Rambling About.. Adara Flynn Quick's The Dream Protocol

Whenever I get an email from NetGalley recommending a book, I typically ignore it unless I'm already aware of the author or have had good luck with the publishing house. Adara Flynn Quick's The Dream Protocol was self-published in April and I'd never heard of her before the email (though we do share a last name and I now happily follow her on Twitter). Normally I'd "eh" and delete.

But just LOOK at that cover!!!
After snooping around Goodreads for it, though, I decided the book had a few other things going for it besides the gorgeous cover:

• the aforementioned last name and my lack of a Q so far on my A to Z Author list 
• the recommendation from another reviewer to read it with an Irish accent 
• 154 pages doesn't take very long to read most days 
• the description (particularly the first two lines of it)

"WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GET OLD.
In fiery young Deirdre Callaghan's home of Skellig City, no one has dreamt their own dream in over a thousand years."

Wait. What?!? How could that even be?

"Dreams are produced by the Dream Makers and sold by the Ministry, the tyrannical rulers of the city. In Skellig City, years of life are awarded equally and the ruined are cast away beneath the city on their 35th birthday."

Well, balls. I turned 40 in December. Definitely glad I wasn't living in Skellig City!

"Unbeknownst to the Ministry, Deirdre's handsome friend Flynn Brennan is afflicted with a terrible disease - a disease that accelerates the aging process. Knowing his fate if the Ministry should ever discover his illness, Flynn has lived his whole life hiding from their watchful eyes. When Flynn's secret is finally discovered, Deirdre is determined to free him from the Ministry's grasp. But to save him, she will have to reveal herself to a shadowy enemy...one that none of them even knew existed."

I don't typically do dystopian but I was intrigued and 154 pages could get knocked out in a work shift while folding laundry and ignoring spreadsheets. I hit the "Read Now" button.

The book opens in the year 3077 and 15 year old Deirdre is questioning everything. Her close friend and mother-figure, Maeve, has turned 35 and is sent to whatever lies beneath the city (which, by the way, is already underground). Her actual mother is nearing 35 and, even though she's a Dream Maker, will soon be met with the same fate. Everyone will.

Do as your told and everything will be fine.

That always works with 15 year olds, doesn't it?

She and Flynn desperately want to escape along with their friend Antrim and go above ground where the sky is supposedly blue and the grass is real and green. Of course, before they can do that Deirdre has to save Flynn from the Medical Director. He's threatening to find out all about Flynn and why he looks like he's already one of the "ruined" and have him scheduled for an early descent to the under-underworld.

She gets help from unexpected people and faces unexpected complications in unexpected places. And then, before you know it, it's over ... until the next book in the series! Hopefully the wait won't be a long one.