Who Lies Beneath in Rebecca Ross's Dreams Lie Beneath?

Summary 

In the realm of Azenor, there is a fortress in the clouds that was the Seren Duchy. But the Duke was assassinated by his closest friends. As they fled the mountains, the dying Duke cast a curse upon the land, making it so the people's nightmares would come to life among the streets of each town and village when each new moon rose. To fight these nightmares, magicians were designated as wardens at each place to protect the people. Clementine "Clem" Madigan grew up as a magician and warden apprentice to her father until two brothers of one of the other duchies challenges him for his position. After losing their home to the Vesper brothers, Clem makes it her mission to get close to one of them and find anything to take the Vesper family down, getting her home back in the process. 

But as she infiltrates one of the brother's homes and becomes his warden partner while wearing a glamour, Clem's character is tested again and again so that even she is wondering just how far she'll go to get her home back.

  -- Spoilers --

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Portrayals of Identity

Amid the magic and deception and curse-breaking, what I enjoyed most in Dreams Lie Beneath is the theme of identity. The gorgeous cover brilliantly demonstrates this with Clem looking into a mirror; readers don't know when this is during her story: Is it before she is uprooted suddenly from her home, during her time in Phelan's house or at the end, when she discovers she no longer recognizes her familiar, yet changed, appearance?

Clem's Origin

Clem knows herself as a simple girl who lives in a small town, loves to draw, has a loving mother figure and fights nightmares alongside her father on each new moon. Clem has lived for, I think, 17 years in this lifestyle and environment. Fighting the nightmares and using her magic push the envelope in a "normal" life; however, even these have their limits in the beginning. Her father doesn't like her using her intuitive magic because it can be impulsive and result in reckless behavior. And fighting nightmares comes with certain stakes: Protecting her father as well as using her head and magic to find the key to the nightmares without being killed. It isn't until her home is threatened by the Vesper brothers that she pushes herself to do whatever it takes to keep her home. Consequently, her anger and desire for vengeance and justice once she does lose her home goad her into adapting to new situations and pushing her character farther.

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Becoming Anna

It's only when Clem realizes that there's a price for gaining a glamour does she waver in her pursuit for vengeance against the Vespers; however, she pushes through, determined to not let anything stop her in this endeavor. I wasn't entirely sure if she was to permanently lose her artistic ability even if the stone broke; Mazarine isn't clear about that so I wasn't sure if breaking would release Clem or kill her.

Clem is blinded by her emotions to the point where she doesn't realize that one brother is colder than the other. From the beginning, Lennox has displayed no care for others since encountering the Madigans while Phelan has been quiet, yet observant and empathetic. Not only does he save Clem from the snake during the new moon (63-64), but he asks the next morning about her physical well-being (71). Additionally, Phelan contradicts his brother, telling Clem and her father that they may take their time in packing and stay in their now former home as long as they need (73). It's these little things that made me confused when Clem decides to infiltrate Phelan's home and become his new warden partner instead of Lennox's since Lennox was the truly unkind brother and living in her former home. I know that location was a major factor so it was convenient that Phelan needed a partner, but it still struck me as odd that she'd focus her efforts towards Phelan. I guess Clem believed them to both be villains since Phelan was helping Lennox.

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Confronting Reflections of Herself

Clem is initially happy to see that her glamour works when she fools her parents and Imonie. However, the more she acts in her new persona, the more she starts to see and speak to herself as two people. But I think no matter what Clem does in the name of Anna, it is Clem choosing to go the distance to get her home back and take down the Vespers. It was always in her nature to do so; she just didn't have a reason to let this side of herself out. 

After their first new moon and both Clem (as Anna) and Phelan are a little vulnerable with each other, Clem is awakened to find Lady Vesper in her son's bedchamber where Clem and he are sleeping in the same bed since both sustained injuries the previous night. This rude awakening reminds Clem of the real reason she's there: To get dirt on the Vespers and gain her home back. Clem excuses herself and in her own bedchamber "wash[es] her face and shatter[s] the mirror that hung on the wall because [she is] weary of seeing [her]self. [She watches] the cracks in the glass spread into a glittering web, until Clem [is] broken into an array of pieces, and yet [she] still [doesn't] feel satisfied," (246-247). This scene makes me think she no longer wants to be Clem and would rather forget why she's there since she has developed feelings for Phelan. Clem is possibly also tired of leading a double life in general because that takes a great deal of effort, more so since she must monitor her stone heart at all times. 

Clem's True Lineage

I wasn't keen on the dinner scene (338-340) where the Wraiths are all stabbed to prove their identities. It was jarring since I knew who they were and didn't expect this to be demonstrated. I don't find it necessary. it could just have been said to the reader. Imagine the trauma Phelan, Olivette, Clem and Lennox gained from having to witness that. Anyways, Clem realizes her true lineage after this display. She is a descendant of one of the Seven Wraiths and believes "[her] childhood, [her] entire life, [has] been built upon lies," (341). I don't agree with her statement. Clem is still the same character she was when she entered Lady Vesper's home; it's just that her parents and Imonie withheld the information that she was a descendant and Imonie's granddaughter and that she is incapable of dreaming. Imonie's stories were true, but she just left out the identity of the twin brothers. Learning her lineage doesn't change her childhood or the life Clem has already lived. Having that knowledge wouldn't have changed anything since the curse was still in effect and Clem wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. 

From Imonie's stories, Clem believed Emrys, her father's twin, was the ruthless assassin who killed the duke of Serene and brought about the curse. Her father is her father and Clem never knew him to be bad or a villain. But when the brothers switch places to protect Ambrose, Clem's father, Clem realizes that her father was the assassin all along and Emrys shielded his wild brother from punishments as the story went. Clem feels shame for being Ambrose's daughter, "I stared at Papa, at his bloodied hands. He was Imonie's wild boy. The assassin. The reckless coward. And I was his daughter. The betrayer's blood [runs] through my veins like quicksilver," (456). Clem gains yet another layer to her identity, tying herself to her father by calling him a "betrayer" when mere moments later, Mazarine reveals Clem's identity to everyone and Clem "[watches] the betrayal brighten [Nura's] eyes, (457). Now, Clem sees herself on equal footing with her father and in telling Phelan to claim the throne, she admits to feeling unworthy (458). Clem thinks that all the good she has done is erased by this act of betrayal that became her way of survival once it was revealed that she was a descendant of one of the Seven Wraiths and wanted dead by the countess. I wonder if Clem feels worthy once she has saved Phelan from the duke's arrow and nearly killed. 

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Clem and Anna as One

During the first nightmare in the castle, the dream version of Anna interacts with Clem, who is still disguised as Anna. In the former duke of Seren's bedchamber, dream Anna tells Clem that she can strike her and end the nightmare (388), but Clem has realized that the Anna persona she has taken on is part of her, so she hesitates to attack the dream version of herself (389).

Phelan later confronts Clem, asking if she deceived him from start to finish. Clem confesses that in her guise as Anna, some things were an act while others weren't; however, she mistakenly says, "I was and still am exactly who I was before. Even in the moments when I was with you as Anna... I was Clem." While she sees that she was Anna and Clem at the same time periodically, Clem has changed. With everything she has gone through that has tested her mettle and learned about her true lineage, Clem isn't "exactly who [she] was before" because no one is exactly the same as time goes on.  

While explaining to Phelan about her stone heart suffering a crack when he saw her true reflection and said her name, Clem confesses to having learned a valuable lesson, "I had forgotten how vital it is to be known for who you are, and not for who you pretend to be. I had forgotten how good it is to be seen, even with flaws and scars," (404). Clem has scars from the snake bite during her first encounter with Phelan on a new moon the night she fought for her home. She gained scars on her neck when she turned herself into a fish and grew gills also to save her home. Clem is wounded at least two more times where Phelan is there to see her stitch herself up and, finally be allowed to tend to her while at the castle. Despite these physical scars, he remains devoted to her. And even after Clem (as Anna) was interviewed by Phelan and viciously attacked him, he still wanted Clem (403). Phelan connected with Clem that first night because of her cunning and daring. Phelan fell for Anna because she was Clem.

The ending has Clem regaining her heart and artistic ability, but she realizes that she has changed since she last drew her portrait. In fact, she sees a stranger looking back at herself: "A girl with gleaming teeth and fallen stars in her long, red hair. A girl with cold, determined eyes," (477). This analysis of her reflection shows achievements and ruthlessness. I wonder if she was changed back when she shattered that mirror in Phelan's house and she wasn't looking hard enough or didn't want to see it in the first place. Here, Clem realizes she is also evolving, always "becoming." In turning away from the mirror, will Clem discover regrets for her past actions or inactions? Will she grieve for the loss of her former self in Hereswith before the Vespers came? Or will she see it was all worth it now that the curse is broken and she is with Phelan to bring change to Azenor? 

Looking for another story about dreams? Try Dream Stalker by Nancy Gardner. Or check out more reviews in my library.

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