Review: A Dream Come True by Andrew Ramz

A Dream Come True is a work of inspirational fiction by Andrew Ramz that shows how something really small, wrought from one person’s love, has the power to become viral.

Nine-year-old Jaeden Phillips had neuroblastoma as a baby but was able to make a full recovery. Now, he’s back in the hospital with a lump in his stomach and he’s not feeling all that great. Even with all his relatives visiting him, and his mom and dad always there, things are not the same as being at home and being with his friends.

The only thing that gives him more happiness than his beloved Aunt Hanna visiting him and making a website especially for him is dreaming of seeing the new “Spiderman” movie coming out later in the year. It stars his all-time favorite actor, Danny Williams. Jaeden has loved “Spiderman” movies all his life and they have the power to make him smile,even when things are at their worst.

Danny Williams is at the top of the world. He’s got money, fame, great friends and a girl who he secretly loves and yet all he feels is sadness since the death of his younger brother to pneumonia. Most of all, he feels a great sense of guilt over not having done everything he could to try and save his brother’s life. He tries to let go of that guilt and misery but it’s really difficult. When Danny gets up the courage to confess his feelings to his girlfriend during a very special night at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he believes his life is finally on the right track – but that’s before he discovers a very special little boy called Jaeden Phillips who gives him a new lease on life…

A Dream Come True is a book that really can’t be read without a box of tissues at hand. Ramz has managed to get into the head of his young protagonist and convincingly convey each of his aspirations, hopes, and feelings in a way that’s entirely organic and absent of guile. Jaeden’s parents love their only child with all their hearts yet are powerless to prevent the inevitable. Their desperation and pain are palpable and it’s in Ramz’s innate ability to create living, breathing, three-dimensional characters where his writing really shines.

However, A Dream Come True requires work in order to fulfill its true potential. While the narrative shifts between Jaeden, his parents, and Danny Williams does work on a narrative level, it can be complex for younger readers, who may want to stay with Jaeden’s central point of view. Additionally, the dialogue comes across as stilted, thanks in part to the lack of contractions, which gives characters an unnatural sense of formality.

These criticisms aside, there’s no denying the emotional impact the story will have on both adults and younger readers, making the structural flaws somewhat forgivable. Ramz is highly adept at creating an emotional story that doesn’t rely solely on sentimentality, which could easily be an issue for a book with this focus.

Emotionally evocative and a celebration of human kindness, A Dream Come True is sure to appeal to a wide audience.