Book Review: Gone by Lisa McMann

This is the third and final installment in the dream catcher series that includes WAKE and FADE. My recommendation is to read all of the books together if you can (I had a 10 month break between books 2 and 3, and was lost for the first few chapters of GONE). If you haven't read the first two books yet, please read my review of those titles and skip this one so you don't get too spoiled!

After finding out the terrible consequences of being a dream catcher, Janie has a big decision to make and everything points towards isolating herself from everyone including her beloved Cabel - that is until a chance meeting with an important stranger makes her realize that her choice is even more horrible than she could have ever imagined.

So does anyone think this book can have a happy ending with a set-up like that? I know I caused a furor over on Goodreads the other day when I described this installment as "bleak and depressing". But hey, I call them like I see them, and although there is a "happy end" of sorts, the story itself is still ... yes ... depressing as hell.

GONE is very much about Janie making her decision about her future and the other characters, even Cabel, fade very much into the background. We see a lot of Janie's inner turmoil and the plot centers around Janie and the stranger that suddenly enters her life. It's not quite as exciting or eventful as the first two novels, but the resolution seems logical (if brutally so).

GONE will be released in hardcover on Feb. 9th, 2010. Find out more about it on the author's website.