Title: Dream Smashers
Author: Angela Carlie
Publisher: CreateSpace, March 2011
Paperback, 242 pages
Rating: 5+/5
Readers of Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jay Asher and Leslie Connor will enjoy reading Dream Smashers.
Sixteen-year-old Autumn is a human heartache. Everywhere she turns people are stomping on her hopes and dreams. Her mom’s a tweaker. She’s lived with her chain-smoking grandmother for as long as she can remember. Even her best friend has issues. Autumn seems to be the only responsible person she knows and she’s sick of putting up with it all.
When she meets Evan, a hot guy without a worry in the world, she can only wonder if he’s for real or just another Dream Smasher.
A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them. Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it’s about letting go.
Sixteen-year-old Autumn is a human heartache. Everywhere she turns people are stomping on her hopes and dreams. Her mom’s a tweaker. She’s lived with her chain-smoking grandmother for as long as she can remember. Even her best friend has issues. Autumn seems to be the only responsible person she knows and she’s sick of putting up with it all.
When she meets Evan, a hot guy without a worry in the world, she can only wonder if he’s for real or just another Dream Smasher.
A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them. Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it’s about letting go.
When I first heard about Dream Smashers, I was so excited to get my hands on an advanced copy. This story hits home for me in a few ways -- it was almost like seeing myself in the character of Autumn. I know I and any countless other teens can identify with growing up in a home with an addict. There is an all-too present feeling of hopelessness, of loneliness, and the ever-growing feeling that people in your life will just let you down. Autumn has a huge burden to carry, and since everyone in her life disappoints her it's no wonder that she closes herself off emotionally and becomes skeptical. I love Evan, because he is caring, but he's not written as a knight-in-shining armor, because that's not realistic. Angela Carlie is an author that "gets it" -- the trauma of addiction, the turmoil of teen years, and the struggle to claw your way out of a depressing life. Put this on your to-read list immediately, because you're never going to put it down.
I might be interpreted as asking for a spoiler but is the book about letting go of the person you love or about letting go of your fears and simply giving into love? Don't get me wrong, I am going to read the book as soon as I find it available on All you can books it's just that I am really really curios what is being let go.
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