This was an easy listen that I finished in one day. It’s perfect for a fall/October read based on the setting of the book. The categories listed for this book included YA but I would even recommend this book to a middle grade reader. It’s an easy to follow mystery in a cozy pre-Halloween setting.

I listened to an audiobook ALC provided via NetGalley.

So I have tasks to do today and needed something to listen to so I perused the “listen now” in NetGalley and saw this book which came out on the first of October 2024z I had past it by in the past because while pretty the cover didn’t draw me in enough to read the description.

Once I actually read it I realized this was exactly a theme I love to read. So it’s unfortunate that the cover doesn’t match the book. There is a disconnect. Anyway I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Netgalley and the author so I can leave my voluntary review.

In the first 30 minutes of listening to the narrator and her lovely voice (although very slow which doesn’t match the feeling of th story) I was thinking that this was a gem found and needed more focus as it drew me in quickly!

Unfortunately that’s not how it ended up but the book has so much potential. The plot is fun and d interesting with talking of portals and people trapped by dreams however the execution needs work.

Now that being said, I enjoyed the story! So it’s worth a. Read especially since it’s short and if you listen to it on 2x speed you can finish it very quickly. Even at regular speed it’s only 5.5 hours long.

On the other hand that short read time is because the story is very thin. While it is an adult protagonist it reads like a YA book. Actually with some changes and making Hannah the FMC an older teen the book along with fleshing out the story more, it would make a great YA book.

I hope the author takes some time to revisit the story and take another stab on it as it has so much potential to be a great book.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

This book is the epitome of a witchy read, perfect for anyone looking to cozy up with a cup of tea and enjoy a fall escape. The pacing is well-balanced, blending elements of mystery with a deep sense of self-discovery. The key iconography woven throughout adds layers of intrigue and symbolism, making it a satisfying thread in the story.

Hannah, the main character, truly shines as she embarks on her journey of learning to trust her intuition and embrace her identity as a witch. Her growth felt personal to me, reminding me of my own journey in trusting myself and connecting with ancestral wisdom. There are so many moments of magic and self-realization that really stand out.

While the ending didn’t quite live up to the rest of the story’s build-up, it doesn’t detract too much from the overall experience. I’d recommend this book to anyone seeking a magical, reflective read with a side of mystery. It’s a perfect companion for autumn evenings.

Dream Haunters by Megan Mary


Hannah Skye, a gifted pianist, unexpectedly looses her job. As she is trying to make sense of this, she receives a phone call from a detective telling her that her estranged aunt is missing. Hannah does not know much about her aunt, since her father never spoke of her or the place where he grew up, Maple Hollow. Shortly after the phone call, Hannah receives a letter from her estranged aunt, with a one way ticket to Maple Hollow. With no where else to go, Hannah boards the plane to help find her aunt.

While on the island, Hannah starts to learn about her aunt from the butler and townsfolk. But more importantly, she starts to learn about herself.


I really wanted to like this book. I was wanting a halloween vibe of a book and this book disappointed. Well, I can’t actually say that completely because the beginning was so boring and long, by chapter 12 the only action was the aunt coming up missing and the plane flight. I restarted the audio book 4 times. But finally threw my hands up in surrender, it wasn’t getting better.

I also did not like the voice actor. Hannah lives in the United States. Maple Hollow is in New England area of the United States so why is the voice actor British and older than the 20 something Hannah? This was my first reason I restarted the book because I thought I had zoned out and missed where we went to England.

This book was not my cup of tea. But others seemed to like it so read other reviews.

Thank you Netgalley for a audio book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed listening to the autumnal atmosphere but other than that it's not very good. I didn't like Hannah's character, she's like a puppet in the story. The narrator just basically tells you everything which makes it boring. It could have been done without the main character at all.

A very enjoyable book. I enjoyed the uses of cats and believing in one’s self to achieve outcomes. I recommend this book for others who enjoy a witchy read. The story was well written and had a beautiful energy to it. I look forward to book two in the series.

The Dream Haunters was a lovely autumnal, cosy read. . I listened to this book and loved the narrators voice, she read the book so well, making each character come alive.

Hannah goes on a journey to Maple Hollow after the news that her Aunt Jewelia has gone missing. At Maple Hollow Hannah is on a journey to find her Aunt and free her before the end of Halloween night. She has the help of local villagers and Midnight, a talking cat. There’s a magical pumpkin patch too!

I loved how the story has a deep message about life, I could connect to it so much. I related to the main character Hannah, her life, how she has always felt different in the world. Having a chronic illness and having had a spiritual awakening myself, I found this book so healing and soothing. I enjoyed hearing about the author, Megan Mary, at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the second book in the series. I hope in the next book there may be a little more character development, I’d love to learn more about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author, Megan Mary, for the eARC copy of this book.

This was the first audiobook I ever read. And I am just not a fan of it. I couldn't follow along well, no matter what speed it was set at. I will say if this was a physical book I probably would have liked it better.

The Dream Haunters was a cozy fall read about Hannah Skye who goes on a journey to Maple Hollow after news that an aunt has gone missing. Maple Hollow is where dreams meet reality in a magical quest filled with shapeshifters, ancient legacies, and the thin veil between worlds.

If you are a fan of The Good Witch or Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, you will enjoy The Dream Haunters by Megan Mary.

The story sticks with Hannah and her aunt in Maple Hollow. There is no love interest or romance. It is YA appropriate, if not YA leaning.

Overall, a cozy, quick read for pumpkin season.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was my latest listen while walking the dog. I don’t love the narrator, she sounded too old for the young FMC and her voice never seemed to capture the importance and urgency of the situations. The story itself wasn’t bad for a cozy mystery. It just felt like everything lined up so perfectly and she magically, literally, had all the answers. I like some trials and shortcoming. Maybe it’s just me?

I was hoping this book would be a fun autumn read, however I just didn’t like the writing and I found the story a bit cheesy

The book had a cozy Halloween paranormal mystery theme that was an easy listen. I felt that it was slow moving and drug on. I would not have finished it if I was reading it on my own. It has all you want in a Halloween themed book including pumpkins that are used in ways that I will not disclose to avoid spoilers. I personally liked the main story, but it did not make me want to come back for more.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator is great. If I had read this in the physical I think I might not have finished it.
The first half was great and very Halloweeny. It had that whole small town cozy vibe going on like Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus. There are pumpkin patches, hidden keys and familiars that talk to Hannah which made it enjoyable. I was excited to see what Hannah's adventure was going to be and what she discovered about her lineage but then it just got weird. It got too complex for what it was and went off on a tangent about the dreams which was a theme not well introduced to begin with. The author could have just kept it simple in the first book of the series with the discovery of her new lineage and Aunt. I gave it 3 stars because I completed it.

Summary

The story is about a girl named Hannah who gets a ticket from her aunt with whom she has not been in touch for ages. Her financial struggles convince her to visit Maple Hollow where she has to search for her aunt who has Disappeared and nobody knows where. The journey forms the crux of the story

My take:

The title is quite intriguing which coaxed me into picking this book. I like to thank the publisher for giving me an ARC for reading and reviewing through netgalley. The views expressed in the review are my own and I have not been paid for this. The title is quite different from anyone you would come across and the same is aligned to the story. After reading this book you can’t think of any other apt title.

The story is medium paced, not very fast but not too slow either. Story does seem stagnant at few places. Characterization is good and believable. While listening to the audio version the characters come to life. The descriptions are apt and doesn’t reveal too much leaving some room for the readers to picturize the story as per their imagination.

The book is not a regular story but about various dreams that one has and what it can mean to them. A concept that has rarely been explored. Any person who dreams a lot would definitely like this book. The author herself is a dream analyst, intuitive, and mystic which is quite interesting. I would definitely visit her website for more insights into the mystical dream world.

A light read for people who like to read about mystical topics.

Was not a fan of this book. I wanted to love it, as the description made me very excited to read it, but the actual book was not for me. I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

This is a lovely audio book. The narrator has a very nice voice which makes it a joy to listen too, and is very good at distinguishing between the different characters. I was always aware of who is talking and enjoyed the different accents. For me personaly the speed was a bit slow, but that's what the speed up button is for.

The book itself is a cozy magical mystery that I enjoyed very much. A perfect book for autumn. However, I do not think this should be categorised as New Adult. Even if the main character is already working and done with her education, she behaves younger than she is. From the pacing and simplicity of the storyline I would market this as Young Adult.

Overall great read!

The Dream Haunters by Megan Mary was, unfortunately, not a book that resonated with me. I gave it 2 out of 5 stars, and honestly, I don’t think I was the ideal audience for this story. Even though I tried to approach it with an open mind, hoping that I would find something that would draw me in, I ultimately found it a bit too peculiar for my taste.

The concept and premise had potential, but the execution left me feeling disconnected. The narrative style was perhaps too unconventional, making it difficult for me to engage with the plot or characters. It felt as though I was constantly waiting for a turning point that never quite came. While I can appreciate unique storytelling approaches, this one didn’t land for me. There were moments where the strangeness of the plot overshadowed the emotional depth that I usually look for in a story, making it hard to invest in what was happening.

I can understand that for readers who enjoy more experimental or abstract narratives, this book might offer something intriguing, but for me, it missed the mark. That said, I wouldn’t discourage others from giving it a try—it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Sometimes, it’s all about finding the right match between book and reader, and this one wasn’t for me.

This one had all the cozy fall vibes, and the narrator did an excellent job bringing the story to life. It was a little slow in places, and a little kooky, but overall a fun and quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the Advance Reader Audiobook. I really enjoyed reading about Hannah and how she was able to discover her powers while trying to rescue her Aunt Jewelia. My favorite book quote in this book is... "Autumn is unmistakably mystical. Fog rolls in and the ground is dewy from the moist rain. Leaves show their true colors as the chlorophyll drains from their veins". I wish I can visit the town of Maple Hollow this Autumn. This book gives me the Halloween vibes.

(thanks NetGalley for the audio arc!)
This book is for you if you are into horoscopes, witchy things, dream analysis and esoteric/spiritual topics.
Unfortunately, I do not fall in this category - still, I'd like to give a neutral review.

Read this book if you love
-pumkins
-halloween
-cats
-spiritualism
-witchy vibes
-a short, fast paced mystery

Hannah is a young woman living with her best friend and working as a professional pianist. Well, at least this was her job - unfortunately, this comes to an end in the beginning of this story. Hannah quickly finds herself in an uncomfortable situation: no job, her bestie/roommate would like her to move out so that her boyfriend can move in and she cannot even fall back on the comfort and support from her parents, seeing as they died in a horrible yet mysterious car accident years back. Considering this situation she is more than interested in the letter she recieves from her aunt, which she has no contact with. Unfortunately, this letter is unreadable and when Hannah gets a call from a detective letting her know that her aunt has disappeared, she knows it is time for her to uproot her life and help find her aunt.

I have to preface this by saying this book was not for me. I did read that it was tapping into metaphysics, but only being familiar with the topic through Kant and Adorno, I expected this aspect to manifest in a more philosophical way. Color me surprised when it dawned on me that this means, in fact, that this book taps heavily into the spiritual world.
Hannah is a protagonist I could not relate to at all. Not only because she sees herself as spiritual, which I do not.
Hannah felt like a rather bleak main character. She is being led by other people all the way through the book, trusting anyone that is not a detective with her full heart. She does not make a lot of own decisions and neither does she think that many interesting thoughts, rather following her intuition. Still, she is basically a Mary Sue main character, having no flaws but being the chosen one, being kind to everyone but the people that are the "villains" of the story without even knowing that. Hannah thinks she has had this kind of spiritual connection which makes her better than everyone else.
Simple concepts are described in a way that always compare, always alienate in cases where it does not make sense at all. One example would be that Hannah thinks to herself that she is different than other people, seeing that she asks philosophical questions no one dares to ask besides her. This sounds promising, would she not in the next paragraph have the most basic thoughts, like (paraphrasing): oh, I'v never even thought about the moon having an impact on our lives on earth." Like, are you kidding. I do not think that anyone, most of all spiritual people, have never asked themselves these questions. Another example of Hannahs "I am so different" thinking shows when she describes herself as being an empath whilst acting like the word empath never existed and she has a great philosophical breakthrough by describing it like sympathy, but like more than that, like the feeling anyone's package becomes her own to bear. However, these thoughts could still make for interesting character traits and plot points unfortunately, they are dropped once and never shown again.

To sum it up, Hannah is not like the other girls, while being, in fact, like the other girls.

The story itself had a rather interesting starting point, with Hannah trying to solve the mystery about her aunts disappearance. Hannah has lovely interactions with the village people which seemed pretty fleshed out for such a short book. The overall plot was not bad at all except the villains.
The villains, known as the dream haunters, do pretty much what the name suggests. Lovely concept, have read about it before but am always happy to do so again. Sadly, I was left wishing for a lot more backstory on these dream haunters. It all felt very black and white, having simple explanations for topics that needed more complicated ones. This also shows in the dream haunters being your typical cartoon villains, having monologues about their goals and screaming things like "I am a dream haunter!".

Lastly, I want to touch on the genre. A lot of my feelings towards this book do not belong in the criticism of a fantasy novel, yet I found it read more like a mystery novel trying to make me believe into spiritualism whilst taking it a small step further and adding witches and portals, making it a fantasy. I am sure that a lot of people could view all of this as normal fantasy and call it a day. In the fantasy novels I know, protagonists question what happens around them and even if they feel like this power or lore or anything has been part of their selves whilst alienating them from others, it is done with more wonder and without the conspiratory "I knew it was like that!".

My final tip: If you consider reading this book, check out the author first. You pretty much get what you expect from looking at her website in a mystery fantasy form. If this does speak to you then I think this book will make a fun quick Halloween read for you.