Review : Fade
Fade by Lisa McMann
Pages : 248
Genre : Young Adult, Fantasy
My Rating : 
For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They’re just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck.
Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody’s talking. When Janie taps into a classmate’s violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open — but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie’s in way over her head, and Cabe’s shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.
Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability — and it’s bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a dream catcher sealed, but what’s to come is way darker than she’d feared….
I read McMann’s first book, Wake, during the 24hours read-a-thon, so it seemed like a logical (and fun) idea to read the second book, Fade, during the 48hours book challenge. I thought Fade would give me a similar poetic with that strange and mysterious world of dreams, and it did; what I didn’t expect though, was how much more I would love it than Wake!
In my review of Wake, I observed how the writing “creates a different pace for the book, one that is unstable, unsure, a little like the dreams Janie visits against her will.” While in Fade the writing isn’t less poetic, it is a lot more controlled and regular – imitating, again, Janie’s better control over the dreams. As she gets better at getting in and out of them, and at manipulating them, she also learns about the extent of her own abilities. I really loved reading more about the “mechanics” of her dream-catcher talent; it made her story even more intriguing and touching. I also felt a lot more connected to her than I did in Wake.
As for the story itself, I loved it. Building a mystery around a sexual predator in a high school can be risky, but I thought McMann did a great job of describing it not too lightly, but not in a too depressing way either. It leaves you with a strange “in-between” mood that I would have a hard time describing. I couldn’t put the book down until I knew who it was, and my eyes were glued to the pages up to the end.
Finally, I cannot review this book without commenting on Janie’s relationship with Cabel. The best way I can describe it, is that it’s like watching a roller-coaster on fast-forward and hitting the pause button when people get into “scared-face” mode, than press play again. They go fast at it, then stop, think back, then fast again. I was never sure where they were at exactly, but I did get the feel that they were meant to be together.
Things to note : some language and sexuality.
The third and final volume of the series, Gone, should be out in February 2010. That’s right, that’s about 7 months of waiting – and I’m really looking forward to reading this one! Meanwhile, I’ll just dream of the cover :
Wow! I really want to read this series.
Looks like an excellent series. Thanks for the share!