Reviews

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker

betseyboo's review

2.0

I preferred The Age of Miracles.

cjfermann's review

5.0

I loved this. And what a weird time to be reading it! A year ago something like this would have been hard to imagine. I knew almost nothing about this book before I started it. Just that I loved “The Age of Miracles” and that this is from the same author.

Kind of freaky to wonder if life today is a dream, or if this book is!

kstericker's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ariannagojara's review

4.0

This surprised me as being a book I would actually like but I did really enjoy it. Not maybe the best read during an actual pandemic but it did have me hooked. It was a very fast paced read. I just wished there was a little more wow factor at the end but overall I loved the characters and it was a great story.

aclypse's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I was surprised to find out when reflecting on the book that there is no character development at all. Mei just basically dies, Nathaniel falls asleep with his lover, Ben and Annie stay the same and even the family of Sara, Libby and their father don't change. I'm quite disappointed that neither of the characters’ pasts were revealed – I am still curious about why Sara’s and Libby's father has such a paranoic worldview. Maybe it's the use of the “iceberg theory” where you reveal only a little part about the character, or the writer just didn't finish her novel?

But i havent talked about the most important part of the book – the virus. First of all, i found myself disappointed i didnt pick up this during the pandemic, cause some parts really crawled this atmosphere of uncertainty and despair. Then i was shocked after finding out that the book was published a year before the pandemic – as if the author knew it’s going to come.I've also noticed Karen uses “tell” instead of “show” when describing the characters’ dreams. It works for me as our dreams usually fly by so fast that we dont even notice them and wake up with the illusion that we havent dreamt that night. Especially that dream of Rebeca.Oh Rebeca. Another person I havent grown to condole with. I really enjoyed all the passages when she was tied to bed, sleeping, unable to do anything else. It woke up the sense of something disgusting and medical in me.
I also liked the references to other stories, myths and experiments mentioned in this book. It always makes me curious about these cases and google them.So, the main problem is that it's too short. Karen doesn't give us enough time and reason to like the people.

pepper_le_puck's review

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

linkson's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Wow! Mysterious, reflective, and well written. Definitely better than Sea of Tranquility 

soniaswani's review

slow-paced

jodi39's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

alex_watkins's review

4.0

A rare book that I don't have a bunch of tags to add, and it's really only apocalypse adjacent. Beautifully written, evocative, and interesting, but I didn't find myself getting too into the characters. All except Mei, but her fate was perhaps the most upsetting part of this book, fuck that utilitarian pseudo-philosopher dude-bro.