"The Girl who Learned to Dream", by Pilar Menen Aventin

When the author approached me with the invitation to read her romance book I was quite hesitant. I am not a fan of romance but to my delight the story was not a mushy romance but more of a psychological fiction, a story were the narrative emphasized on the spiritual, emotional and mental life of the main character.

This is a story that encourages dreaming…..

Monica is an unstable individual, looking for love and happiness, not able to get emotional involved for long even married and having a child was not fulfilling. Boy friends in and out of her life although her female friends seemed to last a little longer. The main character tells how she goes about her life, how she feels and what she does. We follow her through different stages of her life. Monica struggles with life and her narrative is filled with emotions. This is very well-done.

At first, it is hard to sympathize with the main character but she slowly creeps up on you….We also have a good mix of supporting characters, each given a broad background and a significant role to play. Some I love and others not so….They do play an important role in the life of Monica. To change the tone the author injected a bit of suspense, two murders and more family drama.

For a good part of the book I really was captivated. I love how Monica pulled me into her dilemma but unfortunately my interest wavered in the last few chapters went the story got a bit preachy and fell into the occult: crystal balls, spiritual dimension, phenomena, magical beliefs, afterlife, transmigration of souls etc….I tuned out from then on. The ending left me with mixed feelings…..Oh well.