Exacting Essence

Megan, a teenager wakes from nightmares about evil clowns. She has been doing this for years, ever since her parents divorce. She has had medical tests and talk to therapists and psychiatrists without finding any help. Her lastest one suggests that she joined a dream study. Megan and her mother agree. Megan is surprised and scared when the researcher suggests her that her dreams are real. According to the researcher, dreams can be predators but there is a way to stop it. Will Megan be able to do it? She has a lot of questions about how to develop her ability to fight/change her nightmares. The researcher is confident that she will be able to.

The story is scary at times. It is unpredictable and made me want to read just one more page. This novel has me wanting more! When does the next book come out?

Review: EXACTING ESSENCE by JAMES WYMORE

Seventeen-year-old Megan fears clowns--and carousels, and carnival tents. That's not so odd: coulrophobia (terror of clowns) is not uncommon. But in Megan's case it's paralyzing; she dreams of them every-single-night, in terrifying nightmares from which she struggles to awake. Counseling hasn't helped, nor calming medications, nor sleep pills. That's bad enough; much worse is the truth: these predatory clowns are real entities, and somewhat similar to psychic vampires, they feed on Megan by EXTRACTING ESSENCE.

Exacting Essence is a strangely unique story that only gets stranger. From torturous clowns to the emotional journey of a giant Curious George, you'll never know quite what will pop up next.

The World:
Wymore has envisioned an imaginative world of dreamers, both lucid and otherwise. You are teased with tantalising elements and learn of them along with the main characters.
As the book goes on, you become somewhat acquainted with the oddities and ease into it's loop of killing clowns, fleeing the shady Intershroud's (great name for a sinister corporation!) agents, waking up and repeating. There are a number of subplots that culminate in a conclusion that is somewhat of a 'happy ever after' (if being granted the weapons to continue on your killing killer clowns spree - try saying THAT five times fast - is your idea of a happy ever after).

The Characters:
I didn't find the main protagonist, Meg, to be that likeable. Although she becomes a stronger, more confident woman, she retains some of her teenaged arrogance. Her treatment of George throughout the tale doesn't really alter, and isn't endearing, but her prejudice is at least understandable. Admittedly, since George is my favourite character, this may have affected my opinion!

The Questions:
There are many questions that are left unrevealed. What are Intershroud's motivations? They want to to control all the dreaming worlds, but to what end? Why do some Nightmares enslave themselves to the once they are strong enough to become free? Were there other factors leading to Megan's creation of such a devastating dream? Why was she on Dale's 'hit list'? What past do Steve and Mercury share? Why is Rose's love-life so troubled? I'd better stop typing unless I want to double my review word count...

All in all, if you're in the mood for a little surrealist trip into dreamland and don't mind being left with more than a few mysteries, you might enjoy Exacted Essence.

First off, the book was not exactly what I expected but after the initial surprise it really got to me.

The book is about a teenage girl, Megan, who has to deal with reoccurring nightmares after her parents' divorce. She is forced to go back every night to the same place in her dreams and evil clowns are already waiting for her. You also get introduced to an agency called Intershroud and learn more about their interactions with dreams.

When I first started reading the book I was looking forward to a new insight into dreams/nightmares. I love this topic. The author manages to compose a story world that was quite intriguing for me. I love the fact that you can actually nurture your nightmares with your emotions. The world is great and I hope the author gets the chance to develop it further into the series.

I did have my difficulties with the characters sometimes. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get close to the main character. Megan seemed to become more likable in later parts of the book but something about her just annoyed me. However, I did like the supporting characters a lot. Especially Carrie and George. Their story was fascinating and their interactions quite interesting.

The ending of the book was okay. I have to admit that I was a little confused sometimes about what was going on but, at least in my opinion, it fits the story.

Some parts of the book were quite disturbing and some of the nightmare descriptions deserve the label scary although I guess I'm used to scarier stories. I would recommend the book to people who like a suspense story that truly offers a unique world. I enjoyed reading it quite a lot.

I had never thought clowns were creepy until I started reading this book. The horror elements were amazing, it makes me wish Wymore had written more of a horror than the fantasy I read. However, even the fantasy was great.

EXACTING ESSENCE reminds me of the movie INCEPTION. It is based on dreams with people who have certain abilities and who can change the dreamworld. The world in EXACTING ESSENCE is like ours, but in a dream. There are Realms, which are like A.U (Alternate Universes) to the dreamworld, and then there are dreams. The residents of the dreamworld are what you would think: creatures made from essence, known as Nightmares, and the people who live their day lives here and night lives in the dreamworld.

The world is intricate, not to mention the intricacy of the plot with the evil business people. What is great though is Wymore doesn't just put all the information in there to confuse the reader. The reader learns through the viewpoint of Megan, a teenage girl learning what it means to dream, and through the views of Carrie Gretsch. With the different viewpoints, Wymore successfully keeps the reader going and gives them important information about the world.

When I first saw the cover and read the blurb, I was thinking Young Adult. It made sense. But, once I started reading, I saw that the book was more to the adult audience. It's not that teens can't read this or the content is too adult, the content is fine and teens would love this book. It is actually with the style of Wymore's writing. In the case of judging a book by its cover, if you just push it aside because it looks like a YA book, you are missing out.

The story has an intricate world, evil business people, a giant ape named George (Furious George to be exact), a teenager trying to find herself, and a whole lot of action. It's a fun read. You even see a minor character and learn his name once you get to the end of the book (that may sound messed up, but Wymore did it wonderfully). You know what makes this book better? A sequel. And guess what? He's planning on that too.