The Cure for Dreaming

Today's post is on The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters. It is a standalone novel. It is 342 pages long and is published by Amulet. The cover has the main character floating as she is hypnotized. There is no sex, some language, and some violence in this book. The intended reader is young adult but Winters is an excellent writer so if the plot sounds interesting to you give it a try. The story is told from the first person perspective of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- On October 31, 1900 the mesmerizing Henri Reverie will perform his hypnotic feats.

Stand when Commanded!
Speak when Commanded!
Think when Commanded!
Let Monsieur Reverie control your mind & who knows what you will see...
Olivia Mead's father wants to eliminate her rebellious thoughts. But the hypnotist he hires to stamp out her independence ends up giving her the ability to see people as they really are.
Monsters. Victims. Madmen. Friends.
Terrifying and enlightening, Olivia's visions tell her who is trustworthy and who is dangerous. But only she can find a way to make her mind her own again.

Review- This is a historical book hiding as a historical fantasy. That said I really enjoyed this book. The writing was very good, the dialog excellent, and the plot not too bad. The thing weak part for me was the villain. Olivia's father is the villain. He wants his daughter to be safe and he thinks that means she needs to get married and have children. So he pays Henri to take the fight out of her. It does not work the way he wanted and Olivia almost gets raped. But her father does not learn his lesson. In the end she leaves him and her home to be with her mother. I think that her father was just a placeholder for the story about women getting the vote. That is what this book is really about. It is well researched about that topic. I did enjoy the real plot but the blurb does not talk about that all. But good read anyway.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.