Forsaken Dreamscape Review

Forsaken Dreamscape by Lani Lenore

Published: February 11, 2014 

Synopsis: Four years have passed since Wren returned from Nevermor and so far Rifter has not come back for her. Believed to be a mad murderess, Wren has been locked away in an asylum for crimes she knows she is innocent of. The day comes when Rifter finally returns for her. However, Wren quickly learns that everything, including Rifter himself, has all changed because of the corruption that's befallen Nevermor. Wren sets out on a journey through the darkened lands to find the separated Wolf Pack and reunite them with their leader and save Nevermor. However, Wren discovers that nothing she trusted to be true is as it really seems.  

My rating: 5/5 stars

First off, before I get into this review, a slight bit of history first: I first discovered Lani Lenore's writing sometime around 2001 or 2002ish when her stories were posted on FanFiction.net and FictionPress. I had accounts on both that I'm sure are still there with all of the awful writing that I produced as a twelve year old. I'm pretty sure that it was Neverland: The Forsaken Dreamscape that first introduced me to Ms. Lenore's writing. As huge fan of all things Peter Pan, a dark fairytale version of the story that I love was insanely compelling and I was not disappointed. I went on to read everything I could from Ms. Lenore and even went out of my way to find and play American McGee's Alice so I could better understand her story, Behind Sanity. Years later when I found out Neverland was in the works to be rewritten and published as an original trilogy, I could not have been more excited both for a new Neverland story and for Lani Lenore as an author. She truly is an inspiration for all of us tiny aspiring authors out there.

It's been about a year since I read the first book in the Nevermor trilogy so going into this second part, my facts were a little fuzzy. But, that certainly did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this second book. I had read this book in its original fan fiction form about two or three times already. However, after having already fallen in love with the way Lani Lenore formed each individual character coupled with the beautiful world she created in the first book, Forsaken Dreamscape suddenly took on much more depth than it had as simply a fan fiction of Peter Pan.

Nevermor was a land of beauty, adventure, and dreams in the first book and now, four years later, Wren returns to find it has become a darkened, corrupted place of nightmares. It's a place where she can't trust anyone not even Rifter for whom she still has strong feelings. Although this book is definitely a lot darker than the first book, there was so much excitement and thrill that it was hard to put down.

My favorite part of this book was the characters. A lot of books that I've read recently have characters that are similar to one and other and don't have distinct voices. However, in Forsaken Dreamscape, each character has their own unique personality and voice that separates them from each other and I love how they interact together. Every character is fleshed out as individuals so well, each with their own story and agenda that by the time you've reached the end of the book, they've all poked their way one by one into your heart and settled in for the long run.

I really, truly cannot wait for the last book of the trilogy especially after that cliffhanger ending. In the meantime, I definitely intend on purchasing physical copies of both these books to add to my shelves (and reread a bunch of times). Why is 2015 so far away?!