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princessjess's review against another edition
3.0
Great! Wonderful YA, it has great themes for teens and a lovely twist that I did not see coming!
trinad's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ashleycdarling's review against another edition
4.0
The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta is a beautifully imagined YA fantasy inspired by ancient Mesoamerica. The story follows two girls, both blessed with the ability to access the Dream, or the spirit realm. The girls, Indir and Saya, embark on a spiritual and at times physical journey to harness their full power and connection to the Dream. Their paths do eventually intersect, but not quite in the way that readers may think. Huerta’s writing is lush and draws you into Indir and Saya’s gorgeous
While I am not of Hispanic or Latinx descent, many of the students I serve claim that heritage. I was personally drawn to this book because of its setting in ancient Mesoamerica and its Latinx characters. The Lost Dreamer addresses issues of the dangers of toxic patriarchy, female friendships and sisterhood, and the powerful bonds of family, which are issues that are relevant to my students locally and the world at large. I also quite enjoyed the use of magic in this story and the ways the girls could access the spirit world, which is a large part of many modern Hispanic and Latinx cultures to this day. While the book is easy to read, occasionally I found myself getting annoyed because the writing was so choppy and simple at times.
While this title is not on any best-of book lists and has not won any awards (yet), I believe The Lost Dreamer is a timely and touching tale of two young girls trying to make sense of their world. The students I serve are predominantly Hispanic and Latinx, and this book would be a wonderful mirror book that might reflect their history and traditions. Kirkus books called it a “sensual fantasy with a feminine gaze and intimate worldbuilding” (2022). I couldn’t agree more! Overall, this book was a good read and I would absolutely read another book by Lizz Huerta. I would definitely recommend The Lost Dreamer to fantasy lovers of all ages.
While I am not of Hispanic or Latinx descent, many of the students I serve claim that heritage. I was personally drawn to this book because of its setting in ancient Mesoamerica and its Latinx characters. The Lost Dreamer addresses issues of the dangers of toxic patriarchy, female friendships and sisterhood, and the powerful bonds of family, which are issues that are relevant to my students locally and the world at large. I also quite enjoyed the use of magic in this story and the ways the girls could access the spirit world, which is a large part of many modern Hispanic and Latinx cultures to this day. While the book is easy to read, occasionally I found myself getting annoyed because the writing was so choppy and simple at times.
While this title is not on any best-of book lists and has not won any awards (yet), I believe The Lost Dreamer is a timely and touching tale of two young girls trying to make sense of their world. The students I serve are predominantly Hispanic and Latinx, and this book would be a wonderful mirror book that might reflect their history and traditions. Kirkus books called it a “sensual fantasy with a feminine gaze and intimate worldbuilding” (2022). I couldn’t agree more! Overall, this book was a good read and I would absolutely read another book by Lizz Huerta. I would definitely recommend The Lost Dreamer to fantasy lovers of all ages.
bookishrealm's review against another edition
3.0
This is the case of one that I really wanted to enjoy, but honestly couldn't get into the story. The premise was amazing, but I found the majority of the story to be slow. 2.5 Stars
The Lost Dreamer is a YA fantasy that takes inspiration from ancient Mesoamerica. It focuses on two narrators, Indir and Saya, one who is a dreamer and the other who is a seer. The story itself is told in their alternate voices as each goes through a variety of conflicts. Honestly, I was confused for a good portion of this book. Indir and Saya have very similar voices in this book and I constantly found myself having to go back within a chapter to remember who's perspective I was reading from. It also didn't help that the pacing was incredibly slow. I was also looking forward to the world building, but Huerta didn't delve as much into the Mesoamerica inspiration as much as I anticipated.
What I did find interesting was the connection between all the women. I found their relationships and the bonds established between them to be rewarding to read. I almost wish that readers had the opportunity to see these explored at a greater length. Honestly, this book had some potential in terms of themes and where the story could go; however, so much of it was lost in the execution. Then ending was rushed, the over-arching "evil" force was barely present, and the character development wasn't really there. I'm not sure if there is a sequel planned for this book, but I didn't really feel as though readers were provided closure for everything that happened. Overall, this was a huge disappointment for me.
The Lost Dreamer is a YA fantasy that takes inspiration from ancient Mesoamerica. It focuses on two narrators, Indir and Saya, one who is a dreamer and the other who is a seer. The story itself is told in their alternate voices as each goes through a variety of conflicts. Honestly, I was confused for a good portion of this book. Indir and Saya have very similar voices in this book and I constantly found myself having to go back within a chapter to remember who's perspective I was reading from. It also didn't help that the pacing was incredibly slow. I was also looking forward to the world building, but Huerta didn't delve as much into the Mesoamerica inspiration as much as I anticipated.
What I did find interesting was the connection between all the women. I found their relationships and the bonds established between them to be rewarding to read. I almost wish that readers had the opportunity to see these explored at a greater length. Honestly, this book had some potential in terms of themes and where the story could go; however, so much of it was lost in the execution. Then ending was rushed, the over-arching "evil" force was barely present, and the character development wasn't really there. I'm not sure if there is a sequel planned for this book, but I didn't really feel as though readers were provided closure for everything that happened. Overall, this was a huge disappointment for me.
ay_angie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
I don’t know what these other reviewers are reading but this is a six star read for me! I was so engrossed and finished this in a day. The world building was great the way the story flowed and the events unfolded was great! Twist at the end so good! Now I didn’t realize this was going to be a duology and I haven’t seen anything alluding to when that will be released so I’m very sad about that. Damn it Lizz give us the next one!!!
willowshelter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
notesquotesscarletmotes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Fun and engaging with beautiful world building. I came to love the characters and was invested in their various journeys. There are so many rich and interesting people in the pages of this book, and I loved learning about them all. Definitely looking forward to the sequel.
oliviagwynne's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
There is so much lore the author is trying to give you up front and it isn’t weaved in well. It is just dumped onto the reader
There are also a lot of characters introduced right away, before you can even get your footing in the world
I liked Saya’s storyline much more than I liked Indir’s. I just didn’t really vibe with her as a character. If she had been the only POV, I may have DNF’d.
The magic system is pretty neat and not overly explained
The relationship between Saya, Ruta & Kinet reads romantic to me. Like Ruta and Kinet are both interested in Saya. I’m interested to see if that actually plays out
Indir’s storyline felt very slow paced to me. Yet it was the one with politics and tension.
There were a lot of abrupt scene shifts. A scene would feel like it wasn’t fully developed and then would quickly end out of nowhere
I was literally battling fall asleep at least 2 of the sessions I spent reading this.
The plot seemed to make a lot of unnecessary detours that didn’t really add anything to the story.
I should have DNFed. It sucked to push through to the end when I know I won’t be continuing the series
There was one thing near the very end of the book that came out that I wasn’t expected and gave me more positive feelings about the book but I still don’t think it will get me to read the next book in the series. We shall see.