Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Title: Dreamland
Author: Sarah Dessen
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: May 11th, 2004
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 250
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Borrowed originally; bought later
Age Group: Young Adult

Rogerson Biscoe, with his green eyes and dark curly hair, is absolutely seductive. Before long, sixteen-year-old Caitlin finds herself under his spell. And when he starts to abuse her, she finds she's in too deep to get herself out...

This had been my very first Sarah Dessen book that I read and I finished it on one bus ride from St. Louis to Green Bay. This was also the first book I read about a young girl who was getting abused by her boyfriend, and this book made an impression me since I just saw an old Lifetime movie about a young girl who is killed by her abusive boyfriend. So, it all ended up connecting somehow.

I honestly loved this book or I wouldn't have devoured it. In fact, I loved it so much that when I saw this version pop up on Barnes and Noble, along with other cover redesigns I had to get it with five other books by Dessen.

This book was true and raw in places I never new it was possible. This book is different from what I expected because I never realized just how the mind of an abused woman works and the way she tries to justify. I mean, sure I've heard about it during Heath class when they were telling us about abusive relationships, but being in Caitlin's mind was different.

She was a girl who needed someone and Rogerson saw his opportunity to sweep in and take her away.

And his methods of getting her to use drugs and making her as dependent as possible to him was very realistic, if not down right scary how close it was to hitting the truth.

I kept waiting for Caitlin to wake up, but I saw her struggles as she refused to surface. And sadly her family life wasn't better; while her dad wasn't abusive, I could see why Caitlin would want to hold on to Rogerson and never let him go. That was something she had control over, until she lost it.

Very emotional and a roller coaster ride I didn't want to get off from. My first taste of Dessen was of one that I would remember for a long time, and while I'm not an addicted fan just yet, I see where fans fall hard for her. She is a creative author who takes a real life situation and forces her readers into the shoes of the character to feel what they feel, and does not let them go until the last page is reached.