Two best friends since elementary decide to start dating the summer before high school, getting lost in each other’s company and forgetting about their other friends. They fall asleep, get stuck in a joint video game dream and cross many different obstacles and terrains as what seems to me a metaphor for the huge emotions of first love and adolescence in general. I thought it was well done and the art was beautiful.

Firstly thank you to the publishers for my early access in exchange for a review.
I’ve reviewed a few of this authors books and this is definitely one of their strongest .
Thought provoking and well written

It is a middle-grade graphic novel about Amber and Nico's exploration of their love. However, things become complicated, and it starts to affect their friendship with Drew, Stella, and Grace.

This is a sweet graphic novel about love and friendship. I love the artwork.

This was such a sweet middle-grade graphic novel about 2 friends exploring first love and learning to navigate shifting friendships. I enjoyed the connection between the main characters and seeing how they made mistakes and worked through them and past them. I liked the mix between the real world and a dream world.
The art style wasn't my favorite personally, but it seemed to fit for the story really well.

As a 35 year old, married mother, I am definitely not the target audience for this book. While I still really enjoy reading middle-grade fiction, this didn't seem to translate into something I could fully relate to and enjoy. I liked the story, but I had to work to view it from the perspective that I might've had when I was a young teen.

Hi again!

I am back with many new reviews to write and this week is the end of October! Things are going by so quickly and I am starting to think about when I might call my reading year (that does not mean I will stop reading, just that books after that go towards 2025). I am still currently thinking over where I want to stop the reading year but in the meantime, I was able to read another graphic novel ARC (thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions).

SPOILERS AHEAD

A group of school-aged friends begins to experience some turbulence in the group when two members (Amber and Nico) begin to date. They have always kind of liked each other but now it’s going to be official. Things are a bit awkward at first. Then the two start spending every free second together and ignoring the rest of the group and even their best friends. At one point Amber is at a friend’s home and takes a call from Nico that lasts hours! After this night, Amber and Nico are even more glued together and one evening Amber and Nico are settled on the couch playing a video game when they suddenly drop into the game world in their dreams. Now Amber can have what she has been wishing for but maybe some dreams are not all that great.

I definitely enjoyed this story. I liked getting to learn about Amber and Nico and seeing the friend group at the start of the school year and how things changed throughout the story. Friendships in school are often tough and ever-changing, and I felt like this story definitely reflected some of the turbulence that people go through. I definitely recommend giving this graphic novel a try when it hits shelves on January 14th, 2025.

Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars

**Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The first few chapters made me feel very nostalgic; it all reminded me of the summers I had. From sitting at the back of the bus waving to other travelers to chatting on AIM all night. And the all-consuming feelings of first crushes and balancing friendships felt very relatable, too. But the star of this book is the beautiful dream sequences. I got so lost in the art, and I didn’t want them to wake up either.

Two teenagers who have been lifelong friends develop feelings for each other. As they grow closer, it changes their group dynamic and their friends feel neglected. One night, they fall asleep playing video games, and they find themselves in the same dream. Is this the world they want, always together? Or will they decide to wake up?

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This was really cute! I've always enjoyed coming of age stories and it was great to see one in graphic novel form. I also appreciated that Nico was Filipino. I thought he might be and it was confirmed pretty early on. It has some diverse representation too. I enjoyed how Amber and Nico's relationship progressed and how it also showed how their relationships with their friends crumbled because of it. The duality was nice to see especially in characters who are too young to realize that they're pulling away from other people they care about.

Great read! This YA graphic novel has fascinating art, it’s an emotional read, and makes you fall in love with the characters.

Amber, Nico, Drew, Stella and Grace have been friends for what seems like forever and have spent their last summer as middle schoolers on a fabulous trip. Now that they all have started high school, the group find that time and commitment variances cause the group to not be as close and tight as they used to be … that is with the exception of Amber and Nico. They have grown much closer, spending every possible moment together, eventually blossoming into a young romance.

One night after falling asleep under a cuddly blanket while watching a movie, they start dreaming together, arriving in fantasy lands and accomplishing unusual feats. However, their dreams turn unpredictable and spin out of control. They must find a way to make the dream over and wake up to reality.

Not being a big fan of fantasy, I didn’t find the story as interesting as I would have liked. I did enjoy the sweet closeness and impending romance between Amber and Nico and the camaraderie they had with their friends. The artwork and coloring were lovely.

Side note: I really enjoyed the illustration early in the book of a well-known beach town in Delaware with its former iconic landmark.

Amber and Nico are an unlikely couple, but the two discover at the end of middle school that they harbor mutual crushes on each other. Their young love gets them through the following summer, but the beginning of high school is a nightmare. Some of it is just typical teen growing pains—moving from a small middle school to a massive freshman class. But Nico and Amber's infatuation with each other has led to them inadvertently shutting out the rest of their friend group.

Amber just wants to run away from it all with Nico... and one night, the two awaken together in a surreal dream that offers them that opportunity. But the world they traverse is littered with reminders of the waking world. Eventually, the two will have to contend with the differences in what they're looking for.

DREAMOVER is an admirable debut graphic novel. The art is not polished perfection, but it's charming and nostalgic. The story itself, plus the way Diaz plays with both the space on the page and the use of fully blank pages, heightens the dreamlike nature of the second half of the book. It's a great read for kids, and one that perfectly encapsulates the earnest but troubled emotions that come with being a young teen.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Dreamover is a YA graphic novel with romantic and emotional undertones. The book follows two main characters who are opposites of each other. Amber is headstrong and has a temper, and Nico is shy and self-concious. The pair have been best friends for years, and both have a love of playing video games. When they go on a school trip, Amber can not contain her feelings any longer and admits to Nico that she loves him. Nico admits he has feelings for her too, and their summer begins as a romance between them. When they return to school and begin high school however, things get complicated and amongst all the changes and new challenges they are both facing they become inseperable and end up losing all their friends and only have each other. One evening, when they're playing a computer game, Amber's wish to fall inside a game comes true, and another adventure begins. But will they stay there and run away forever or return to the real world and tackle their issues once and for all? This was so sweet in places, and I loved the artwork that changed throughout the book, depending on where the story was currently set in. This will be so relatable to many YA navigating changes, high school, friendships, relationships, bullying and navigating feelings and emotions.

Dreamover tells the story of a group of friends as they make the transition from middle school to high school. Our two main characters, Nico and Amber, find themselves sliding into a clingy dynamic that leaves the rest of the friend group out. Through a fantastical shared dream they realize they need to apologize to their friends and find a balance in their relationship. recommended for YA graphic novel collections.

Dreamover is an interesting read, focusing on a fairly undramatic young teen relationship. I appreciate that nothing overtly traumatic happens, the characters just seem to slide into an uncomfortable dynamic with their long term friends. Events feel fairly realistic until the dream begins. I'm not sure how real this imaginative experience is supposed to be, but it does a good job of portraying the tweens emotions. I also appreciate that the resolution is also relatively undramatic.

Being 14 is such a weird age. Going from middle school to high school, friends getting into their first relationships, figuring out how to deal with new emotions and new experiences, the ups and downs of friendship. This book illustrates all of it wonderfully. It hit especially hard as someone who was a middle schooler during the time this book takes place in, and all of the references to the late 2000s made me feel so nostalgic. It is all drawn so beautifully as well- reading this book was like watching a Studio Ghibli film. Enchanting, whimsical, and so dreamlike. I cannot wait to have a physical copy of this book in my hands.

I enjoyed this graphic novel overall. I wasn't a big fan of the art style at first, but it grew on me as I read. I really loved the use of color throughout the dream sequence especially. I think it did a good job of capturing the tunnel vision that can happen with first loves at the expense of friendships. But I felt as though the ending was rushed, and while I got the overall point of the story I didn't feel I followed how we got to that point. I'm interested in seeing more from this artist in the future, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes surreal art or light love stories without a major plot focus.

Thank you Top Shelf Productions for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

2,75/5

I have some mixed feelings. i had a hard time getting into the story, but after that, I really enjoyed this graphic novel! my first problem was that I was bored by the first chapter. even though it was important in order to introduce the relationships, I feel like it could've been done in a more enticing way, though I'm pretty sure it would be enjoyable to a lot of people. my second issue was with the art style — this is something very personal, as I'm convinced a lot of people will absolutely love it. it was not my cup of tea, and the colors weren't eye catching most of the time to me.

that said, this is a very, very cute and heartwarming story about first love, friendship and finding balance. the dream part of the story, during the sleepover — a big and important part of the story — I absolutely loved : it was creative, and the colors and illustrations were beautiful. the pace, after the first chapters, was great. I didn't love love the dialogue, but they definitely weren't bad.

I would still gladly recommend it to people!

This book was a great read! The story had a great pace and the characters were well developed. It was very easy to get sucked into the story and in just a few sittings, I was done reading the book!

Se me hizo un manga súper interesante! Lo leí rápido y me enganchó al toque. Me gustaría leer más mangas de Dani

I received an ARC from IDW Publishing Group via NetGalley. Fans of Tillie Walden may also like this YA graphic novel that infuses a first love in freshman year and magical realism. This is a quick read about being sucked into relationships and ignoring our normal day to day. Amber and Nico are quirky characters that fit with this style story.