I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to think ofThe Vault of Dreamers by author Caragh M. O’Brien. I’ve never read any of the author’s previous works but quickly looked up herBirthmarked novels on Goodreads and saw relatively positive reviews, so I was ready for anything. I can honestly say that the Vault of Dreamers isn’t at all what I expected it to be but it was definitely an experience.

In The Vault of Dreamers our protagonist Rosie Sinclair is attending the Forge School, an elite school that televises every moment of their students’ lives for the world to see. There is hardly any privacy and students with the highest ratings and the best viewership are successful and receive grand sums of money for their attendance at the school. Each night students are given a sleeping pill and while they sleep viewers can catch up on everything they’ve missed. However when Rosie decides to skip her sleeping pill she soon begins to discover that something else is going on at the Forge School. Something that might have sinister consequences and that at the Forge School not only is nothing at all what it seems, but that there is something wicked at hand.

I was surprised by the direction that The Vault of Dreamers went in. I found the plot entirely unpredictable to an extent. In terms of climaxes, plot twists, and the like I really enjoyed what The Vault of Dreamers had to offer. Not often do I enjoy going into a novel without an idea of what is going to happen but The Vault of Dreamers does an excellent job of weaving a mystery that will leave readers curious as to what will happen next.

The characters in The Vault of Dreamers are all unique. While my favorite character was not our main character Rosie, I enjoyed the entire cast. Ranging from the cameramen to the antagonist who I did not see coming, The Vault of Dreamers is very good at creating a diverse cast who impact one another and are all individual. This is one of those novels where everyone will be able to find a character who they can relate to in some way, shape, or form.

The writing in The Vault of Dreamers was decent. There were a lot of scenes where the descriptions painted vivid pictures in my mind but others felt like they were skimming over some of the more important details that could give a clear image of the novel’s world. I still have a lot of questions even after having finished the novel and I do think that this could be attributed to the lack of major details. There are plot holes that I could do without and I really do hope that at some point in time they will all be answered. As for pacing, I think there could have been a better divide between crazy dramatic points and points that were the total opposite. There is romance in The Vault of Dreamers but it doesn’t overtake the plot that is all about conspiracy and action and the big bad truth about the Forge School.

I really enjoyed the premise for The Vault of Dreamers and it reminded me a lot of novels like Flash Point by Nancy Kress and How to Lead a Life of Crime. To any readers who found those types of novels interesting (i.e. stories dealing with characters in either Game Shows/Reality TV shows or teens fighting to become the next best thing at their schools) then you would definitely enjoy The Vault of Dreamers. It has the best of those two worlds. Any readers who want a novel with romantic sub-plots, action, and teenage angst and drama all thrown into one story should definitely check out The Vault of Dreamers.

Talk about creepy.

A school called The Forge, where artists are talents are nurtured and expolited on the ultimate reality television show. 

Drug induced sleep from 6pm to 6am supposedly helps the creative juices flow. Something sinister happens in the night when the cameras aren't rolling and the stars of the show sleep. Or is it all the imagination of one brilliant student?

This was a STUNNING and GORGEOUS story!!! I simply cannot wait to see where the story goes. 

Vault of Dreamers is another dystopian YA, this one kind of a Hunger Games/School.

Rosie Sinclair is trying to get into the Forge School, arguably the best arts school in the country.  Rosie loves film, but is from one of the poorest zip codes in the country. She manages to get into the initial 100-person class. The unique thing about the Forge School is that all of the students are filmed and have a unique feed.  The more people who watch your feed, the more popular you are.  Ad space can be bought for your feed and when you graduate you get a cut of the proceeds.  The most popular students can graduate with millions if. When the book starts, the 100-students are going into their final trial day. Only the top 50 will continue on at the school and be eligible for the money.  Rosie is sitting at 93.

One of the features of the school, is that the students take a sleeping pill and sleep for 12 hours a day (during which the feed of the previous day is reaired). When Rosie starts not taking her pill and wandering the school at night, she discovers another sinister purpose to the school and having them sleep.

I thought there were some good ideas in the book, but I don't think it lived up to what it could have been. While I did like the love interest, I thought the book could have done without it. 

The ending of book is surprising and controversial based on the other reviews I was glancing through. Reportedly there will be at least one more. I have an idea of where it is going and I may pick it up depending on the synopsis and reviews. But I did like it. 

The Vault of Dreamers was an interesting book to say the least. I didn’t love it to bits and pieces but it was definitely something that got the wheels turning in my head. It’s a book written more to mess with your mind than to actually provide answers so if that’s not your thing, you may want to give this book a pass.

Rosie Sinclair isn’t the brightest thing out there but she served her purpose. That said, there were times when I just wanted to shake her. She could be so impulsive at times and didn't really think things through. Impulsiveness does not help uncover a dystopic plot, in fact, it’s more likely to get you caught.

This was one of the reasons why I spent a good chunk of the beginning being skeptic, I kept on wondering when the other shoe would drop and the book would start reading like a generic dystopia. Luckily, that didn’t happen. That isn’t to say it was unlike a typical dystopia, because it was, in some ways, but it also managed to stand out on it's own.

Linus and Burnham were interesting additions to the story. At first I thought it was going to be some weird love triangle but I was incredibly thankful that that wasn’t the case. I think what upset me about Burnham though was the fact that there was just not enough of him. There were some major things that he could have been a part off but wasn’t. I was also really curious to know what he knew and was upset we never really got to find out. With Linus, I was just never really a 100% sold on him. He was the love interest too so that not a good thing. I was always a little suspicious of him and I never quite felt like he genuinely cared for Rosie. I think a major reason for this could be that the romance was not nearly as well developed as it could have been.

It didn’t come out of nowhere and the L word didn’t pop out of nowhere either but there was just this awkwardness to it. I felt like there was no real transition into a relationship and that’s what made it hard for me to ship the two as a couple.

The world building was a tad disappointing yet really intriguing at the same time. I think the fact that we were kept in the dark was vital to the story but as someone who tends to be more than a little curious, it can be hard to not know all the facts. I closed the book with so many questions on my mind yet at the same time I wasn’t angry that the author didn’t give us more information.

The saving grace of the story was the interesting twist that popped up. I had no idea that the author would choose to go down that road and that’s what made the story stick out to me. It’s what set it apart from all the other dystopias out there. It made me question some of the things the author had already laid out and made me come up with my own theories about what was going on and just made the book a lot more interesting. The twist also made our narrator unreliable which is always fun (but we may have different definitions of fun).

I think the ending was interesting too. In most other cases, I probably would have been really angry but it worked with the context of the story. Given the things this story is dealing with, an easy solution wrapped up with a bow tie just wouldn't work.

Given the way it ended though, I feel like a follow up would be interesting but at the same time, I am content with the way things ended.

Really, if you're just looking for a fun book for a rainy day that is bound to mess with your mind, why not give this a shot?

DNF
I simply couldn't get into this book. I tried several times, because I like the concept. Sadly the execusion was poorly at best.
Since I only read around 40%, I can't really give a full account of the plot. But basically my biggest issue was with the pace of it. It was too slow, way too slow. It took me forever to just find my barings, and so far there wasn't any fabulous sci-fi stuff going on at all.
The world building was just not there- at least so far.
The writing was pretty good.
From what I gathered so far of the book, this is another dystopian with Hunger Game tendencies.. which quite frankly has been done way to many times now.
Just not my kinda thing, very sadly, since I was anticipating this one for ages!