This book starts really good! It’s enticing and really does make you want to keep reading to delve more into the story. It’s witty, deep and you end up overwhelmed by the amount of characters you are introduced to. It can seem quite confusing at first but when you keep reading you start to move with the characters and each of their stories. You start to build a mental image of who is who and almost subconsciously assign them to the corners of your mind ready for their stories to keep popping up.
Since the book is essentially two parts, it’s a big one! It takes a while to read and sometimes you have to go back to ensure you were on track with the characters development and story development. Each character plays a significant role and you almost question if you’ll be able to remember them, but I can assure you, you will. You go on a journey with each and every one and it’s refreshing and heavy all at once making you go through all of the emotions throughout; And let’s face it, that’s Stephen King for you.
It’s a fantastic, immersive, intriguing and enticing read. Lengthy, witty, deep, emotive and the perfect mix of fantasy and reality to make you feel like it could almost be possible. The setting is extremely realistic to our current world and you really start to question what would happen if the world were to suffer the same situation.
I started reading this last year, 2020 which was perfect really. What a shitty year with the pandemic ay? And I reached for this book to read, not really knowing what it was about. I certainly chose a good one to fit the pandemic theme. A virus spread across the world and essentially a ‘virus’ type situation within the book too.
There are almost feminist tones throughout this book since the main protagonists are female and I feel that although those women in ‘Our world’ are essentially deemed ‘useless’ to the regular world, they actually manage to show their strengths, abilities and growth when rebuilding a society.
I love the flow throughout this book. It’s almost like you can envision a film cutting to the next characters story with the way it’s written. The ending was held out and hugely built up and I did feel from such a huge build up that it ended quite abruptly and slightly fizzled out after such a huge climactic progression towards the end. However, saying this, I adore the last section from one particular characters point of view. It’s like the beginning of the book again; enticing, intriguing and could almost start another chapter but then ends suddenly which I felt really tied the ending and gave the book great closure.
It’s very well written, builds atmosphere and gives life to things that we wouldn’t necessarily think of. It’s unique and has many perspectives throughout the book from the eyes and mind of different characters which adds extra layers and elements to the story and progression of the book. It pulls on heart strings and also your mind too. I felt anger, sadness, frustration and felt I could relate to certain characters too which is always a good sign. Stephen King may be one of the legendary world authors but I still judge his books without bias, although I do adore him! But I look at each book with a free mind and I genuinely do really love this book
Overall I adore this book. It’s been a lifeline throughout my tough year of becoming a carer. It allowed me to venture into another world when I didn’t want to focus on my own struggles and the worries of this world with the pandemic and such. It was the companion I needed during lockdown. The shoulder to cry on when I’d had a bad day and a place to turn to when I didn’t want my mind wandering.
If you’re a horror fan and the type to enjoy longer novels then this one may be for you! Stephen king is a fantastic writer and I cannot wait to read more of his novels. Oh and Owen King is clearly fantastic too having co-written this book. If this is the kind of book you could read, please do! I got this from my local Waterstones which is one of my favourite places to be in the world. You can see my Youtube video review too if you fancy hearing me chit chat about the wonderous world created in this book by Stephen King and Owen King.
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen KingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazing book! Very lengthy, almost two books in one. It's enticing, truly realistic and terrifying. What a world we would live in if the premise of this was possible. It was a wild ride reading this during the pandemic and took my mind from one virus to another.
A fantastic immersive read!
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Have you read this novel? Or would you be interested in doing so? If so, let me know in the comments.
Stay wonderful!
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