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Monday, July 13, 2015

In The Skin Of A Monster by Kathryn Barker. Sydney: Allen And Unwin,2015



Three years ago, Alice's identical twin sister took a gun to school and shot seven people, including her boyfriend. Since then, the small outback town where they live hasn't been the same. Nobody has overcome their grief - least of all Alice, who wears the killer's face and has to cope with the anger of the others in the town. Then one day, after her return from time in therapy, Alice sees  on the road   a ghostly figure  she thinks must be her sister. Going after it, she finds she has swapped bodies and is now in a land of dreams - and nightmares. Everybody's nightmares... 

This could easily have been another YA contemporary tale of overcoming a truly horrible event, and it would have been good in its own right. But the author has gone a step further. She has taken us to where the dream versions of people from this world are wandering around, trying to survive among the monsters from people's dreams, including many versions of the killer who had taken away their children and friends, where a girl from this world needs to overcome her own inner monsters in a way not possible in the real world. 

This is a debut novel from a promising new writer. 

It's a fascinating premise and makes a very good piece of horror fiction as well as a psychological thriller. For what could be more terrifying than we can imagine ourselves? 

"Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland" will never be the same again! 

Available at all good bookshops from July 29!


2 comments:

Unknown said...

This book sounds very powerful and exciting too. I hadn't heard of it and now I want to read it! Thanks for the review. :)

Sue Bursztynski said...

It will be out in a couple of weeks. Hope you'll enjoy it!