Book Review: Dreamland by Alyson Noel ( Riley Bloom #3 )

Title: Dreamland
Author: Alyson Noel
Series: Riley Bloom #3
Links: Website | Blog | Twitter
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Publication Date: September 13th 2011
Add it: Goodreads | Shelfari
Buy it: Barnes & Noble | Amazon
Summary from Goodreads;
Riley’s finding that the afterlife can be a lonely place when all you do is focus on work. So she goes to the place where dreams happen, hoping to find a way to contact her sister, Ever. She meets the director, who tells her about the two ways to send dreams. As a Dream Jumper, a person can jump into a dreamer’s dream, share a message, and participate. As a Dreamweaver, an entire dream can be created in a studio and sent to the dreamer. But Dreamweaving was outlawed decades ago, and the studio was boarded up. Thinking it’s her only way to reach out to her sister, Riley goes in search of the old studio. There she finds a ghost boy, who’s been creating and sending nightmares to people for years. In order to stop him and reach out to Ever, Riley is going to have to confront and overcome her own fears.
Rating:
**** 4.5 stars, really enjoyed it.
Thoughts:
I have yet to see a novel by Alyson that has a cover I don't like or doesn't catch my interest, honest. Dreamland is no different. Look at the cover; simple yet gorgeous!
This series is a spin off of Noel's Immortals series focusing on Ever's sister, Riley. I've found I enjoy Alyson's Riley Bloom series more than her other series. They're small in side, yes but they seem to hold more within their pages. Riley always manages to find adventure and well, mischief in these novels but she always learns a lesson along with the person reading the book.
The pacing in these books are quick yet enjoyable. They have a lot of depth to them but the way that Noel portrays them makes them feel like light reads. Every time I've started a book in this series, I always find myself reading them in a sitting and wishing for more afterwards. There's a lot of character development in this series. Riley always comes to realize the importance of something or someone by the end of the novels and grows into a bigger and better person. Her mentor, Bodhi isn't present in many scenes yet he plays an important role which I really hope Alyson's next novel Whisper will unfold. I really want to know what happens with the new characters, Satchel and Balthazar, as they were left as loose strings.
The main focus in the Riley Bloom novels aren't in romance as much as they are in lessons Riley learns. In Dreamland, however, the reader is introduced to what could be the beginning of Riley's feelings for a certain character. I felt the emotions as Riley did which is something not every author can convey through such short reads and I really enjoy that.
I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, fast read that's light yet has a deeper level to it.
First sentence:

"The second I laid eyes on Aurora my shoulders slumped, my face unsquinched, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief knowing I had an ally, a friend on my side."

Quotes: 

"I finally knew the truth.

Contrary to what most people think, coincidences are few and far between." - Page 77

"I was trapped.

Stuck in an eternal dance.
Living the never-ending story of all the worst nightmares known to man." - 129 

  Book Trailer: