Gone

by Lisa McMann

I just finished Gone the other day and I thought it was a decent way to end the series. I still think the first book is my favorite in the trilogy, but this volume was a nice way to end things.

"Things should be great for Janie—she has graduated from high school and is spending her summer with Cabel, the guy she’s totally in love with. But deep down she’s panicking about how she’s going to survive her future when getting sucked into other people’s dreams is really starting to take its toll. Things get even more complicated when she meets her father for the very first time—and he’s in a coma. As Janie uncovers his secret past, she begins to realize that the choice thought she had has more dire consequences than she ever imagined." -(from the publisher)

I had heard that this book was mainly about Janie -and that Cabel was not going to be a large part of it- which I was worried about because I really liked their relationship. But after reading the book, I was satisfied with the amount of time spent on Janie and Cabel's relationship in the book. I liked the development of Janie's father being identified and how she learned that being a dreamcatcher may be hereditary. I don't know if I was entirely convinced by the two choices a dreamcatcher has to face- either use the gift and grow old blind and crippled or reject the gift by isolating yourself and end up like Janie's dad. But I did like how Janie finally did something about her mother- she started to accept that she had no choice about her parents, but learned that the people she surrounded herself with were just as supporting and loving as any family.

Overall, I liked the book and thought it was a good ending to the story. I would have liked it better if the writing hadn't felt as choppy to me- the breaks in time in the story distracted me and felt disjointed- it made it seem like I was reading a diary (which now that I think about it, I may have been because Janie kept those journals). But, I'm not a big fan of the diary format, so to me it felt choppy and jumbled. If you've read the other two books, I would recommend reading this book and finishing the series. If you haven't read any of the Wake trilogy yet, I would recommend reading the first book and only the first book.