05 January, 2013

#BookReview :: Legacy of a Dreamer by Allie Jean


Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar, yet can’t be placed.

Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.

On her eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d hoped. In this environment, she faces a whole new set of challenges.

One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare. Her dreams are clues to her future, and her life becomes twisted and dangerous when she learns that things that go bump in the night are not just in fairy tales and childhood stories.





Chantal Breelan is just another name lost in the Foster Care System. She has a problem with nightmares and nobody to turn to except her secret imaginary friend called Nick. Once she turns eighteen, she is forced to move out of her foster home and falls off the systems radar. She moves to the city that never sleeps and though she doesn’t have a smooth start to this new life either, she manages to find herself an apartment. As she feels Nick’s presence in her new life, she manages to trudge through the days. Then one day when a young boy runs away from her and she decides to follow him, her world as she knew it, changed forever. Among other things, Nick turned out to be a fallen angel named Mathias who has actually been there with Chantal as her protector.

Characters first. Chantal is a girl with many traits and persona. She is brave, yet scared of the dark. She is stubborn, willful and sometimes so clueless! I could go on, but I will round it up with one sentence – she is a typical teenager who made me feel excited, irritated and anxious throughout the book. I kind of liked her. Mathias on the other hand is awesome. He is strong, focused and he has his priorities set right!

The plot has a slow start. For the first few chapters I was left wondering where the story is going. But once the action starts, the story takes on a fast pace, never relenting. I have not read a book involving a storyline that had dreams/nightmares playing such a major role. So it was a change for me and one that I enjoyed! The author style of writing is very descriptive – which in general is a good thing. For the most part I enjoyed that aspect as well but at certain point it felt a bit dragging.

But the best part about the book, besides Mathias ofcourse, was Chantal’s family history and the twists and turn that the book offered. Overall, ‘Legacy of a Dreamer’ made quite an interesting read!




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