| Title | : | Exacting Essence (The Immortal Nightmare Cycle, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781620075548 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 255 |
| Publication | : | First published May 12, 2013 |
Evil clowns haunted Megan’s dreams for years. Even though nobody ever said she was crazy, she knew they were all thinking it. With her life falling apart, she turns suicidal until a new therapist suggests the impossible: dreams are real. Nightmares are living, breathing predators, feeding off dreamer’s fears by exacting essence.
Most, of course, forget theirs as soon as they wake up. Megan is not so lucky. She is also not so powerless.
But is even a power nurtured in her dreams enough to fight off the horrors lurking just beyond the veil of sleep?
Exacting Essence (The Immortal Nightmare Cycle, #1) Reviews
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I'm not rating this one cuz I'm giving up. I WANT to like this book. I just can't..I think it may be me. I'm having a hard time finding my interest stuck to anything over the last week or so.
It really should be good. You have nightmare Clowns!
I just can't connect with it. It seems all over the place and the points of view are changing so much that I'm very confused.
I may come back to this one later.
I did receive an ARC copy of this book from the lovely Curiosity Quills in exchange for an honest review. -
Wymore's latest entry is nightmarish to say the least. But in a good way! Exacting Essence is a trial by fire hero's journey set in a scary world where dreams are reality. The pacing of the story and the characters involved make for a fantastically captivating read. If you've ever had a nightmare then this book is for you.
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I would like to thank Curiosity Quills Press for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.
Goodreads Blurb:Remember waking up late in the night after a nightmare? Your mother holding you tight and whispering everything would be all right? She lied.
Evil clowns haunted Megan’s dreams for years. Even though nobody ever said she was crazy, she knew they were all thinking it. With her life falling apart, she turns suicidal until a new therapist suggests the impossible: dreams are real. Nightmares are living, breathing predators, feeding off dreamer’s fears by exacting essence.
Most, of course, forget theirs as soon as they wake up. Megan is not so lucky. She is also not so powerless.
But is even a power nurtured in her dreams enough to fight off the horrors lurking just beyond the veil of sleep?
While this book presents an interesting on concept, the delivery needs more polish. For me it felt too fragmented in the jumps between characters, particularly as some were mentioned as important to a central character, then we never heard about them again.
We never know why Megan has such a terrible, repeating, nightmare in the first place. How did her nightmare take on such power in her life? What is it supposed to actually be representing for Meg's unconscious mind? A suggestion is put forth that the strongest and scariest figure in the nightmare represents a central figure in her life. But were never really told why this character would come to represent something so dangerous and menacing.
As part of a therapy for Megan, her regular therapist suggests that she meet with another therapist. However Rose is more of a researcher than a therapist, and her work on a grant collecting data is supposedly what funds Megan's visits with this new therapist. Rose is a very unconventional doctor, and actually spends the night at the house with Megan and her Mom. It is here that she explains the concept of lucid dreaming/free dreaming to Megan. Megan takes to it right away, yet for all that she loves what she's learning, her nightmare has not lessened its hold over her.
There is a whole other story going on inside the larger framework of Megan's story. Carrie works for a company in the business of dreams, and she's hit on the trail of a wanted man. She knows if she can just hand him to her employers on a silver platter the promotion she's been slaving away for will be hers. All she has to do is keep the others from reaching him first. Todd Price is a reporter with the knack for getting stories out into the open, stories Carrie's company wants kept quiet. But in the blink of an eye Carrie's life, and point of view, change. Radically. Now she still wants to catch Todd Price, but not for the company. I do enjoy watching Carrie go from one extreme to the other during her experience while she's under. Her feelings about her own nightmare are totally transformed, as is her nightmare itself. Even the way in which her nightmare feeds is altered.
Somewhere along the way Carrie and Meg meet, while in the middle of Carrie's dream. Meg has learned one of the skills she so badly wanted. And we know she does some maturing during the course of the book, so will she mature enough to learn the lesson Carrie can teach her? A lesson of vital importance. But time is running out for both of them, and there are no guarantees when it comes to dreams.
I wish that the ending had been a bit stronger, and shown more of the impact the information Meg could learn would have on not only herself, but on the world as we know it. Between that and the almost dual story lines I simply felt the book could have used another revision or two. Yet the premise is quite interesting and unique, and with another pass to firm up the plot in a few places, I think this could be a much stronger book. -
I had never thought clowns were creepy until I started reading this book. The horror elements were amazing, it makes me wish Wymore had written more of a horror than the fantasy I read. However, even the fantasy was great.
EXACTING ESSENCE reminds me of the movie INCEPTION. It is based on dreams with people who have certain abilities and who can change the dreamworld. The world in EXACTING ESSENCE is like ours, but in a dream. There are Realms, which are like A.U (Alternate Universes) to the dreamworld, and then there are dreams. The residents of the dreamworld are what you would think: creatures made from essence, known as Nightmares, and the people who live their day lives here and night lives in the dreamworld.
The world is intricate, not to mention the intricacy of the plot with the evil business people. What is great though is Wymore doesn't just put all the information in there to confuse the reader. The reader learns through the viewpoint of Megan, a teenage girl learning what it means to dream, and through the views of Carrie Gretsch. With the different viewpoints, Wymore successfully keeps the reader going and gives them important information about the world.
When I first saw the cover and read the blurb, I was thinking Young Adult. It made sense. But, once I started reading, I saw that the book was more to the adult audience. It's not that teens can't read this or the content is too adult, the content is fine and teens would love this book. It is actually with the style of Wymore's writing. In the case of judging a book by its cover, if you just push it aside because it looks like a YA book, you are missing out.
The story has an intricate world, evil business people, a giant ape named George (Furious George to be exact), a teenager trying to find herself, and a whole lot of action. It's a fun read. You even see a minor character and learn his name once you get to the end of the book (that may sound messed up, but Wymore did it wonderfully). You know what makes this book better? A sequel. And guess what? He's planning on that too. -
I can't stop thinking about this book. Lucid dreaming? People influencing the dreams of others? It is down right frightening. This book is frightening in a thought provoking way - does that make sense? It is definitely worth the time which is much more than just the time it takes to read it because you won't be able to stop thinking about it.
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Whereas the blub had enticed me, I was very excited and in a hurry of reading this book, I was disappointed. Not concerning the scenario which is well tied up, nor the universe which is really incredible, but because of its characters (except two) which are really insipid, flat, without interest.
Megan is a teenager bad in her skin, whose nightmares make her life impossible, is first of all attaching, we would like to bring her our supports. But very quickly she is transformed into a spoiled rotted bitchy girl who only makes what she wants, being transformed even into a psychopath which only thinks of killing. I had problems with her personality which is too immature…
Then there are those which play a significant role and which are detached more or less. Rose is the one which will open her the doors of a new world, to teach her how to leave herself there, but she is not very present and unobtrusive when she plays a role. Carrie was my favorite character, she is the one which evolves the more, the best and in the most interesting way. Initially on the side of the evil, ambitious, individual, vicious, she quickly will have to cope with the danger and to make choices. I really appreciated her duet with the super gorilla!
In the male side, Todd is the mysterious character per excellence, we knows few things about him, but that is enough for us to have an idea about him. Steve is at the same time the superman, the model, the beautiful man, in resume: the perfect man what. But he misses something in him to make him unforgettable. And there are obviously the quite depressing clowns who prove to be a creation of Megan who badly turned.
The universe is really complex and we can lose ourself if we does not cling. The real world is called Materia, whereas the oniric world is Essentia. All that is explained by the fact why the alive nightmares and creatures with Essentia are to create starting from vital essence and of the emotions of the dreamers. These creatures are different between them of several categories: Intenuis and Vitae. Intenuis are powerful nightmares nourishing in fears, while Vitae are conscious human beings that know that dreams are real. It is there that come Intershroud, a company working and precisely controlling Essentia. They resemble at a kind of governmental agency of the shade crossed at with the Mafia.
Although the world is interesting, the intrigue rather well done with all the discoveries of Megan, her search for interior peace and the idea of second chance. The characters fascinated me too little so that it is a reading which I would forget. For the moment, I do not know if I would read the continuation, although the reading is rather pleasant thanks to the style of the author and even if the end lets foresee potential… It is right which the personality of Megan annoys me, not to say that she really pissed me off. To read if know yourself you hang in the stories complicated, if not it is to better just pass your way. -
Exacting Essence is another book that I was eagerly awaiting being sent so that I could read it. I was intrigued by the blurb, I mean come on, evil clowns?! I was intrigued by the idea of Nightmares being predators, but when I started to read, I found myself a little bit disappointed.
The concept was interesting, don't get me wrong. The jumps between characters weren't as smooth as they could be, it was very fragmented and jumpy, and I think it needed more work before being published. I mean, characters who where supposedly very important to the plot and main character, vanished. Never to be heard from again. It didn't really make a lot of sense.
I think there was also a lack of explanation, so when you finished the book you where still left with a load of questions. Seriously, WHY does she have this nightmare? WHY is this character, that is represented in the nightmare by the scariest figure, well....representing something like that? Too many why's, not enough answers. It's not intrigue you feel, you feel kind of frustrated!
I did, however, like how there was another story going on within the bigger picture, as it where, and I liked how this story tied in quite neatly with Megan and her story. Although the jumpy and fractured aspect wasn't much helped by it. The ending however was quite poor, and there was no overall impact.
Exacting Essence, isn't all bad. It just needs a few tweaks here and there and some polishing. It is however, the one thing I love in a book....unique. The story just gets curiouser and curiouser, and while it had it's faults, I would honestly pick up the second book. Yes there was some explaining needed, yes the ending wasn't very strong and yes it was a bit jumpy and fragmented, but I did still enjoy it for the most part, and I found it interesting.
I do find it kind of alarming that it got to the stage where I was merrily reading the book and the killer clowns became a bit commonplace and I was just like "oh, not you lot again". You just ease in to it, and it's kind of like Supernatural, where they chuck out a weird episode and you just roll with it, because the weirdness becomes normal, if that makes sense.
Meg, for me, well...I enjoyed watching her grow as a character, but I didn't form a connection to her. I didn't hate her, but I didn't like her all that much, it should normally have been a problem, but for me it wasn't too much of an issue.
Exacting Essence is enjoyable, it's surrealist and it's pure escapism. Yeah there's a couple of issues that need to be smoothed out, you're aware of them, but you can still enjoy the book. The lack of answers are a bit annoying, when you eagerly need to know more, but we can but hope that we'll find out the answers in the next book....maybe? -
18 year old Megan has been plagued by nightmares for as long as she can remember. Besides the dreams being terrifying and real-feeling, many times she wakes up with cuts on her arms. She knows they are from the attackers in her dreams, everyone else believes she's a cutter. Frustrated with the disbelief of not only her mother but also the many doctors she has seen, she's contemplated committing suicide because of the never-ending nightmares. Finally her salvation comes in the form of a new doctor who believes her and sends a psychologist named Rose to help her. What Rose is able to show her both a huge revelation and a sort of relief.
I really liked what Wymore brings to the table in his story about dreams, nightmares, and dream worlds and how he was able to mesh both the "real" world and the dream world together while still making it believable. The dream world and the regular world coexist side by side and one is able to enter the other through dreams, whether through the normal route of...well...being asleep, or through lucid dreaming. The dream world in this tale is the Revra and the inhabitants of Revra are called Intenui. Essence is given to the Intenui in order for them to infiltrate and plague the dreams of Vitae, the dreamers. I really liked the alternate dream world, it was the same as ours, but a hell of a lot freakier. Another aspect I liked was that the nightmares of the dreams are all products of a dream organization called Intershroud. IS is a cutthroat group; filled with many bad people with even worse intentions.
I liked the characters for the most part. It took me a bit to really get to like Megan and in the end, I found that I really did. As the book unfolded, she gained quite a bit of strength and I appreciated the growth she showed. Had she stayed the person she was at the start, I doubt I would have liked the book as much as I did. My favorite character out of all was Furious George whojust happened to be hired by none other than Yellow Hat. Who doesn't love when previously innocuous, beloved stars from our favorite tales get a nasty spin put on them?
All in all, I recommend this book for fans of stories about dreams and dream worlds. I will certainly be on the lookout for further books in this series.
**Book received on behalf of the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. -
Da jeg fik et anmeldereksemplar af denne bog, var det ud fra tanken om at ideen lød virkelig interessant. Og det var/er den også. Desværre trænger den til lidt mere arbejde, før den bliver vireklig enestående.
Skiftet mellem de forskellige karakterer fungerer i princippet det meste af tiden, det kunne dog godt være gjort lidt mere elegant en del af tiden. Derudover var der personligheder der havde det med helt at forsvinde undervejs, for aldrig senere at dukke op. Jeg ved ikke om de blev taget af en klovn eller hvad, men det var altså jævnt sært at en biperson der umiddelbart virkede ret vigtig, bare forsvandt ud i den blå luft. På samme måde savnede jeg noget mere konsekvens og opsamling, jeg sad stadig tilbage med en del spørgsmål, da bogen sluttede. Hvorfor lider Megan af så frygtlige mareridt? Jeg var med på den overordnede historie, men jeg synes aldrig jeg fandt ud af hvorfor graden af hendes var så slemme, og hvorfor pokker klovnen lige var en klovn. Jeg fangede heller ikke hvad Intershrouds motivation mere præcist var, for at styre folks drømme. Men det er en diskussion, der er svær at tage uden at spoile, så den holder jeg mig fra. :blink:
Jeg kunne til gengæld godt lide at der var mere end blot én historie i historien. Selvom udførslen af den måske ikke var helt i top, så kunne jeg godt lide at Carries historie også fik så meget plads. Megan sendes i terapi for sine drømme, og bliver derigennem kædet sammen med lægen Rose, som bliver budbringeren af plottets baggrund. Imens arbejder Carrie på en forfremmelse, der er lidt op af bakke, og undervejs mødes de to kvinder i Carries drøm. Kan de hjælpe hinanden, ingen drømmen løber ud? For i drømme er der ingen garantier, og spørgsmålet er om de kan lære af hinanden og nå deres mål.
Exacting Essence er en ret surrealistisk bog at skulle anmelde, for på papiret, i en anmeldelse, er den virkelig svær at få til at give mening. Den er lidt som Alice i Eventyrland, der er i bund og grund intet i den der giver mening, men man læser den alligevel. På trods af sin lidt haltende udførsel, var den dog en fin bog, især på grund af sin ide. Med lidt mere arbejde og finpudsning kunne bind to godt gå hen og blive en virkelig stærk fortsættelse.
Læs alle anmeldelser her -
Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the kind people at netgalley and Curoisity Quills Press. This did in no way impact my review.
Exacting Essence is a strangely unique story that only gets stranger. From torturous clowns to the emotional journey of a giant Curious George, you'll never know quite what will pop up next.
The World:
Wymore has envisioned an imaginative world of dreamers, both lucid and otherwise. You are teased with tantalising elements and learn of them along with the main characters.
As the book goes on, you become somewhat acquainted with the oddities and ease into it's loop of killing clowns, fleeing the shady Intershroud's (great name for a sinister corporation!) agents, waking up and repeating.
The Characters:
I didn't find the main protagonist, Meg, to be that likeable. Although she becomes a stronger, more confident woman, she retains some of her teenaged arrogance. Her treatment of George throughout the tale doesn't really alter, and isn't endearing, but her prejudice is at least understandable. Admittedly, since George is my favourite character, this may have affected my opinion!
The Questions:
There are many questions that are left unrevealed.
All in all, if you're in the mood for a little surrealist trip into dreamland and don't mind being left with more than a few mysteries, you might enjoy Exacted Essence. -
I received a free copy of this book.
First off, the book was not exactly what I expected but after the initial surprise it really got to me.
The book is about a teenage girl, Megan, who has to deal with reoccurring nightmares after her parents' divorce. She is forced to go back every night to the same place in her dreams and evil clowns are already waiting for her.
You also get introduced to an agency called Intershroud and learn more about their interactions with dreams.
When I first started reading the book I was looking forward to a new insight into dreams/nightmares. I love this topic. The author manages to compose a story world that was quite intriguing for me. I love the fact that you can actually nurture your nightmares with your emotions. The world is great and I hope the author gets the chance to develop it further into the series.
I did have my difficulties with the characters sometimes. Unfortunately, I couldn't really get close to the main character. Megan seemed to become more likable in later parts of the book but something about her just annoyed me.
However, I did like the supporting characters a lot. Especially Carrie and George. Their story was fascinating and their interactions quite interesting.
The ending of the book was okay. I have to admit that I was a little confused sometimes about what was going on but, at least in my opinion, it fits the story.
Some parts of the book were quite disturbing and some of the nightmare descriptions deserve the label scary although I guess I'm used to scarier stories. I would recommend the book to people who like a suspense story that truly offers a unique world. I enjoyed reading it quite a lot. -
(I received a free copy of this book, from Curiosity Quills Press, in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I was a bit surprised at just how much was happening in this book. That isn't always a good thing, but it worked really well in this book, because I felt that the different storylines worked really well together and that the characters were all really well-developed.
Dreams are used a lot in different kinds of fiction, but I thought it was quite interesting to make the use of nightmares in this book. I also liked that there wasn't really any romance here... it makes a nice change from the books where the romance takes over the whole storyline and quickly becomes the main focus.
One of the things I particularly liked about this book was the evolution of the relationship between Carrie and George. I felt that the author clearly spent quite a lot of time on that and it was one of my favourite parts of the book, even though there were some things that were a bit sad.
The nightmares Megan experiences are particularly creepy. I really don't think I'm ever going to look at clowns in the same way again... though there is something that, I have to admit, is a little disturbing about them. Which is probably from all of the horror things I watch with clowns in...
I would have liked to know more about some of the characters, such as Steve and Rose. Both of them had enough hints to make me curious about their history and how they knew each other. Mercury was a character who intrigued me as well, even though I didn't really like her.
There was a lot about this world that I would have really liked to see further explored. If there's a sequel to this book, I'd definitely be interested in checking it out at some point in the future. -
James Wymore does it again with this imaginative story that delves into the world of dreams. In Exacting Essence, a teenage girl faces her nightmares. Literally. Megan, a suicidal young woman, suffers from lasting effects of her dreams. That is until she happens upon something she never expected; her dreams are real. Not only that, dreams are controlled by a secret organization with nothing but bad intent in store. Megan faces down her dream horrors, comprised of a killer circus troop, ringmaster, clowns, and everything.
Wymore always brings something fresh to the table with his novels. He exudes a sense of imagination that is is rare in today's fiction. Pick up a copy of Exacting Essence. You won't regret it. -
I feel this could be a much better read with some editing, explanations and polish. I love the premiss for the plot and I love the whole evil clown angle. The writing feels uneven with stops and stars that should flow better. While I like the idea for the characters I don't like the way they are presented. As such, I can not connect with any of them much less like them. I can see this being remedied with just a bit more fleshing out and updates. I feel there needs to be more explanations or elaboration to help the reader enjoy the read. I received an evaluation copy through Curiosity Quills Press in exchange for my honest opinion.
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This book intrigued me from the beginning. I never wanted to stop reading. Now I want to read more I hope there is a sequel.
