Review of "The Dream House" by Tuula Pere, PhD

Score: 92+/100 (9.2+ out of 10)

Apparently, this is based on a true story—a remarkable true story at that!

The dream of home ownership is one of the biggest dreams of every individual and family.
A home is most people's largest investment. Not only is it financially expensive, but it can also be expensive in other ways: emotionally and in terms of time, effort, and energy.

Compound that with all the hidden fees, ROH, unscrupulous/scamming real estate agents, sketchy/shady contractors, and you've got a recipe for snowballing problems!

Other than money, perhaps the one thing that home ownership demands the most is patience. You need to be willing to wait for the things you want the most in life.

The Dream House follows an Indian family: Samira, Samira's father ("Father"), and Samira's mother ("Mother"). There's another character in here, Risu, who is a family friend who tries to be as supportive and encouraging as possible.

On a summer vacation to the mountainous part of the country, the family considers buying a house, perhaps to spend summer vacations at.

The problem is: there are no suitable houses in the area (or they are too expensive). Father then gets the bright idea of buying an empty plot of land for a lower cost (than a house) and having his dream house built there, with a building permit of course. The family dreams of having a pool and a bathroom with a marble floor. However, Mother is anxious and apprehensive. She senses trouble, and rightfully so!

The man who offers and agrees to build the house, Aram, is a shady fellow.
Ok, let's put it this way: he's a swindler and a scammer who completely overpromises and underdelivers. Heck, he and his men barely do any work at all. They exploit Samira's father and even eat his food at the hotel.

Aram pulls Samira's family through a year-long anxiety-ridden ordeal of wondering if their dream house will ever be built, all the while pocketing the money.

Aram might very well be the most evil character in a Pere book, and we've seen some dark ones. The great thing about this is that we clearly have someone to root against (as well as protagonists to root for). We want to see Samira and her family get the dream house they want and deserve. We also want to see Aram fail and get his comeuppance.

This book is pretty slow-developing. It develops in stages with each page providing Samira and her family with more drama and stress, which is a great thing from a tension and entertainment perspective!

It is also nice to see karma in action in this book. You reap what you sow.
A mudslide heavily damages the mountainous village where the family's house was being built. However, their plot of land is left relatively unscathed. Amram's home, on the other hand, is reduced to nothing—a fitting punishment for a wicked character.

We appreciated and enjoyed this book.

The illustrations may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the style is deliberate. The illustrations were done by Akanksha Priya, an Indian, in a traditional Indian art style similar to what we saw in books like Dancing Deepa. That's a thoughtful touch!

Check it out on Amazon!