Title: Dreams
Author: Daniela Sacerdoti
Published: 17th May 2012
By: B&W Publishing
First line: You’d never think it could happen to you.
Last line: And I’ve seen the death of Sarah Midnight
Fave line: The last time I see your black hair down your back it will have turned red.
Dreams is the first release in the Sarah Midnight trilogy by Daniela Sacerdoti. Having read her last book, Watch over me, I was keen to see how Daniela would make the transition from adult fiction into the world of YA and I have to say I think she’s succeeded spectacularly!
Dreams tells the story of Sarah Midnight. Sarah is a member of one of many secret mortal families whose job it is to rid this world of the demons trying to enter it. There are many ways that the mortals can fight back and this depends on the skills that each family has. For Sarah it is the blackwater a force that flows through her hands enabling her to kill what she encounters. She also carries the burden of being a dreamer, someone who has visions of the demons that threaten the secret families and is able to guide the secret families and their aides, the gamekeepers in the battle to destroy them. It is this same mission that has led to the murder of her parents and as we join the story Sarah is facing losing her home as a result of her parent’s deaths.
Enter Harry, her long lost cousin. Harry knows the Midnight family secret and has worked as a demon hunter for a while. Now it seems his job is to protect Sarah from those that threaten to take her life. All is not well in the mortal world and the game is hotting up for more than one reason. The Sabha, or secret council who rule over the secret families has turned on them and the demons that threaten the mortal world are growing stronger everyday. It would seem as though the hunter has become the hunted. For his part Harry is hiding a secret of his own and what starts out as a simple deception ends up having disastrous consequences that threatens everyone that he loves and the mission that he has embarked on.
The world in which the trilogy is to be set is outlined really well at the beginning of Dreams. We learn about the roles of the secret families and the demons that seek freedom. We also get to meet and know the major characters and are given an insight into why they are the way they are which I think makes for a fuller read. Each chapter comes from a different POV and as you read the book so you can see how the threads for each character are slowly coming together to form a bigger picture.
When we first meet Sarah she is relatively naive to everything going on around her. She knows what her parents did, she just doesn’t know how and it is her ignorance and naivety that makes her vulnerable. But Sarah is no victim. With Harry’s help and her determination she learns to use the powers that she has and it was interesting to watch Sarah’s character evolving through the course of the story. That’s not to say that Sarah doesn’t have her weaknesses, in fact her character is all the more rounded for them. She’s angry at her parents for dying and leaving her defenceless, she suffers from chronic OCD a result of the nights she spent waiting for her parents to return safely and she is incredibly stubborn at times. It is those same traits and her open vulnerability at times however that give her her strength which is why she seems so likeable.
There were a range of characters that made this story into a real page turner. Niall is irritatingly cheerful at times which I actually thought was great, Cathy was a force to be reckoned with and over-bearing Aunt Juliet was just that. Harry...Well I look forward to reading more about him and his counterpart as I do the mysterious Leaf both of whom have woven a very intricate web around Sarah. You can’t help but wonder how she’s going to be able to take it apart. Sacerdoti has cleverly set the stage for the sequel and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Rating: 4/5. I really enjoyed this book! Very much looking forward to the next installment!!
