The Cure for Dreaming

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters

Blurb:

Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.

Review:

"And tell her to say 'All is well' instead of arguing whenever she's angry. Please. Her rebelliousness has got to be removed if she's going to survive."

Before I say anything else I want to make clear that I really enjoyed this reading experience. I got through this book so quickly in short bursts of reading time and the quite fast-paced plot always pulled me along without ever demanding too much attention of me. I also liked the concept itself (I'm also painfully aware that I know way too little about the suffrage movement but I definitely feel inspired to delve deeper into that topic) as well as the atmosphere that was established quite early on.

Two things fell flat for me, though: the characters and the tension. In other books not properly connecting to those two elements could have been complete deal-breakers, yet the positive elements were strong enough for my dislike to 'merely dampen the experience'. Look, all I'm trying to say is that while I thought this was a good book it, frankly, wasn't really a book that stuck out to me or spoke to me or anything like that. It is a book which I've read it (and enjoyed doing so) but I'll probably never read it again.

Okay, but what wasn't quite meshing with me concerning the characters and tension? Well, the characters all seemed like ... well, like they could have used at least some more development and/or page time. There was quite a severe lack of dimension in these characters (Winters eventually tries to amend this in at least some characters), which I thought was quite crucial as it could have elevated the story into the realm of greatness were its characters properly fleshed out. This also applies to the main characters; Henry always seemed to me more of a carton cut-out image than a real person and Dr. Mead was just??? Moreover, some characters are made out to be important, like Frannie, but then they only appear in the margins of the story which was quite disappointing to see. 

The thing with the tension comes into play only later on in the story. The thing is, after a while I realized that Winters tends to built tension until it has reached a certain climax and then destroys the tension almost completely. Like, at first I thought it completely horrible how Olivia's voice was stolen (sort of) but as soon as something 'bad' happens she runs to Onree and he returns her voice. This cycle is repeated a couple of times until I was completely without concern for anyone in the book - it was obviously the story's intention to keep everyone as safe as possible. Winters could have took The Cure for Dreaming to some dark, dark, places but instead she chose the soft and safe route. Eh.

Women of Oregon, you preside over our children and our homes. Rejoice in your noble position upon this earth. Return to your children and husbands, and stop concerning yourselves with masculine matters beyond your understanding. Silence in a woman is feminine, honorable, and, above all else, natural. Save your voices for sweet words of support for your hardworking husbands and gentle lullabies for your babes–not for American politics. 

(Seriously, this is so creepy but the story never indulged in the amazing horror lurking at its fingertips.)

Rating:

Urgh, I feel somewhat weird about rating this. For a long time I thought this would end up being a 4-star-read but the rating continuously slipped further down. I did enjoy this book but I don't feel like I can give it any more than 3 out of 5 stars.

Details:

Name: The Cure for Dreaming

Author: Cat Winters

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Pages: 384

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