One of the things I liked best about River of Dreams is that it jumped right into it. It didn’t spend half the book for Finn to find out about Dreamwalkers. It was refreshing that there was communication with her family, she told her best friend Jed (relatively) soon. It was a nice break from total secrecy – it’s so frustrating yelling at a book that if people just talked to each other, things would work out much better.
As much as I like that we dove right into the action of the story, I would have enjoyed more character development throughout the book. It felt like we only knew the very surface of the characters. There were hints of it, such as Finn and Noah’s discussion about their biggest fears, but overall there wasn’t enough connection to the characters. I think that kept me from loving the book, but I did still enjoy it and would continue reading a series!

The description for River of Dreams drew me in from the first sentence. It was something I identified with and felt a connection to: the ability to travel through and manipulate dreams. Finn's brother Noah has been in a coma for a while. He went into one unexpectedly and never came out of it, even after multiple tests and procedures. After bringing him back home, Finn tries to go through life like normal, even if no one seems to treat her the same anymore. The only constant in her life is her Nana and her best friend Jed. When her brother's instructor Rafe comes by the house, she realizes he isn't just there to check on Noah. He tells her that her brother is a dreamwalker, someone who can walk through dreams and rescue people form their very real nightmares. He also says there's a big chance Finn might be one too, especially after he dreams have gotten a bit weird lately. She's been seeing both Noah and her dad after all. A few more weird dreams later, and some training from Rafe, she finally sees the River of Dreams and realizes there's more to the dream world than she originally expected. And something evil might have taken Noah, causing his coma.

I can't say what it is exactly about this novel that lost me, but there was something about it that prevented me from loving it as deeply as I wanted to. It may have been the third person, which threw me off at times. Or it may have been the way some events and important issues were skipped over. It could have even been the characters, who I didn't feel as much for as I should have. I gave my all into this novel so that I could love it as deeply as I wanted to, since I identified with it so much, but something made me feel...lost. It's definitely a unique read. It's very much the Shark Boy and Lava Girl for the generation that has grown up since then, but infinitely better. Finn's a passionate person and puts her all into everything she does. I just needed a little more from her and the novel. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it! It's the reason it's getting a four star and not lower, but it needs a little refinement and character development for me to love it more.

Finn is a really stand out character. I mean she doesn't want to be noticed but she is a beautiful soul and how much she loves her family is really great. The dreamwalkers aspect was pretty cool, but very intense. Its hard to imagine what it would be like to fight off nightmares in real life, but Jen Nash does a good job of doing just that. I am a person who has weird, vivid dreams, my parents always said it's because I have such a great imagination, but I don't know how I would feel about rescuing other people in dream worlds.

This was a good read and I was pretty much hooked from the beginning.

I think teens will like reading this different story.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!