Bride of Adron | ✓

Was It All A dream?

You may have finished reading with the following question on your lips: was it all a dream?

The book finished with Zuzanna's last words, exclaiming "you will never believe what a crazy dream I had!" This of course poses the question if anything that had occurred throughout the course of the book was actually real.

There is still the possibility that it was only Noelle who had dreamt of Dacnella, and Zuzanna was talking about a completely different dream. It could also be possible that coincidentally they had the same dream. Or that Dacnella had been real and their memories were wiped. Then that raises the question, were any of the characters Noelle met real?

I purposely left the ending of the book as ambiguous and up to the reader's own interpretation. Though there was still a purpose behind it.

Dacnella was created as Noelle's perfect world. Now, it was far from perfect... but it was supposed to be everything Noelle ever wanted. In chapter 1 she makes this wish:

"I just wish I was somewhere else... anywhere else" following with "I would like you to be with me."

This moment can be pinpointed as the catalyst of the next series of events. Noelle wishes to be away from London with Zuzanna. She grew up in an emotionally distant home and more than anything she longed to be loved and wanted by somebody. She wanted to be away from life's problems. Noelle arrives in Dacnella where she is wanted by Adron, and she has to overcome her own struggle before she is reunited with the "prize": Zuzanna. She no longer has any of the problems she was faced with in London, though is overcome with a flood of misfortunes ten times worse.

You see, the moral is to not run away from your problems, but instead to face them. The more that Noelle ran from Adron the worse the situation became, resulting in two wars and numerous deaths.

The characters that aid Noelle through Dacnella are also a direct parallel to her friends in London. They reflect a better version of her life as such:

Roland is Melanie
Lolita is Donna
Jawad is Ivan
Karol is Rupert
Zuzanna is Abe

Though the parallels on London's side were never fully explored, the characters were designed to be almost mirror images of them. Roland was the first person Noelle befriended, and was closer to him than any of the others. Lolita's betrayal reflected on how Donna left the group to be friends with the popular mean girls. Jawad is the oldest and newest to the group, and is the most reliable to talk to just like Ivan. Karol generally doesn't speak much until it's needed, but he is a great listener and is fond of Noelle. Zuzanna and Abe both competed for Noelle's heart and were both her love interests at some point in the book. Noelle never sees these similarities, and they're almost invisible to someone who doesn't know the story.

These people helped shape Noelle's story. Without them, she'd never have been able to defeat Adron - let alone escape from his castle - and I did this to show how valuable friendships are.

Even after Adron was defeated and Dacnella returned to balance, Noelle chose to return home because it had the people she loved. She'd learnt to be brave, to stand up to people and fight for her rights. She can return to London and break away from the iron grip her parents have on her. She's learnt to value her friends.

And that is the story of Adron's bride.