Jessica (HDB)

Argh. This book. Where do I even start with how I feel about this book? I suppose I'll start with the fact that The Vault of Dreamers has a very original setting. Rosie Sinclair and the other Forge School students aren't just part of an extremely prestigious school for the Arts, they're also part of a reality TV show. Everything they do, everything they create, essentially everything they are is available for public consumption. This concept plays a huge part in the story and was one of the first things that I couldn't get behind. Talk of "blip ranks" and "banner ads" was everywhere. Mentions of camera angles and shots. The only thing about this that I did like was the fact that it created a dual world. One where these characters behaved one way during the day, and another at night when the cameras were off.

Had the story only been about Rosie and her school, I'm not sure I would have finished. As it happens, there's another plot line running underneath this unique school set up. There's a secret hidden by Forge School. One that requires its inhabitants to be put into a drugged sleep every night, only to wake with IV marks in the morning. I was intrigued by this at first. What could possibly be going on that they wouldn't want their students to know about? As Rosie dove deeper into the mystery, I felt more immersed in the story. This, above all else, was what made me want to keep reading on.

The problem was, that soon even this plot line plateaued. A good majority of the middle of this book just felt like it wasn't moving anything forward. There was a bit of a romance for Rosie, that felt a bit forced but was cute enough. There was also a few occurrences that attempted to build more tension for what was coming at the end. Sadly, they didn't really push me to want to read faster. Then the climax finally came and it was just so lackluster in feeling that I was devastated. I wanted more excitement. More intrigue and danger.

This isn't a bad story by any means. The premise is fascinating, even though I'm not a fan of the whole reality show concept. As I said, it did create a good opportunity for duality though. Rosie and her friends were decently fleshed out, and likable in their own ways. Even the romance was an okay addition. All of it just never added up into anything that made me want to commit to this book. I didn't have enough of a connection to it, and that stayed true right up until the end. I'd give this three stars, but I feel like it had the potential to be so much more.