Dream Stories Personalised AI Book Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Amy Peacey
My daughter is 3 years old and loves books. I recently had the opportunity to try the Dream Stories AI personalised book for my daughter. The website states that you can use AI to turn your child into the hero of their own adventure with personalised characters. I was hoping it would be a magical keepsake she could treasure with her best friend. The idea of seeing the two of them transformed into characters in a dinosaur space adventure sounded perfect. Unfortunately, while the concept sounded amazing, in my opinion the finished product fell short of my expectations.
The website to personalise your book is straightforward. You chose your story and then the characters you wish the book to contain. You are required to upload various photos so the AI images can be generated. The process doesn’t really take very long and once you have done this, you can approve the draft book that has been created. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise I had to approve the draft as the email went into my junk mail. This is something to look out for if you order the books as my delivery was delayed as I failed to approve the final version.
Following my approval the book arrived quick quickly. It came in a very basic cardboard packing and as the book is 11 inch squared it didn’t fit in my letterbox so was left on our doorstep in the rain by the courier. The cardboard was soaked when I retrieved it and the book inside was damp.
The book is hard back with a striking front cover and the back has an image of my daughter in a space suit. However, the inside pages felt surprisingly flimsy, not part of a premium personalised gift. As mine also got damp the pages are all warped. When you are paying a higher price for a custom item, I expected something sturdy, durable, and able to withstand repeated reading, especially by young children. Instead, the pages felt delicate and easy to crease or tear, which instantly took away from the overall value.
The story itself, while quite sweet, when it includes your own child and their friend, did feel a bit weak. The storyline seemed rushed and somewhat disjointed. Even though my daughter was included by name there was no mention of her best friend just pictures of her, which seems a little odd. It felt like a missed opportunity to make the story exciting and memorable.
Another area that left me disappointed was the quality of the AI images. I used various pictures of my daughter to try and get the likeness but even when using a clear picture of her, the final image just didn’t look like her. I am not sure what the AI is supposed to do but I wasn’t very impressed.
In my opinion the cost of the book which is advertised as $70, which converts to just over £50, didn’t match the quality provided. While I understand that personalised books tend to be pricier due to the bespoke element, the experience here didn’t justify the price tag. Between the flimsy pages, the weak story, and the images, the book felt expensive for what it is. I expected something much more refined, durable, and thoughtful given the premium positioning of the brand.
There were some positives. My daughter was excited to see her name and the images of her and her best friend in the book, she did enjoy pointing out the dinosaurs and in the story she made friends with the T-Rex, even if it wasn’t as vivid or imaginative as had hoped.
The idea behind Dream Stories is genuinely great, personalised storytelling powered by creativity and technology and with some improvements, it could become a wonderful product. However, for the cost this would not be something that I would buy as the quality in my opinion just isn’t there.
You can buy the Dream Stories books from https://dreamstories.ai/.
RRP: approx. £50 per book plus postage.
Rating: 1/5