Review & Giveaway: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

I am so excited to be a part of this tour promoting the lovely Cat Winter's new book The Cure for Dreaming. Thanks RockStar Book Tours for hosting! I can't recommend Cat's books highly enough! Scroll down to read my review and for your chance to win copies of Winter's books!

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher:  Amulet Books
Pages: 368
Source: eARC for Review

ISBN-10:  1419712160

Rating: 5 Hearts

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Book Description

"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."

Review

Short and Sweet:

Cat Winters does it again! The Cure for Dreaming was everything I hoped it would be and more! Absolutely stunning!

To Elaborate...

I have been a fan of Winters since her 2013 debut In the Shadow of Blackbirds. So this book easily became one of my most anticipated 2014 releases. All of that expectation can sometimes be detrimental to the actual reading experience, but definitely not in the case of The Cure for Dreaming. 

 This mesmerizing story begins with Olivia Mead reluctantly taking the stage to be hypnotized. After an intriguing evening, good-looking society boy Percy Acklen has set his sights on Olivia and asks to drive her home. Olivia accepts and when she arrives home her father, local dentist and assumed madman, Dr. Mead decides that Judge Acklen's son is exactly what his wild, suffragette daughter needs to keep her in line.

When Dr. Mead discovers a photo of Olivia under hypnosis featured in the next day's paper he gets the devilish idea to hire hypnotist Henri Reverie to remove her 'unladylike' impulses and thoughts. However, while pretending to comply with Dr. Mead's wishes, Henri instead hypnotizes Olivia to see the world the way it actually is while being unable to voice her anger about the injustices she experiences. Suddenly, she can't help but see the true nature of everyone around her.

Her very first visual of 'the world as it is' is of her own father's true nature: bloody and monstrously evil. Her new sense of sight is terrifying, but illuminating and surprisingly Henri seems to be the person she can trust most. However, while he may not agree with the act of reconditioning suffragettes, he has his own reasons for taking the job and refuses to reverse her hypnosis until her father is satisfied that her unacceptable dreams have been cured.

Meanwhile, the hungry desire to control is horrifyingly personified in men and women everywhere she turns. It becomes clear that those opposed to political equality are mostly interested in exploiting and maintaining the inherent weakness of the way things are for women. Olivia watches the women around her literally disappear into visions of opinion-less vapor and turn into voice-less, invisible ghosts. So, when her father decides to use her as an example of a silent, docile, reformed suffragette to regain his 'good-standing' within high society, Olivia must decide what she's willing to do to change the unacceptable way the world really is.

The Cure for Dreaming is every bit as captivating as it's intriguing synopsis suggests! I cannot recommend it, or it's creative author, enough!

About the Author:

Cat Winters’s critically acclaimed debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was named a 2014 Morris Award Finalist, a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, a 2013 Bram Stoker Award Nominee, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013. Her upcoming novels include The Cure for Dreaming (Amulet Books/Oct. 2014) and The Uninvited (William Morrow/2015), and she’s a contributor to the 2015 YA horror anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. She lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit her online at www.catwinters.com.

Photo by Tara Kelly

Find Cat Online:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Pinterest

Book Trailer

Giveaway!

1 winner will receive a brand-new paperback edition of IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS, a signed THE CURE FOR DREAMING poster, a copy of the CD containing the music that inspired THE CURE FOR DREAMING (Kristen Lawrence's ARACHNITECT), and swag.

US ONLY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

Week One:

10/6/2014- Word Spelunking- Interview

10/7/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

10/8/2014- Me, My Shelf and I- Review

10/9/2014- Falling For YA- Interview

10/10/2014- Crossroad Reviews- Review

Week Two:

10/13/2014- Xpresso Reads- Interview

10/14/2014- Candace's Book Blog- Review

10/15/2014- I Heart YA Fiction- Review

10/16/2014- Rainy Day Ramblings- Review and Guest Post

10/17/2014- Bad Bird Reads- Guest Post

Thanks for stopping by!