Oh, boy! First I thought it's a book for a teenager about love and magic...but then I realise it isn't. Great humor, colorful characters, occult ritual which didn't go very well, the boy and the girl...and dreams. From first to last page I love it. I start reading second part. Tolles Buch!

one of my favourite books ever

4,5/5
Postanowiłam jeszcze na chwilę zostać przy książkach Kerstin i był to dobry wybór. Nie wiem co one w sobie mają. Nie chodzi na pewno o wybitne historie czy styl. Jednak sama książka wciąga, trudno się od niej oderwać i jest dobra odskocznią od prawdziwego świata.
To typowe książki dla nastolatek sprzed 10 lat. Na nich się wychowałam i chyba na zawsze będę miała do niech sentyment.

I wanted to like this, but I was quite disappointed. I really enjoyed Ruby Red and I thought this would be similar, but I found it to be way too messy. It's like a mix between The Raven Cycle and Gossip Girl and something else with demons? Anyways, it was just too much and not executed as well as the other previously mentioned titles. I also didn't love the characters. I liked Liv enough, but the boys were kind of just there. They weren't as interesting as TRC boys. I really need to stop comparing though.

I also didn't like the whole plot with the demon stuff. I only liked the bit about dreams. I probably won't be continuing this series.

I read Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red trilogy years ago and really enjoyed it, but I hadn't had much interest in her second series until now. I'd describe this book as similar to The Raven Boys, with a hint of Gossip Girl thrown in for good measure. It sounds like a weird combination, but it seems to work in this book. While it wasn't amazing, it definitely kept my interest enough to continue on with the series. I especially love the concept of "dream doors" and the ability to step into another person's dreams, and the different ways the characters choose to protect against it. I also loved that the antagonist completely surprised me. I'm excited to see where this story goes!

Vorab: Ich mag das Cover. Und die Schreibe lässt sich so runter lesen. Aber alles andere? Es strotzt vor Klischees, die leider nicht mein Ding sind. Ich mag diese Definition Mädchen nicht, ich mag die Definition Held nicht. Ich verstehe nicht, was ein Anhang da soll, denn Komplex ist das ganze auch nicht. Zugegeben: der Antagonist hat mich überrascht. Aber das wars auch schon.

re-read nach 10 jahren

3,5⭐

This book was a lot better than I expected...and a lot less creepy considering the book flap blurb.

I was disheartened to realize that it was a trilogy, until I saw that the subsequent books are already written and published in German. We are just waiting on English translations...or at least, the rest of you are. I speak and read fluent German, and am going to try to get ebook versions or something from amazon.de.

Speaking of it being a German translation...
Without giving spoilers, there are a couple of minor plot points that hinge on an English speaking character researching a German language phrase. I am very curious about how these were handled in the original German version. (Another reason to track down ebook versions in German).

That being said, this book had a good pace, although the plot had some confusion and lack of clarity. I am willing to write this off because the protagonist herself was confused about what was going on. The characters were mostly fleshed out and believable. There were a couple who were fairly flat stereotypes, but in YA fiction I am also a little more willing to let it slide. The handling of dreams was unique and interesting. It held my attention and made me want to read the rest of the trilogy.

Is it the best YA fantasy I have read this year? No. Was it better than a lot of the things I have been reading? Yes. My rating scale for YA books is relative to other YA books. I don't use the same scale for them that I do for my adult or non-fiction reading.