Book of Dreams / Traci Harding

Book of Dreams

category: fantasy, subadult, romance, author:

Traci Harding

original copyright 2003,
read in March 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

I just can't make up my mind about Harding's books. They are generally girly, sweet, new-age-mystic and cheerful. They target young teen girls who like a happy ending in every chapter. I should, by rights, absolutely loathe them all. (The books, not the girls.) Yet I rather enjoyed each of the first two Harding books that I have read...

btw: To see my reviews for other Harding books, click on the "author:harding" link at the bottom of this review.

Now we come to Book of Dreams...

And Harding has gone just a bit too far... For me.

Okay, I'm not the target audience. So take my opinions with a pinch of old and grumpy salt. But here's how I see it:

Book of Dreams is Enid Blyton for slightly older girls. Girls who are old enough to think that they know what sex is about. Still young enough to want to ride a pony. But the book is definitely not for boys.

Book of Dreams is a moralising fable. Be good, the reader is told. Be pure, open your mind to the spirit world which surrounds us. Protect the environment, swear off the demons Drink and Drugs, obey the Supreme Spiritual Beings... Open your soul to the ancient, all-powerful and all-loving Supreme Spirits of the elevated planes of existence -- and all will be well with your life.

Goodness me! New Age Enid Blyton!

I read the book and enjoyed all the sweetness and goodness and light. I wanted to reach the happy ending. I just had trouble reading on...

Each time that I stopped reading -- it was a chore to start again.

Reading Book of Dreams is a bit like eating fairy floss: Sure, it's nice to eat a bit of solid sugar. After a while, though... you start to long for something just a bit, less, cloyingly, sweet.

Still, this is a book by an Australian author. So give it a try! Especially if you are a girl who has started looking at boys, who longs to ride a pony, and who just wishes that she could see the fairies at the bottom of the garden.

Oh, and tell Amazon to add a picture to their catalogue, and to the link below. This is an Australian book. It deserves the full marketing treatment!

The Book of Dreams

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.