Kristin's Bookshelf

📚 My Dreams Are Not Normal
By Carlton R. Byrd
Series: Cinematic Psychological Horror, Book 1
⭐⭐⭐✨

First things first… I absolutely loved Carlton R. Byrd’s writing style. It has a uniquely poetic quality and is incredibly descriptive, especially throughout the first half of the book. I’d definitely be interested in reading whatever he writes next.

This was unlike anything I’ve read before. It gave me an almost YA version of “The Cell” with its dreamlike, psychological atmosphere.

One of my favorite aspects was the relationships between the children and their foster mother. They felt genuine, and knowing each child came from such different and difficult backgrounds helped me better understand their personalities, choices, and reactions throughout the story.

There were a few moments where I found myself a little confused about what was happening and the history of Corey’s mother. Maybe it was that I occasionally had trouble separating what was literal from what was symbolic.

I also found the dream elements especially interesting because I’m a lucid dreamer myself. I know when I’m dreaming and can usually control what happens, so it was fascinating to experience Corey’s perspective as someone who couldn’t tell where dreams ended and reality began. That uncertainty made for some genuinely unsettling moments.

🌊 Standout scene: The swim meet. For me, that’s when everything shifted.

Overall, this was a solid read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a psychological horror novel with elements of mind-bending, dreamlike moments.