The Book - Life Is But A Dream

So I've recently started a book club with some of the girls from work, plus Carolyn and Rebekah, and we had our first official meeting last weekend at our place. It was so lovely just to chill out, eat some yummy food, and talk books. I totally recommend it. There's something really special about reading a book at the same time as other people, I guess because reading is normally such an individual thing.

Anyway, so we read the book Life is But a Dream by Brian James. I'm not sure if I would exactly recommend it. It's about a teenage girl with schizophrenia who is admitted to a mental institution or "Wellness Centre". The basic storyline concerns her struggle between reality and unreality, and her coming to terms with her illness while starting a relationship with another patient.

I would probably give it 2 and a half stars out of 5. I'll probably end up exchanging it at the local second-hand bookstore Arty Bees (yes, Wellington has the most awesome second-hand bookstore in the world - period). However, it did get me to think a lot about how everyone sees the world, and how we will never know if we're all actually seeing the same thing.

The writing style was okay, but to be honest Luke and I are also reading a Charles Dickens at the moment, so that's pretty hard for any author to compare with.

In sum, if you're wanting a bit of a "different" kind of read - something that's not too fast-paced, which you don't need to use your entire brain to comprehend - this book just might be the one for you.

Until next time :)