Review: The Cure For Dreaming by Cat Winters.

Book: The Cure for Dreaming

Author: Cat Winters

Pages: 368

Read On: My iPad

How Long It Took Me To Read: 2 days

Plot Summary: 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 instead: 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.

General Thoughts: I read Cat Winters debut novel In The Shadow of Blackbirds last year. I heard it was a little like Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, with it's creepy pictures and what not. There was a lot of hype surrounding this book at the time of it's release and I was very curious to read it. It was set around the First World War and the Spanish Flu. It was interesting but I was expecting it to be very spooky and it wasn't. 

This book was little similar in that aspect. I thought it would be a scary/spooky read and it wasn't. 

This is not a horror novel. This is not a scary book, not at all. Don't go in expecting to be scared. 

Things I Liked: 

1. The writing was good. Winters did a great job at creating the atmosphere of 1900, the era and it's beliefs and it's issues. The world comes alive. I felt like I was there. 

2. This was an interesting period of time to read about and one I have never really read about. The turn of the century and the life of women in this time period was interesting to read about. 

3. The pictures, real ones from the era, were a wonderful addition to the writing and did a great job at making the time period come alive. I love old pictures in general and these pictures of Suffragettes, fighting for the right to vote was lovely to see. 

4. This book makes such a strong and wonderful point about Women's Right and The Right to Vote and have voice, an opinion and contribute to the world they live in. 

5. I loved the characters in this book. There were so many well-written and memorable characters in this book. Olivia our main character is a strong young woman, with thoughts and dreams and ambitions, is a great character to read about and root for. Henry and his sister Genevieve, Olivia's friends Franny, Katie and even her maid Gerda were nice characters. 

6. This book was a great reminder of all the struggles and challenges women have gone through to get us, women today, where we are. We owe so much to the women who protested, got pelted with stones, heckles and belittled for the Right To Vote. I was reading this book when Elections were around the corner in my state so it was a very appropriate read for me. 

7. There are so many mentions of Dracula in this book that I really want to pick it up next. I love it when one book lead you to another. 

Things I Didn't Like: 

1. Once hypnotized Olivia sees the world as it really is, she sees people that are bad like vampires and good people shine and so on. The people that appeared as pure evil, was very obvious. You knew exactly who would appear frightening to Olivia, there was no surprise here. 

2.   I felt that some of Olivia's father's reactions and his actions were a little too dramatic and over the top. 

3. The cure for dreams...literally means the hypnotist is meant to strip Olivia of her opinions and ambitions and her dreams for her future. It felt a bit a stretch, that hypnosis could cure someone of her inner wants and dreams. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

I enjoyed this book, I really did, I was a bit disappointed because I went in expecting a scary book and this wasn't a scary book by a longggggggggg shot. But I loved reading about the 1900s and Women's Issues of the day.