Dreamers Often Lie - Hardcover

West, Jacqueline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803738633 ISBN 13: 9780803738638

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2016

Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline West makes her YA debut in this Shakespeare-inspired novel for fans of Holly Black and Laini Taylor

"If you liked the trippy hallucinations of Black Swan, you'll be mesmerized by Jacqueline West's eerie new YA romance."--Entertainment Weekly

Who can you trust when you can't trust yourself?

Jaye wakes up from a skiiing accident with a fractured skull, a blinding headache, and her grip on reality sliding into delusion. Determined to get back to her starring role in the school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jaye lies to her sister, her mom, her doctors. She's fine, she says. She's fine. If anyone knew the truth--that hallucinations of Shakespeare and his characters have followed her from her hospital bed to the high school halls--it would all be over. She's almost managing to pull off the act when Romeo shows up in her anatomy class. And it turns out that he's 100 percent real. Suddenly Jaye has to choose between lying to everyone else and lying to herself.

Troubled by this magnetic boy, a long-lost friend turned recent love interest, and the darkest parts of her family's past, Jaye's life tangles with Shakespeare's most famous plays until she can't tell where the truth ends and pretending begins. Soon, secret meetings and dizzying first kisses give way to more dangerous things. How much is real, how much is in Jaye's head, and how much does it matter as she flies toward a fate over which she seems to have no control?

About this title

Product Description:

"Liar" meets "Romeo and Juliet" in this Shakespeare-inspired young adult novel about whether to trust yourself when everyone is telling you your instincts are wrong for fans of Holly Black, Laini Taylor, and "Black Swan," by "New York Times" bestselling author Jacqueline West. Jaye wakes up in the hospital, disoriented, and beset by a slippery morphing of reality into something else. She repeatedly sees a boy who she feels like she knows but that's impossible. Determined to get back to school and back to"A Midsummer Night's Dream," in which she's starring, she lies to her sister, her mom, and her doctors she s fine, she says. She s fine, she s fine, she s fine. But then on her first day back, she takes a seat in class . . . next to the mysterious boy. Queasy with anxiety ("I can t"see you,"" she hisses at him, "because you re not really"here""), Jaye realizes this boy is, in fact, real. And he has no idea what she's talking about. Caught between this fascinating, empathetic new kid and her childhood friend turned recent love interest, Jaye begins to notice unnerving similarities between her circumstances and those of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. Tingling banter and clandestine meet-ups give way to darker, muddier incidents. As things escalate to a frightening pitch, how much of what's happening is real, how much is in Jaye's head, and how much does it matter as she's hurtling toward a fateful end over which she seems to have no control?"

Review:

Praise for Dreamers Often Lie

"If you liked the trippy hallucinations of Black Swan, you'll be mesmerized by Jacqueline West's eerie new YA romance."--Entertainment Weekly

"Engrossing . . . A dizzying new twist on one of the Bard's most famous plays."--Kirkus Reviews

"Utterly beguiling . . . Jaye is a fiercely headstrong force and West's writing is lyrical, lilting, [and] spectral."--Booklist

"Both moving and humorous . . . West's use of quotes from Shakespeare's various plays is restrained but perfectly timed . . . [Shakespeare's characters] shine as they come to life in the twenty-first century."--BCCB

"West's middle-grade 'The Books of Elsewhere' series made the New York Times bestseller list because of its unusual psychological depth as well as its effective plot. 'Dreamers Often Lie' also uses unusual sources of depth, conveyed in rich language. . . . The moral ambiguity and deep questions of [Shakespeare's] tragedies are woven into the story, as Jaye [tries] to hold onto her own life while well-meaning people try to take it from her. . . . Resonant."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0803738633
• ISBN 13: 9780803738638
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 353