I enjoyed this book, but I'm struggling to describe it. It's definitely inspired by Stephen King's Misery and Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. It's not really a Mystery/Thriller novel. It more closely resembles a Horror story, but it's surreal, too. And I'm not sure I liked any of the characters in it.

Tess Monaghan makes a cameo when the main character tries to hire her to investigate a series of threatening phone calls and letters he receives, but she declines, because she doesn't like him either.

There are also numerous references to classic movies and tv, including The Sopranos, The Wire, and The Getaway. And, as with all Laura Lippman's books, it takes place in Baltimore.

However, I still think What the Dead Know is her best book.

3.5 Stars

I had to sleep on how I felt about this one... I had a really hard time finishing it because I hated the protagonist, Gerry Andersen, but the ending had me rethinking the entire book and how I really felt about it. It genuinely speaks to Laura Lippman's power as a writer that I found Gerry so utterly reprehensible.

Additionally, it felt like the "build up" for the story took forever, but the last 40 pages had everything happening at lightning speed. I don't always have an issue with plot developments like that, but in this case I found it just didn't quite work for me.

As for the comparisons I have seen to Stephen King's Misery, I think it's a bit of a stretch. If you're going into this book holding it to Misery's standards, you will undoubtedly be disappointed, which is ultimately unfair to Lippman.

I would like to thank NetGalley, William Morrow, and Laura Lippman for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Dream Girl in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to be chosen for a copy of The Dream Girl! I really like the authors writing style in this book. Laura Lippmann really makes you question what is real and what isn’t! The story follows a novelist who begins reviving crank calls from a woman claiming to be the “real” Aubrie. But there is no Aubrie, because he made her up. She’s the character in his best selling novel. So who is calling him, and what does she want? I couldn’t put it down until the end, I was sneaking chapters in everywhere I went.

Book Review for Dream Girl
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman is an intense thriller about a bestselling author who is getting crank calls in the middle of the night by someone to be the main character in his bestselling novel. Who is this woman calling him? What does she want? Why is she claiming to be Aubrey, a fictional character? Was his novel based on a real person's life story? Or is it something more sinister?

Reading this book, I had a lot of questions, and it was fully engrossing. Especially after I read the cliffhanger at the end of Part One, I had to continue reading Part Two. I was so engaged that i ended up finishing the book in a few hours. The idea of an author being haunted by his bestselling work is so interesting. In that aspect, the book reminded me of The Plot, another book that will be released this year. In both books, the plot transitions from dry humor poking fun of the writing process and authors in general to a full-blown thriller involving deaths and hidden identities. If you are planning on reading The Plot, I recommend you read Dream Girl, which has a bit more action and suspense than The Plot did.

Here's an excerpt from the opening chapter of the book, which demonstrates the mysterious mood of the book:

"In a rented hospital bed, high above the city, higher than he ever thought possible in stodgy, low-slung Baltimore, Gerry is asleep more often than he's awake. He floats, he rouses, he drifts, he dreams. He tosses, but he cannot turn. He is Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, casting his net over the glittering lights of downtown, deceptively beautiful at night, a city where someone might choose to live, no longer a city where one gets stuck, not at night, not in his dreams.
There is no clear demarcation between Gerry's dreams and his fantasies, his not-quite-asleep and his not-really-awake."

After I read this part, I had to keep reading to find out what happens and to solve the "mystery" of Aubrey. Unfortunately, I am taking off one star because I did not find the ending satisfying. Although Gerry does some awful things, I found myself rooting for him, and I found that the message the author was trying to send may have gotten muddled in between all of the murders and the mixed-up motivations of the main characters. I'm not sure if the "message" of the novel truly got through, or if the author just intended this book to be a typical thriller.

Overall, Dream Girl is an engrossing thriller that is unique in that it sends a message to the reader about feminism and contemporary culture in American society. If you're planning on reading The Plot or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in July!

I found this book a bit slow and hard to get into, it was basically just interesting enough that I continued reading it so I could see the outcome. I did not care for the main character, and aging author who was just not a good person in general and honestly didn't really see the point in the story unfortunately.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded up!

This was one of the strangest, most unsettling books I have read recently. I didn't connect with any of the characters, yet the storyline was so compelling, I kept coming back to it, determined to finish.

Author and teacher Gerry Andersen suffers a freak fall in his apartment, with injuries so severe he is confined to a hospital bed. His money affords him the luxury of having a nurse so he can convalesce at home. Gerry soon begins receiving phone calls from a woman claiming to be Aubrey, the female lead in his most successful novel Dream Girl...but Aubrey isn't real, and worse, there are no records of the calls coming in. Is Gerry hitting the painkillers too hard, or are the echoes of dementia that haunted his mother now settling on him as the next victim?

The story goes back and forth between present day and Gerry's childhood, which was lonely and complex. Maybe this was an attempt to humanize him, but he's still pretty deplorable. A string of ex-wives, only notices the "pretty" girls, and sexually promiscuous, even when married. Yep, a real winner.

You can definitely see the influence of Stephen King's Misery, and I enjoyed the story. The big reveal was a little far-fetched, but overall, an enjoyable read.

Great quick book!. It did start off a bit slow for my liking but picked up around the middle of the read!
Kept me guessing, had elements of a thriller suspense feel.

Sorry but this download is virtually unreadable,sections are repeated twice and all jumbled up. Will wait for the book to be realeased

Whoa! What a ride this was! And I loved every minute, including the old Baltimore references, old TV references, and all the literary references. I thought it was brilliant. The ending was spot on, it couldn't have been any more satisfying. And I second Gillian Flynn's statement regarding the author " . . . unflinching chronicler of life in America right now."

A really fascinating and realistic story I loved it. Would definitely recommend of you like your psychological thrillers on the dark side xx

Bad news my friends! It seems like semi- unpopular reviewer stuck in the book traffic! There are so many good things I can tell for this book and there are also a few things I didn’t quite enjoy. When I sum up my pros and cons, they seem like equal. I can give this book 3.25 stars but it is still a little under my expectations when I compare the other books of the author with this!

I absolutely like the idea of the author to be bold enough to try different genre, choosing to write horror. But actually this book isn’t a horror! It’s mostly slow burn psychological thriller inspired by Misery and Gaslighting ( maybe just a little Rear Window with #metoomovement vibes) But the similarities with Misery was a little too much ( especially at the second half of the book)

The premise was the best thing I truly enjoyed about the book: 61 years old bedridden bestseller author of famous Dream Girl, Gerry Andersen living at his gorgeous Baltimore apartment located at 25th stairs ( even writing about it makes me suffer from vertigo)

A designated strange nurse and his assistant help him to get through his caring and daily errands. Instead of his demanding ex Margot’s uninvited intrusions, his days seem uneventful till strange things start happening like a letter disappears as soon as he sees addressed to the place he used at his dream girl books and later the fiction character he created starts calling him to tell people will learn she’s for real and she is demanding his share to use her identity in his books.

Yes, his dream girl Aubrey which still funds him at his rainy days seem like finding a way to come to life for an ulterior motive.

Interestingly there is no trace of the phone calls. And his drug induced state makes him think he might have dreamed the entire situation. Could the woman on the phone be the product of his imagination or could he start showing symptoms of amnesia just like his mother has endured till she’s dead?

I’m sold! This is good storyline but I have a few problems about the execution starting with rotation between back and forth. The imminent time jumps were never problematic for me necessarily if they gave enough clues to complete the entire puzzle but I felt like some of the flashbacks were not related to the main story.

Don’t get me wrong: the short and well developed chapters were interesting but it also distracted the slow burn high tension about mysterious woman story and finding out possibilities about her identity.

I also never liked or cared about Gerry a little bit. The women in his life were far more interesting characters than him including three ex wives and his ultra irritating, tenacious ex Margot.

I find him so selfish, so aimless, so flat and hardly connectable.

I also found the ending a little semi satisfying. It was fair but it seems like there are still some unfinished things about the entire story. It left me puzzled. I absolutely couldn’t decide how made me felt but I’m so sure:,I wasn’t completely happy with the result.

It was still well written story with extremely great potential but it isn’t completely my cup of Chardonnay. I think I enjoyed Tess Monaghan series so much more. I couldn’t get the same taste from that story!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

#DreamGirl #NetGalley
An excellent novel of this year.
Novelist Gerry Andersen is confined to a hospital bed in his glamorous high-rise apartment, dependent on two women he barely knows: his incurious young assistant, and a dull, slow-witted night nurse.Then late one night, the phone rings. The caller claims to be the “real” Aubrey, the alluring title character from his most successful novel, Dream Girl.  But there is no real Aubrey. She’s a figment born of a writer’s imagination, despite what many believe or claim to know. Could the cryptic caller be one of his three ex-wives playing a vindictive trick after all these years? Or is she Margot, an ex-girlfriend who keeps trying to insinuate her way back into Gerry’s life?
And why does no one believe that the call even happened?
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for giving me an advance copy.

It’s hard to read PDF sorry. I am sure it’s a lovely book and will get it when it’s out to buy. I am going to check out other books from the author..

Dream girl looks and sounds very creepy. It’s like a twilight zone premise or black mirror episode.