Laura Lippman knows what she's doing. Usually. I have loved many of her books and really, really loved her recent memoir, My Life as a Villainess. However, this book is basically unreadable. It is jumpy and hard to follow and I'm not even sure it had a point. Hopefully she will course correct and her next book will go back to her wonderful writing.

(3.5)
This book tells a tale of an injured man, a successful novelist, who finds himself being cared for and at the mercy of two women he barely knows. What could possibly go wrong?
Gerry Andersen has lived a pretty decent adult life. He’s written a novel or two in his time, with his most successful being Dream Girl. One night, he gets a call from a girl claiming to be the “real” Aubrey, the thing is, there is no Aubrey. She’s a fabricated woman. A simple figment of a creative writer's imagination. So, who is this woman? One of his three ex-wives or perhaps one of his lovers such as his ex-girlfriend Margot who has a bit of a letting-go issue? Also, why is it that not a single person believes him about the phone call?
Since he’s alone and kept from the world due to his injuries and his pain medications keep him quite drowsy he’s also been flipping back and forth through time in his mind (and for the benefit of the readers, that’s us!) where he has been facing his own past with his father, his devoted mother and her death, and all the women he loved in many ways.
Now, he’s faced with a woman from his book, a woman he knows doesn’t exist who says she is owed something but is she really a threat or is this all a sign of a great illness? Gerry is confused, alone, and absolutely terrified.
This book has an incredible premise and it sucked me in by the description immediately. The problem is, I found myself drifting out in the beginning a lot. Then it would pick up and I’d get into the groove of the book again and then I’d find myself drifting out again only to get sucked back in.
This book is very well written and there are so many great ideas in the story but, for me, it just missed the mark here and there. I liked the end but I didn’t love the build up. There are a few reveals in this story and while some are strong, some aren’t so much and some (at least one) are just plain icky.
All in all though, I thought it was a decent enough story. I would definitely read more from this author in the future, I just think this one wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I do encourage you to give it a shot though. It may be just what you are looking for (and I have to give a woohoo to the shout out to Sealtest ice cream! I didn’t remember it until it was mentioned in this book but once I read it it brought back so many childhood memories!). Give it a go and see what you think for yourself. If nothing else, you still will be reading a very well written story.


Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy of this story. I appreciate it so much! Thank you!!

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman was a fantastic thriller.
The characters were well written , complex and fleshed out.
There were so many twists and turns, I was kept guessing the entire way.
The ending all blew me away.
LOVED it!

Gerry had an accident that left him confined to a hospital bed in his apartment. He is dependent on two women, his personal assistant and his night nurse. Gerry has plenty of time to reminiscence about his past, and he has many regrets. On top of all of that, he is receiving phone calls from Aubrey, a fictional character from his most successful novel. He suspects someone is messing with him, or he may be losing his mind.

Dream Girl is a multilayered novel with an unlikable main character. The timeline shifts between past and present. The past is all over the place, covering everything from Gerry’s childhood to more recent moments. While the story is slow building, it is also engrossing.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was kind of an odd one for Lippman, pretty different than her usual books. It reminded me of a combination of The Rear Window and The Bone Collector, although it only has a little in common with each of those. I enjoyed the book even though it wasn't what I expected. The story was farfetched and I was able to figure out what was happening pretty early on, but I would still recommend this to readers who like a psychological thriller.

Gerry was a mess of epic proportions. The way he views the world and women at times had me shaking my head. This story has a very slow burn and it does pick up towards the end, but I felt it was a little rushed.

I really didn’t love this book. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy and I was thrilled. thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy. the summary was fascinating and I expected it to duck me right in but it did not. gerry was an aggravating character which is not my reason for two stars. the books plot felt disjointed at times and it left me with so many questions and feeling not much of an excitement to read and finish. I felt myself continuing to read so I could get to the end. maybe the themes went too over my head. the authors writing is good but the plot didn’t do it for me. unfortunately 2 stars feels like a kind review.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55425157-dream-girl

I'm a big Laura Lippman fan and generally enjoy any crime fiction written by former reporters (it's one of my favorite genres!) Her Tess Monaghan series is definitely one of my faves. Dream Girl, I hate to say it, fell really flat for me and it was a big-time struggle to finish it.

There are times when I avoid reading a book because it receives so much hype right out the gate. I usually regret it later, after I’ve read the book, because it is an amazing read, but with Dream Girl by Laura Lippman, I fell for the hype it was getting online, and I read a ton of reviews before receiving the ARC from netgalley, which is something I usually don’t do. I kept seeing it everywhere, including on my netgalley. I was excited when William Morrow approved me for the ARC, and had high hopes for this novel. That being said, my judgement was off with this book. I had higher expectations than what I received, and if I am being honest it has taken me so long to write this review because, well, I just didn’t like it. It wasn’t a book for me, and I only gave it three stars. I didn’t hate the book, and I’ve read reviews where people thoroughly enjoyed the story, I just couldn’t connect with the characters or go along with the plot of the story. The characters, for me, were just so unlikable and the story line so ridiculous that I just couldn’t get into the book.

I should start this review by thanking both William Morrow, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am grateful for the generosity of both for allowing me to read this book before it hit the shelves.

Dream Girl is a psychological suspense novel about novelist Gerry, who after a fall down his new apartment stairs, finds himself stuck in a hospital bed, questioning his own competency, his own novels and the inspiration for them, and completely dependent on two women he really doesn’t know, his young assistant and his frumpy, TV loving home health aide. The longer he is incapacitated, the more he starts to question not only the world he lives in, but also what is real and what is a drug induced dream. He starts to receive visits from his ex-girlfriend, strange phone calls from a woman who states she is the inspiration for the main character in his hugely successful novel, Dream Girl that soon turn to middle of the night in person visits that leave him shook. Gerry knows there wasn’t any real life inspiration for this character, and starts to think he’s losing his mind when there are not any trace of the letters or phone calls he insists he’s getting. This story starts to make Gerry question reality on a unique level.

When I read this description, I thought for sure this book would be full of twists and turns and psychological depth, but I just thought it fell flat. The plot was predictable and lacked the big wow factor moments I’m used to in psychological suspense thrillers. I thought the storyline moved a little slowly, so reactions seemed forced by the author. And the “big plot twist” was heavily foreshadowed. I was just left wanting more drama, more suspense, more...something. There was a lot of opportunity with the base storyline, but I feel like it just wasn’t utilized.

I also hated the characters, like all of them. Gerry is a 60 something year old, stereotypical wealthy white male. He is confused by current political correctness and is often portrayed as egotistical and narcissistic. He often refers to himself as more acclaimed than what he actually is and thinks that his work is better than the public give him credit for. While I understand that the author built his character like this specifically, everytime he had a thought or opinion I would literally cringe. I honestly was visually disgusted by his behavior and thoughts on the women in the story. He often refers to what he deems “acceptable” for a woman’s appearance, for example, one of his ex-wives has “thicker calves” than what he usually prefers. His ideology of women honestly made my stomach turn. I also hated the way he thought of both his assistant and his home health aide, the character was just shallow, and I thought he really did deserve everything that he had coming to him.

Gerry wasn’t the only character that I loathed though. I don’t think there was a single character in this book that I liked. His ex-girlfriend was written in a way that is opaque, greedy and resembles a 20 something, blonde bimbo (even though she’s just a middle aged gold digger). His assistant comes across as a clueless millennial and in Gerry’s view, he focuses entirely too much on what her dating life is like. Gerry’s description and feelings toward his health aide are just as bad. Maybe the reason I disliked the characters so much is because they were really viewed through Gerry’s eyes, as he was the main narrator, and my obvious disgust for him made his opinions of others that much worse, I really don’t know.

As with any thriller, it’s hard to give a thorough review without giving away all the juicy plot twists, and this book had so few I feel like I have very little I can say without revealing the entire story. I will, however, tell you that this book had potential, I just didn’t care for the direction the author took. For me, the characters were unlikable and just completely unrelatable. The plot was foreshadowed heavily and predictable. The big plot twist was weird (like what does a person have to go through to think this was a good idea? I just don’t get it.) I felt the story could have been so much more than what it was, but again, I am just one opinion out of many, and I have the outlier position with this book. I feel like it’s worth the read, but for me I just couldn’t get into it.

If you decide to pick this one up, let me know in the comments what you thought, I’m interested to see how you felt about this one in particular.

Dream Girl is a psychological thriller is a slow burn which I love as the anticipation builds page by page.

Gerry is so unlikeable and self absorbed that I found him to be a character though I didnt like I couldn't wait to see what happens in the story.

I couldn't decide at one point what was real and what wasn't

The book is told in a dual time line something I always enjoy.

The pages turned quickly with twists and turns and I highly recommend you pick up your copy soon.

I am a big fan of Laura Lippman and I enjoyed Dream Girl very much.

Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for a read I wont soon forget.

Family, relationships, gaslighting, love, hate, and murder
Think Misery! This tale has a good ending, however, not really the book for me.

Interesting premise, but honestly lost interest after a while. Not really a very rememberable story in my opinion. Maybe when I can get a physical copy I will re-read and see if my opinion changes.

Lots of echoes of a certain Stephen King in this book. I loved it. A good plot and interesting characters. I reccomend you give this book a try.

The poor old white man. How terrible it must be to have to hold your tongue in the name of common courtesy and political correctness. How unfortunate that you can no longer be blatantly racist or sexist, and you’ll be held accountable for sexually assaulting another person. Gerry was exactly the stereotypical entitled rich white man you expect exists, but optimistically, hope doesn’t. It felt like almost every other sentence was him congratulating himself for not voicing his inappropriate thoughts about the women he encounters as the story continues. Gerry boils down his relationships to their sexual interactions and considers himself so above others that their worth is calculated by how they serve him.

I was totally on board for a twisty thriller ending in karmic retribution, especially as every page had me disliking Gerry more and more. But, unfortunately, this story never went anywhere. The backstory was boring, there was no real suspense or confusion, and everything happened exactly as expected.

While Lippman did an excellent job writing an unlikeable protagonist, the follow-through was missing. It took me much longer to read Dream Girl than it should have due to utter boredom.

While this isn't a thriller that will be in the top of my year, it certainly held my attention. I might not remember the plot in a few months, but it was still an enjoyable ride!

Gerry Andersen is a novelist recovering from a fall. He's confined in a hospital bed in his own high-rise apartment, cared for by two women he really doesn't know well.

BOOK BLURB: Then late one night, the phone rings. The caller claims to be the “real” Aubrey, the alluring title character from his most successful novel, Dream Girl. But there is no real Aubrey. She’s a figment born of a writer’s imagination, despite what many believe or claim to know. Could the cryptic caller be one of his three ex-wives playing a vindictive trick after all these years? Or is she Margot, an ex-girlfriend who keeps trying to insinuate her way back into Gerry’s life?

But no one believes that these calls have even happened.

Is the medication warping his mind? Has he lost his grip on reality? Is this the start of dementia? Or is there something more malevolent happening?

You be the judge!

A blend of psychological suspense with a touch of horror, the characters are deftly drawn. I do confess to not like the main character at all ... his drivel, narcissism, got a little tiring. I did have to flip through the pages every so often looking for something that would draw me in. The concept was a good one, but the story line failed for me. I have read this author before and been completely satisfied ... here's hoping this is an anomaly and her next book will be what I've come to expect.

Many thanks to the author / William Morrow Books / Faber & Faber Ltd / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman is a great psychological thriller that really surprised me with all it's twists! Gerry Andersen is a novelist who after taking a bad fall is bedridden in his own apartment with only his assistant and a night nurse for company. Then he starts getting unwanted visitors, unusual phone calls and has dreams that he can't tell if they are real or if it's the medications he's on.. This book really keeps you guessing and the end was a total shock to me! Highly recommend this book!!!

Our protagonist, Gerry Andersen, is a successful, though recently blocked writer, who sustains a serious injury from an accident in his home. He has to depend on his assistant and a questionably capable nurse to care for him, neither of whom seem to hold him in high esteem and vice versa. Although Lippman switches between the present and the past in order to provide the reader with a clear picture of who Gerry is, she never succeeds in making him someone worthy of care and concern. Therefore, when the mystery begins and we are left to wonder if Gerry is a pain/drug-induced fantasy or being gaslighted, the tension one would expect to feel just isn't there. As a reader, I was curious about the outcome but certainly not on the edge of my seat.

When the answers are revealed, it was all a bit too convoluted and a let down. The book was well-written, but the story has been done better by others.

This was my first book by this writer and I was really looking forward to it. The main character Gerry is deeply unlikeable and self absorbed, so Laura has done a a great job in creating such a credible character. Victoria and Aileen are heroes to have put up with him in this book . Although it's fictional you can certainly imagine people like Gerry in this world. Unfortunately the book lacks a bit of a punch and kind of falls flat before the end of the story, It is overall a good book but isn't as exciting as I thought it would be.

4 stars. Nice quick read that held my interest. I was able to finish in a handful of sittings. Thanks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review