Review: Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando

Synopsis:Jane has traveled the world with her father and twin brother, but it's not until her fractured family–still silently suffering from the loss of Jane's mother many years before–inherits a house and a history in Coney Island that she finally begins to find a home. With the help of a new community of friends, a mermaid's secrets, and a tattooed love interest with traffic-stopping good looks, the once plain Jane begins to blossom and gains the courage to explore the secrets of her mother's past.

Colorful characters, beautiful writing, and a vibrant, embattled beachfront backdrop make this the perfect summer read for anyone who has ever tried to find true love or a place to call home.

Book Details:

Publisher:Dutton Juvenile

Pub. Date: May 12, 2011

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 304

My Review:

Dreamland Social Club is one of those books where you read it and have mixed feelings about it. At least that is the case for me. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started Dreamland Social Club. While this is a lovely book about a girl, Jane, discovering who she is and where she belongs its also a story of Coney Island. I learned so much about Coney’s history than I did before, which I have to say my knowledge about Coney was about as much as a rock’s knowledge. Hey, I even learned other things, besides Coney, from this book that I didn’t know before.

Jane comes to Coney Island after her grandfather passes away and Jane and her brother inherit his house. Only his house is more like a museum. Here Jane finds some things of her mother’s who had passed away when Jane was very young. Which goes to say that Jane barely remembers or knew her mother. So Jane then goes on an adventure to find out more about her mother. Along the way she meets Leo who has a familiar tattoo. As she gets to know Leo, they discover there is something that can bring them together. I also want to point out that Jane and Leo’s relationship besides the many questions this book brings is the only thing that kept me reading.

With that said, Dreamland Social Club was boring or for better words slow. The plot didn’t really pick up until the end. Things overall didn’t start to get interesting or exciting until the end. But all that aside this book did manage to hold enough of my attention to continue reading. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate this book; I only like it. Dreamland Social Club starts out like a first book to a series. Where they start out slow to introduce the world and the characters to the readers and then in future books they start to get better. But this is not a series as far as I know it is just a stand alone novel. Nevertheless Tara Altebrando couldn’t have written this book any other way. It just wouldn’t work out in my opinion. Despite the pace of the book Dreamland Social Club is an excellent novel of self-discovery, truth, mystery, secrets, and so much more.

Before I end this review I want to say that I loved all the supporting characters. They were all so different from each other and other book characters. Dreamland Social Club’s one theme is to not judge others by their looks. This is so true with these characters. Jane’s first impressions of them were that they were freaks. As she got to know them better she found out that they are actually great people and friends.

If you like self-discovery books with adventure and a little bit of mystery then this is the book for you. By the end of this book you’ll be sure to fall in love with all the characters, and Coney.