matters worse, she’s adopted aliens and they have no intention of leaving.
Somehow Edie is stuck with the mission to save Earth from extraterrestrial world domination. And here she thought she was just minding her own business. Surprise!
362 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 2020
44 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Tremblay
7 books31 followersRachel Tremblay is a Canadian artist, musician and writer. After an adolescence filled with drawing, guitar, and poetry, she studied Fine Arts in Quebec and British Columbia. She wrote her first music album upon returning to Quebec, married, and had her first child. The next decade was spent working as a contemporary realist painter and graphic designer, all while writing music for her second album, gigging, and giving life to a second child. Amidst art and homeschooling, she embarked on her book-writing journey.
Rachel lives in Montreal with her husband and two grown children. Lavender Spike is her fifth novel.
Rachel lives in Montreal with her husband and two grown children. Lavender Spike is her fifth novel.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 9, 2020
When I finished this book, it reminded me of The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. In the way that I started this book, expecting something and ended up being completely mind-blown. The story was certainly interesting, and I loved how Edie is this introvert babe who doesn't like contact with the outside world. Who just goes about her business, not giving a shit. Until she starts dreaming and strange things start happening around her. This story definitely gave me all the Inception / Raven Cycle vibes and it was so weirdly good!! There's a major turn of events towards the end of the book, and I seriously went… WTF just happened?? So strange, well written, and unexpected. 4.5⭐
July 18, 2023
What would you do if you could lucid dream things into reality? It would be a crazy life. Would you ever feel well rested?
This playful and imaginative book may not answer this question but is sure fun to think about while reading.
This playful and imaginative book may not answer this question but is sure fun to think about while reading.
December 31, 2020
Loved this book all my heart! I felt like I was tripping while reading this book and actually it was quite a pleasant feeling! And to be honest, the main character was very relatable!
December 7, 2020
This crazy, dreamy tale is such a page turner. I had to know what was going to happen when Edie drifted off to sleep. And I craved the results when she woke up! I felt her emotions and trauma and wanted the best for her. And Wolf was the dreamy, music loving man that was her perfect fit. Rachel’s writing style sucks me in every time! I loved this book and had to read the prequel immediately after finishing. I couldn’t get enough! I will read anything and everything Rachel ever writes!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2021
This book is about a poor girl's dream come true until her new life turns out to be a nightmare after all.
It's a lot of fun, especially if you're like me who loves the concept of lucid dreaming. I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend this to anyone who loves magical realism and surrealism. (more thoughts on the book to be featured on my blog soon!) ❤
It's a lot of fun, especially if you're like me who loves the concept of lucid dreaming. I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend this to anyone who loves magical realism and surrealism. (more thoughts on the book to be featured on my blog soon!) ❤
May 10, 2020
First, many gracious thanks to the author for not only gifting me a copy of this book and its sister novella for early review but also for being a really cool person. All opinions below are my own.
Edie is a character that I can wholeheartedly relate to. She's direct and solitary and hates people (having worked retail for a long time, I absolutely get where she's coming from. She finds joy in small things: plants and records and hanging out with old people. Despite her cold veneer, there's an obvious root in legitimate hurt. Unfortunately, we don't get more than hints at that. Which is fine - because the narration style gives us an understanding of her character, because of and in spite of her circumstances.
However, the supporting cast was more than a little bit of a mystery. Wolf and Emily and Olive and May and Ray and James and Bob... Even though Wolf graces a large portion of the book, I feel like I never got his measure. He was supportive and mischievous and down for anything, but we never learned his story, instead spending so much time in dreams. And in the end we reconcile with some characters without seeming to know why - beyond the fact that I guess Edie has given up on her coldness.
The dreams were masterful and extravagant. The perfect blend of weird and repetitive and jagged-edged. It also touched on a lot of things we see often in dreams: teeth falling out, falling infinitely, wet dreams, objects becoming people, people who are unfamiliar but we KNOW actually represent someone else, never being able to run particularly fast. And I love that, despite being a lucid dreamer and technically being in control, the dreams never stop surprising Edie. She always reacts like it's reality first - and then adjusts to dream logic.
The other issue I had was with pacing. The actual plot was a bit slow to start. I understand that we have to establish Edie's bland and unhappy routine before we completely upend it, but it felt like it took a little too long.
I'm excited to get more answers by reading Crash Kitty next!
Edie is a character that I can wholeheartedly relate to. She's direct and solitary and hates people (having worked retail for a long time, I absolutely get where she's coming from. She finds joy in small things: plants and records and hanging out with old people. Despite her cold veneer, there's an obvious root in legitimate hurt. Unfortunately, we don't get more than hints at that. Which is fine - because the narration style gives us an understanding of her character, because of and in spite of her circumstances.
However, the supporting cast was more than a little bit of a mystery. Wolf and Emily and Olive and May and Ray and James and Bob... Even though Wolf graces a large portion of the book, I feel like I never got his measure. He was supportive and mischievous and down for anything, but we never learned his story, instead spending so much time in dreams. And in the end we reconcile with some characters without seeming to know why - beyond the fact that I guess Edie has given up on her coldness.
The dreams were masterful and extravagant. The perfect blend of weird and repetitive and jagged-edged. It also touched on a lot of things we see often in dreams: teeth falling out, falling infinitely, wet dreams, objects becoming people, people who are unfamiliar but we KNOW actually represent someone else, never being able to run particularly fast. And I love that, despite being a lucid dreamer and technically being in control, the dreams never stop surprising Edie. She always reacts like it's reality first - and then adjusts to dream logic.
The other issue I had was with pacing. The actual plot was a bit slow to start. I understand that we have to establish Edie's bland and unhappy routine before we completely upend it, but it felt like it took a little too long.
I'm excited to get more answers by reading Crash Kitty next!
June 14, 2020
This book is about Edie's safe, routine-based (lonely) life that suddenly comes crashing down around her when she begins to dream lucidly.
Do you know that quote "Nothing is as boring as other people's dreams"? Well, this book proves otherwise. Edie's dreams are wild and challenging and utterly fascinating to read about. The way the author describes the MC's experiences really resonated with me, I found myself thinking "Yes, that's exactly how that feels!" throughout the book. The characters are easy to know and easy to love, flawed and hurting as they are. The story is compelling and the writing is beautiful and has a distinct voice.
Now, this book probably isn't for everyone, because yes, it's weird. Let me be more precise: it doesn't fit easily into categories or aesthetic ideas. It's sci-fi, but doesn't look it, it's a mystery but not a whodunnit, it's a relationship book but it's not about HEAs. It is a book that is just itself and hoenstly, when was the last time you read a book that didn't remind you clearly of another book? I know the phrase "original" is kind of worthless, but this book was a novel experience for me, and deserves as many stars as are on this cover.
Do you know that quote "Nothing is as boring as other people's dreams"? Well, this book proves otherwise. Edie's dreams are wild and challenging and utterly fascinating to read about. The way the author describes the MC's experiences really resonated with me, I found myself thinking "Yes, that's exactly how that feels!" throughout the book. The characters are easy to know and easy to love, flawed and hurting as they are. The story is compelling and the writing is beautiful and has a distinct voice.
Now, this book probably isn't for everyone, because yes, it's weird. Let me be more precise: it doesn't fit easily into categories or aesthetic ideas. It's sci-fi, but doesn't look it, it's a mystery but not a whodunnit, it's a relationship book but it's not about HEAs. It is a book that is just itself and hoenstly, when was the last time you read a book that didn't remind you clearly of another book? I know the phrase "original" is kind of worthless, but this book was a novel experience for me, and deserves as many stars as are on this cover.
October 3, 2020
Off My Feet was such a strange book in the best way! I have never read anything like it, and it's difficult for me to write a review because I usually only read YA 😅
I enjoyed reading about Edie, even if I didn't fully relate to her, she is pretty unique and intense about her beliefs, and I'm so different! But I loved it, because I don't want to only read about people like me.
Wolf was my favourite character for sure! I absolutely adore him. Every time he entered a scene, I got excited!
I loved Edie's love of plants, definitely made me think of Rachel!! 😉 Also loved her love of vinyls and how it is her connection to Wolf 😍
The dreams were very interesting and fucked up at times, which is always fun! When things got confusing for Edie, they got confusing for the reader as well, that was perfectly done!
Can't wait to read Crash Kitty and see what happened 30 years before Off my Feet!
I loved the acknowledgements!!!! To answer your question Rachel, I read them only when I know the author! Or when it's my favourite writers! But in general, you're right, I think most people don't read them 😂
I enjoyed reading about Edie, even if I didn't fully relate to her, she is pretty unique and intense about her beliefs, and I'm so different! But I loved it, because I don't want to only read about people like me.
Wolf was my favourite character for sure! I absolutely adore him. Every time he entered a scene, I got excited!
I loved Edie's love of plants, definitely made me think of Rachel!! 😉 Also loved her love of vinyls and how it is her connection to Wolf 😍
The dreams were very interesting and fucked up at times, which is always fun! When things got confusing for Edie, they got confusing for the reader as well, that was perfectly done!
Can't wait to read Crash Kitty and see what happened 30 years before Off my Feet!
I loved the acknowledgements!!!! To answer your question Rachel, I read them only when I know the author! Or when it's my favourite writers! But in general, you're right, I think most people don't read them 😂
May 28, 2020
Okay, so this book is not for the normal people. It’s a very good thing that I’m not normal the.
I loved every second of this book. It starts mundane and then it just escalates into the weirdest little bubble ever. It’s like a fun Disney movie on acid. I mean that in the best way possible.
You will never guess the plot, everything is a surprise and when you finish it you will have the weirdest grin on your fave ever.
Be a weirdo like me and fall in live with this book.
I loved every second of this book. It starts mundane and then it just escalates into the weirdest little bubble ever. It’s like a fun Disney movie on acid. I mean that in the best way possible.
You will never guess the plot, everything is a surprise and when you finish it you will have the weirdest grin on your fave ever.
Be a weirdo like me and fall in live with this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews