Review: Everything You Dream is Real by Lisa de Nikolits

Review: Everything You Dream is Real by Lisa de Nikolits

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to lean toward weird and/or unconventional things. I remember, when I was in college in a creative writing class, my professor suggested to me one day that my own prose leaned toward the strange and mysterious. If I hear about something that breaks genre conventions or turns a trope on its head, I’m often immediately interested enough to want to know more! There are things about the world Lisa de Nikolits has crafted here that deal with that! Before we go into it, though, let’s get a baseline for the story.

Summary

We open from the point of view of a man named Sharps. Sharps is trapped in a prison for crimes he committed, but he cannot remember much. He also finds that there are voices trapped in his head. When a woman called Noelle comes to save him, though, Noelle, Sharps, and Sharps’s mother are all kidnapped by someone with intentions to take down the Mainframe they work for. Can they figure out what their captor is planning and get back home before everything is destroyed?

Thoughts

I start out the review with my confession about my interest in the strange and different because – while I admit it took me some time to get used to Lisa de Nikolits’s writing and the world she has crafted in this story – once I got into it, I did enjoy myself for the most part. The issues I have stem from the writing for one specific character and the pacing. Everything else was very interesting to see and kept me engaged and asking questions as the plot went on! I’ll get more into the main issues in their respective sections. In the meantime, let’s discuss the characters!

Characters

Sharps

Starting with the first main character we meet feels like the right way to go. I admit, Sharps as a character is very intriguing to me! I like that de Nikolits gives him a background where he is guilty of something terrible, because it provides a growth opportunity for him. Despite his past actions, he can grow into a better person.

While it is important to discuss his relationship with Noelle for a bit, I admit that their dynamic did not really stick out to me as much as another relationship he had in the story, and this is mainly because his dynamic with Noelle happened before the story even opened. It was there to give Noelle an incentive to save him, but they never got back together.  

I feel like I am in a better position to discuss his relationship with Shasta, because this is the one we actually see in full view. I enjoyed Sharps’ dynamic with Shasta a lot. There is a situation in the story where they essentially get trapped in a dark, cold space together for a long time and they only have each other to rely on. Seeing both Shasta and Sharps work to cope with this particular scenario was incredibly sweet to see, and I felt for both characters as it was happening. Sharps, despite having done some things that were terrible, was himself not an entirely bad person.

Noelle

Unfortunately, Noelle is the one character I couldn’t completely get behind. She has a distinctive voice, and her character arc is intriguing, but there was something about the writing for her that rubbed me the wrong way. The word choice in her sections came off as forced to me, especially early in the story when she takes on the role of that other woman to rescue Sharps. I know this was only an issue with her because I had no problem with any of the other voices in the story. And, honestly, I didn’t completely dislike her. It was just her voice, not who she was as a character. Later in the story, I grew to like her character arc. It just took some time because I didn’t like the voice she had in the beginning.

Speaking of that character arc, it was interesting to see her struggle with her addiction to drugs. There are many ways something like this can be done, and I like that it becomes clear as the narrative goes on the hold the butt dust and the nix has on Noelle and how both affect her relationships. Seeing how these situations affect her relationship with Anise is particularly interesting, because it is clear she wants Anise in her life, but the drugs make things difficult for both of them.

Mariangela

Mariangela is probably the most intriguing character to me, because she is the one closest to the man who kidnaps her, Noelle, and Sharps. It was very interesting seeing her dynamic with AP and how it evolved throughout the story.

Seeing Mariangela fight with herself a bit over her feelings for AP was interesting because of how charismatic AP could be! I don’t blame her for struggling with how to feel about him. Seeing those feelings tie into the end point for Mariangela is fantastic as well. It worked well and made sense within the context of the narrative.

Structure

The structure used in this story is straightforward and relatively easy to follow. I like that de Nikolits divides the sections among three differing perspectives. This allows for unique, dynamic views on the events of the plot as they unfold. I especially like that, as the story goes on, it is easy to see how each character’s viewpoint is connected, their relationships to all the other characters as clear as possible.

In this structure, we are largely confined to the same setting as well, making the characters more closely knit and easier to get behind. There were some characters in these settings that weren’t fleshed out, though. This lack of information on them worked to make these particular characters unnerving and it put me on edge when they came in, because anything could happen.

The one nitpick I have with the structure is the pacing. Especially toward the end, it picks up significantly, and then wraps up quickly at the resolution. Personally, when talking about the climax, it was too fast for my taste. With all the differing viewpoints, it was kind of hard to follow and absorb each event as it happened. I think we needed more time to build each moment, perhaps giving one or two more pages – or even just paragraphs – to each chapter, if anything just to leave a bigger impact from each scene. As they are, they go by too quickly and the events are not dwelled on long enough, leaving me wondering exactly how I should feel about them. So many different things are happening, and I think a little more time was needed in each scene to drive home its impact.

Writing

Lisa de Nikolits can build a scene very well and leave you wanting more. I remember, I particularly enjoyed the opening with Sharps as he tries to remember things and is struggling. There are some weird choices made, but it being weird comes with the setting she has chosen for the story. As time goes on and we get more familiar with the world she has built, the strange nature of the world feels like home, where it is to be expected for there to be some outlandish characteristics and people.  

I like that, in Sharps’s sections, there is a little bit of mystery built because of the character’s original amnesia. I like that as time goes on more is uncovered and we see how Sharps reacts and his writing hints that he feels guilt for his past actions.

Now, as I said earlier, I didn’t like the writing in Noelle’s sections as much as the other sections. This is because the word choice used for her – at least at first – came off as awkward to me. As time went on, I got used to the writing, but it was a little bit of a slow start in her sections because I didn’t warm up to her narrative voice right away.

Mariangela’s sections seem to hint at a more unnerving, perhaps sinister nature of this world. Particularly in her observations on AP, the way the scenes are built in the beginning means he comes off as unsettling to say the least. This worked in showing the unconventional new setting but also the allure of it as the story unfolded. We can see why she is a bit unsettled, but also charmed by him and this new world he is introducing all of them to.

Conclusion

In the end, while it took me some time to get my bearings, I ended up liking this story more than I expected. While the opening chapters kind of threw me off and made me think I wasn’t going to be satisfied in the end, I can’t say I’m not satisfied or underwhelmed.

I wouldn’t call this a favorite story of mine and I see areas that could use some improvement, but I think de Nikolits has a fascinating idea she is playing with and has woven together an interesting story that I would recommend for a reader looking for something that will challenge you with something unconventional. It has a weird, endearing world that I would say is ultimately what kept me coming back to it. In the end, I would call the uniqueness of the world created one of its biggest strengths that makes it worth giving this story a try!