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charlote_1347's review against another edition
3.0
It would be a lie to say I enjoyed this book - the sleepless were terrifying, Calhoun's dismal reality was sickening and the hopeless fate presented to all the characters left me with bile in my throat. The novel presents a faithless, psychologically damned world, without hope or respite, and most of the time, this prevents the lighter emotions that one might enjoy when reading, even when said text is post-apocalyptic. On the flip side, however, the imagery was unique and vivid, the reader's experience was exquisitely detailed and the in-depth exploration that Kenneth's investigates of his characters' lives left me on the edge of my seat, and truly pondering what was going to happen next. It has been a while since a book horrified me and surprised me simultaneously.
kat7890erina's review against another edition
4.0
I recently watched Awake on Netflix and was reminded of this book. Black Moon is bleak, chilling, a little trippy at times, and - above all - haunting. My thoughts come back to it whenever I lie awake at night and I get that little chill creeping up the back of my neck at the thought that this could be how the world ends. A dark and thrilling unravelling of humanity.
whimsicaljune's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
The world is full of insomniacs. Everywhere people are losing their minds. The ones who aren't are just trying to stay alive through all the madness. The writing was quite wonderful through out the book. It kept me interested, for the most part. The characters were strong and the premise was good.
Why the 2 stars? Well, the book never really wrapped up in my opinion. As I neared the end of the book I kept thinking "ok, only 20 more pages to wrap this thing up, only 10 pages to wrap this thing up, only 2 pages...." Sadly it never did wrap up. I felt like there was no conclusion, no reasoning as to why this whole epidemic happened in the first place. At the end I just thought "What the h#ll did I just read."
The world is full of insomniacs. Everywhere people are losing their minds. The ones who aren't are just trying to stay alive through all the madness. The writing was quite wonderful through out the book. It kept me interested, for the most part. The characters were strong and the premise was good.
Why the 2 stars? Well, the book never really wrapped up in my opinion. As I neared the end of the book I kept thinking "ok, only 20 more pages to wrap this thing up, only 10 pages to wrap this thing up, only 2 pages...." Sadly it never did wrap up. I felt like there was no conclusion, no reasoning as to why this whole epidemic happened in the first place. At the end I just thought "What the h#ll did I just read."
zmull's review against another edition
4.0
Literary horror. Nicely written and lean. The world is gripped by an insomnia epidemic which causes choas. The book balances hefty doses of darkness with a few fun moments. An naked man with a Viagra-induced boner steals a truck full of sheep to escape his pursuers, for example.
poppylingard's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm, I loved the premise of this book and the writing style was effective (it made me feel like I had insomnia myself at times) but I wish it had ended differently. There were a lot of loose ends left to be tied and it felt a bit flat. Nevertheless, I’ll be thinking about this one for a while!
literarylover37's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from Crown Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for a review.
Compared to The Dog Stars and The Age of Miracles, this book is for people who like their dystopian futures to be thoughtful yet terrifying. I've always felt that the scariest things are the ones that could be real or are closest to reality. Thus, when an unexplained epidemic of sleeplessness begins, the horror is unimaginable. We as a society do not appreciate the importance of sleep like we should and take for granted the ability to sleep. When the characters in Calhoun's terrifying book lose this ability they lose their ability to distinguish fiction from reality, perform advanced tasks (such as running things which is why the infrastructure goes to pot), and stabilize emotions, all of which actually happens to people in real life when they are sleep deprived. Those who are not impacted by this disease live in fear that they will be killed by the sleepless who will do anything to try and get some rest. As someone who thoroughly enjoys a nap, and will attest to the power of a good night's sleep I can't even imagine being in this scenario!
I thought this book was scary without being overly or unnecessarily gruesome. I also appreciated the various characters and their viewpoints. It was more interesting to see this epidemic from those who did not have it versus those who did and were in varying stages of decline. I liked that the book also dealt with issues such as impotence, moving to a new place, PTSD, miscarriage, break-ups, etc. Each of the main characters suffers a loss that must be dealt with while they also struggle to survive in this new world without sleep. My only complaint was I wish the end had been handled better with less loose ends.
I will read more by Calhoun in the future and recommend this book to those who like unique, thoughtful, creepy and well-executed ideas.
Compared to The Dog Stars and The Age of Miracles, this book is for people who like their dystopian futures to be thoughtful yet terrifying. I've always felt that the scariest things are the ones that could be real or are closest to reality. Thus, when an unexplained epidemic of sleeplessness begins, the horror is unimaginable. We as a society do not appreciate the importance of sleep like we should and take for granted the ability to sleep. When the characters in Calhoun's terrifying book lose this ability they lose their ability to distinguish fiction from reality, perform advanced tasks (such as running things which is why the infrastructure goes to pot), and stabilize emotions, all of which actually happens to people in real life when they are sleep deprived. Those who are not impacted by this disease live in fear that they will be killed by the sleepless who will do anything to try and get some rest. As someone who thoroughly enjoys a nap, and will attest to the power of a good night's sleep I can't even imagine being in this scenario!
I thought this book was scary without being overly or unnecessarily gruesome. I also appreciated the various characters and their viewpoints. It was more interesting to see this epidemic from those who did not have it versus those who did and were in varying stages of decline. I liked that the book also dealt with issues such as impotence, moving to a new place, PTSD, miscarriage, break-ups, etc. Each of the main characters suffers a loss that must be dealt with while they also struggle to survive in this new world without sleep. My only complaint was I wish the end had been handled better with less loose ends.
I will read more by Calhoun in the future and recommend this book to those who like unique, thoughtful, creepy and well-executed ideas.
lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Rambling. Taken as individual moments, the writing is engaging and vivid, but elements like character development and plot are secondary to the concept. I suspect there was real effort involved in making the story disorienting, but the end result for me was something that fell short of its potential.