I'm glad that this book came on my radar. I'm a big fan of generational stories and then mix in historical fiction and fantasy and it had me hooked.

Every third daughter of a third daughter in this lineage of Black women can visit other people's dreams and influence their actions via their subconscious. A catchy premise, but one the novel doesn't develop much. While the author takes care to show the inherited pain of this family, especially in chapters set centuries in the past, the story moves too slowly and the conflict lacks intensity. The protagonist has just buried her mother and learned that she's inherited a house in South Carolina. From then on, most of the wordcount is used in creating a grounded picture of the Gullah landscape, climate, language, rhythm of life and customs, which isn't without literary merit, but what is supposed to be the plot (a lifelong resentment between relatives) barely happens at all, and its resolution lands without impact.

Intense, in a - mostly - subtle way. Through the dreams of others, Layla holds more influence than she thought she did. More than her mother wanted her to be burdened with.

A captivating storyline, with a new superpower! (new-to-me at least. . .) Can you imagine the power to influence (properly one would hope, but more often it would be to impose undue influence, I'd think. . .) through a foggy transfer from outside to inside another person's dreams with something that seems to be quite like a shiver of some kind. . .

That's the gift that has been passed down to Layla Hurley through her Gullah ancestors. She's known about the dreams, her own she thought, but once her mother has passed, she begins to explore those lines of family and a new world opens up. . . darkly. Is she a witch? was her mother? Is it black magic, or voodoo? Will she ever be "normal" again? Does she even want that?

So interesting! We may find in future we need to password protect our dreams. . .

*A sincere thank you to Rita Woods, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.*

I'm glad that this book came on my radar. I'm a big fan of generational stories and then mix in historical fiction and fantasy and it had me hooked.

4⭐

Historical fiction meets magical realism in something like a thriller, as two women meet in their dreams across generations--one haunting the sleep of the other in an effort to protect her land, her people, and the space she sacrificed so much for in days living as a once-enslaved Black woman in the aftermath of the Civil War.

THE LAST DREAMWALKER by Rita Woods served up subtle and insidious horror vibes with a dash of plantation lore and interconnected storylines across generations. It features Woods’ haunting writing, which was also present in REMEMBRANCE. I enjoyed the placement of the scenes in the past; they smartly informed the present-day plot. This is perfect for fans of When The Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen and Conjure Women by Asia Atakora.

The Last Dreamwalker is an engaging look at Gullah Geechee culture, the nuances of family secrets, and the value of reconnection with lost family. It's also a story about the ways that dreams and need can consume and overcome us when what we truly seek is peace. Told through the perspectives of Gemma, the matriarch of the family who first sought to gain possession of the island on which she had been an enslaved mother of three most of her life, and of Layla, a young artist at odds with her family and the mother she's suddenly lost, there's a lot to uncover about their family and the gift that came to control it.

Dreamwalking is a gift both women are born with, Gemma choosing to use it to control her circumstances because it is a gift she knows well through tradition, and Layla choosing to run from it as a result of her mother's suppression of her gifts. Layla was raised away from the rest of the family with her brothers and the money her mother's life gave them, while Gemma grew to adulthood and worked within the confines of enslavement in spite of her power. We learn about the gift and the family through both women but it isn't until well into the novel that it becomes clear that there is still a great deal to know. A gift passed down to the women of their family by a stolen and enslaved princess, Dreamwalking has given them much, and indeed been a gift that could still benefit them through Layla's inheritance, but it's also a gift that consumed the women who held its gift with the need to control the island and the people around them.The future is a place filled with conflict, loss, the power of the past, and the terrible weight of dreams that subsumed the lives of many gifted with the power, will her limitations help or harm her when it comes time to claim her power? Only time will tell how the last dreamwalker will choose to use what she learns.

I genuinely enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of historical fiction with fantasy elements.

Layla has been told, especially by her mother, her whole life she is odd, weird, crazy. She’s always had dreams that are vivid and real. She dreams of people and things she shouldn’t know, some good and some disturbing. Now her mother has suddenly died. At the funeral, her mothers sisters arrive with secrets and a family history, Layla never knew. Layla visits these sisters in South Carolina where her dreams become more disturbing and even violent. There is far more to her family and the dreams than she could ever imagine. I love this type of story! Southern gothic, Gullah, and family secrets.

This book was frustrating. Not because the story was terrible. It was a good one! It's because it involved so much misunderstanding, secrets, and pride. There were so many unanswered questions in this book. But I guess that was the point. I love that Woods wrote this story in this way.

I wanted to know all the juicy details between Layla's mother and her crazy cousin. I wanted to know what happened to the past women and what they did with their dream-walking gifts. I wanted to know everything! The only thing that bothered me was the ending. I felt Woods could have stretched it out more. The conclusion wasn't anticlimactic, but I saw the direction of it going elsewhere. It didn't quite tie up loose ends, but it did give off an air of finality.

When Layla's mother passes away, she comes into a unexpected inheritance, both physical and supernatural, that was kept from her her whole life, even when it was negatively affecting her life. As Layla embarks on a journey to figure out what she should do, she realizes that her family's past and secrets are more dangerous than she thinks.

This was spookier than I was expecting, with this overarching southern gothic vibe. The visits to the island and also the clear feeling that something was wrong but wasn't being addressed was nerve wracking. And I definitely felt like the story ended on an uncomfortable note with some gray notes about peoples' good or evil natures. I did feel like lack of communication was a driving mechanism for the plot, which can irritate some folks. The added POV from the past really added another dimension to the story, which I really liked. Overall, recommend!

Thank you so much to Rita Woods and Forge Reads for the gifted copies and partnering with the B2Weird

Rita Woods' The Last Dreamwalker explores the complicated legacies of a Gullah family in which third daughters of third daughters are dreamwalkers: able to enter, experience, and alter the dreams of others. When the mother of central character Layla dies, Layla discovers she's a dreamwalker—as was her mother, who kept her gift hidden after abandoning her Gullah family. The ability to dreamwalk is dangerous, and dreamwalkers run the risk of pushing others' dreams too far, perhaps becoming trapped in them.

There's also a second living dreamwalker in the family. This woman, Charlotte, sees Layla as a threat to the family's ownership of their Gullah island and to Charlotte's personal safety. Almost immediately, Layla finds herself under attack by this much more experienced dreamwalker. The Last Dreamwalker is built around this struggle between Layla and Charlotte.

Woods does a complex and convincing bit of world-building in the first two-thirds of the novel. Readers, who know as little about dreamwalking as does Layla, learn alongside her—and face the threats of Charlotte's rage with her. Magic is afoot, a magic that is the legacy of a family of former slaves and their descendants.

The Last Dreamwalker came close to being a five-star read for me. What fell short was the novel's end, where a resolution that is not a resolution is less than convincing and leaves too many questions unanswered.

Did I enjoy The Last Dreamwalker? Yes. Would I recommend The Last Dreamwalker to others? Yes. But the pleasure lies in the gradual build of knowledge and action within the novel and not with its resolution. I'll have an eye out for what Woods writes next. The Last Dreamwalker has so much in it for readers to savor, and I'm trusting that Walkers' future books will allow readers to savor her work through to the very end.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

The Last Dreamwalker follows Layla, a woman whose mother has just died, as she learns about the family secrets that were kept hidden from her. She inherits half of an island she never knew her mother owned, but more importantly she learns that she comes from a long line of dreamwalkers. A dreamwalker is a woman who is able to enter and manipulate other people’s dreams, and her family has been producing dreamwalkers for generations. As Layla learns more about her family history and becomes more and more connected to the island, her dreamwalking cousin is willing to do anything to scare her away from the island. And Layla needs to learn to defend herself, her family, and her own connection to her family history.

I’m always happy when I’m able to find an adult fantasy book I enjoy. Layla was a character who was easy to root for, and I enjoyed reading about the side characters as well. Aside from the main antagonist this book is full of likable characters. I don’t think I’m used to reading adult books about likable characters anymore so I thought that was refreshing. Layla spends this story healing her relationship with her brothers and aunts, and that also helped in making this book feel like an overall positive and lighthearted story. But this is not at all a lighthearted story. Between her difficult relationship with her mother, and the mental health issues she’s developed from having unexplained terrifying dreams for most of her life, Layla carries around a weight on her shoulders that was easy for me to connect with as a reader.

On the whole this book was very simple and straightforward to me, and so were the reasons I enjoyed it. I liked Layla and the other characters. The pacing was good. I liked the plot. There wasn’t really any romance. The concept of dreamwalking was interesting. The ending was satisfying. It’s not a new favourite, but I really liked it and I have no complaints. I recommend it!

This gave me all the dark southern gothic almost borderline horror like vibes I wanted for spooky season!

Layla has always had troubled dreams that haunt her waking days. After her mum dies, she realises she’s a dreamwalker who has inherited some strange powers and a family legacy dating back to her first ancestor that was plucked from her homeland and sold into slavery.

There are many layers to this book - first is the family dynamics. Layla and her mother had a troubled relationship which affected how Layla saw herself and also influenced her relationship with her brothers. To then find out afterwards about this whole other life/aspect to her mother after she passed away would be hard to fathom. I love the connections she builds with the aunts and the rest of the family. I also really enjoyed the magic realism - the powers of the dreamwalkers don’t seem farfetched and work well with the contemporary setting. Character development wise, we see Layla grow from this scared reticent woman who drugs herself to block out painful memories and dreams, to taking agency of her powers, her inheritance and the bonds she builds with her family.

To be honest, I thought it would be a lot scarier than it actually turned out to be. The big bad doesn’t turn out to be quite so bad in the end. A lot of the spookiness gothic vibes is really from the setting and the flashbacks into the history of the family. Plus side no nightmares or strange dreams for me 😉.

All in, I really enjoyed reading this and would highly recommend it. 4.25/5 stars

I didn’t love this book but I did enjoy it. I am very interested in dreaming, dreams, the dream world etc. I keep a dream journal and have a deep connection with my own dreams. I was super excited when I read the synopsis for this book. The premise was on point and there were definitely elements that I loved. The authors writing style was wonderful and the ideas she created here are truly unique. My issue with the story? It was a very slow burn, the ending fell a little flat and I thought it was a bit repetitive at times. It's the slow burn that lead to what I thought was an underwhelming ending that warranted the 3 stars from me. All in all it was worth the read and I encourage you to give The Last Dreamwalker a shot.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book. These opinions are my own.

Although this is a very interesting idea, The Last Dreamwalker didn’t really hold my attention. I needed the story to move a bit quicker than it did. I wish there was a family tree in the beginning of the book so I could have a visual of how everyone was connected.

Using a dual timeline, The Last Dreamwalker, by Rita Woods, tells a generational story. Through Gemma (1861) and Layla (present day), we learn that some women in their family have a gift. This gift is passed by the third daughters of third daughters, starting with Nola, who was stolen from Africa and enslaved on Scotia Island, SC.

After her mother’s death, Layla inherits one half of Scotia Island and learns that the hyper-realistic dreams she’s had all her life are due to her abilities as a dreamwalker. The other half-owner of the island is her mother’s cousin Charlotte. Charlotte has lived on Scotia Island all her life and is a powerful dreamwalker with a dangerous reputation.

Gemma’s story is a fascinating one, taking place at the end of the Civil War. As the enslaved workers leave the island for freedom on the mainland, Gemma uses her dreamwalking to manipulate the dying master of Ainsli Green into naming her the heir of Scotia Island.

Woods’ writing is strongest when she delves into the dangers that exist - both the menace a dreamwalker can inflict on the dreamer and the madness that can overtake a dreamwalker who abuses her gift.

For much of the book, though, I was unclear as to where the story was headed. I wanted much more momentum and to feel a greater anticipation of the climax. Instead of building intensity, each dramatic moment was followed by a retreat - both a literal retreat by Layla and a significant ebb in the energy of the plot.

I also wanted a more gothic atmosphere, more time on the nearly abandoned island, and more background on the history and culture of the Gullah people.

But I do think The Last Dreamwalker has enough originality and interesting characters to make it worth the read, and I would pick up another Rita Woods title in the future.

Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for this ARC.

Layla endures a strained relationship with her uptight mother and she is constantly dreaming of people she doesn’t know. After her mother's death, she finds out about a legacy from her mother, and her aunts take her to Scotia Island, one of the Gulla-Geechee Islands off of South Carolina coast. When she learns she is a dreamwalker, a gift inherited by the third daughter of her family dating back to times of enslavement and before. She also finds she owns half of the island, and other half is owned by her cousin Charlotte, who she's seen in her dreams and who seems to hate her.

The Last Dreamwalker is a really intriguing historical fantasy with glimpses of different timelines through dreams. The concept of a dreamwalker is fascinating, and the way the mystery is pieced together in flashes of dreams is interesting. The character of Layla is easy to connect with, and through her we meet Gemma, who was enslaved on the island and became the first owner in Layla's family using her gift of walking in the dreams of others. We also learn about the lives of Layla’s mother and her cousin Charlotte, who both had the gift and who share a terrible secret. The pace at times is a bit slow in the first half, but is still fascinating. Gemma is the most compelling character in this story, as she went from enslavement to property owner. The culture and history of the islands is well described. This historical fantasy was hard to put down.

I received a free copy of this book from Macmillan Tor/Forge via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

Traveling to South Carolina brings Layla not only back to her roots but also to the inheritance of land on Gullah-Geeche island. She finds herself in the middle of something she's not encountered before and may be in a fight for her life. Mystic and fascinating book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

I really enjoyed Layla's story, and especially her two aunts. I wish I had aunts like that! I struggled to engage with Gemma's story for probably the first half of the book but then it really picked up the pace. Overall I liked the whole dream walking concept and would like another book that has this magic in it, and I loved the island and its unique history.