Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Sleepwalkers

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The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas

4 reviews

colinjclements19's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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rachchop's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense

2.0

Had high hopes for this and was disappointed. Pilled as a ‘surprising and suspenseful modern gothic story’, all I can say is I was indeed surprised by how let down I was by a genre I usually enjoy. The slow reveal here is that true horror is misogyny, racism and socioeconomic circumstances (!), a plot that was not done subtly enough nor with enough aplomb.

This felt like several different stories smashed into one to the detriment of each story. The island hotel setting and the miserable and meandering Englishwoman reminded me of Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk, another book that missed the mark for me, although in this case I think Levy’s characters do have a touch more nuance to them.

The strongest aspect of this book for me was learning of Richard and Evelyn’s past and the pacing of the reveals here did have me truly interested. Think Promising Young Woman but without the revenge. Having Evelyn as the protagonist in a story about sexual and class violence feels logical and I did feel a twist of horror at the reveal. The rest of the fear and thrills I should have felt were held at bay by simple frustration and annoyance.

If you write a story about the horrors of being gay in a non-accepting place, and the realities of human trafficking, your married English tourist protagonist makes less sense. Thomas even points at this in the American’s reaction to Evelyn’s play: ‘is it even your story to tell?’. If I’m not reading generously, this feels more like Thomas is patting herself on the back at including usually ‘overlooked’ stories in her literary gothic front list title.

I can see the attempt at parallels with the curio shop owners being the true evils— men who trade in the literal objectification of bodies but other than identifying the parallel, nothing seemed to come of it. It felt strange to have a plot about the dangers of objectification and then have Evelyn treat Isabella in the exact same way, with the many mentions of her peaked nipples and melon-bobbing ass. Is Thomas saying even victims are unconconcious perpetrators of this mindset? Is this one of those books that asks lots of questions but lets the reader come up with the answers?

It ends on an unfinished letter, as do all the chapters, so I can only assume the unfinished nature of the story is purposeful, but while usually I love this as a premise, unfortunately this time it did not make for an engaging or interesting reading experience.

I did listen as an audiobook, so I’m sure some of the fun Thomas had with form escaped me, e.g. the change of usual narration to the reading of the transcript was not as notable in audio form. It got me thinking enough to leave a review this long, but I doubt I’ll be picking up any more of her work in the future.

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marym2215's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Usually I like to start these reviews with a persuasive first paragraph that summarizes the book. But to be honest, I really don’t know what I would even write if I tried to do that for The Sleepwalkers.

I was really looking forward to reading this book based off the premise, but I was sadly very disappointed. The first 42% of the book, which happens to be Evelyn’s first letter, felt like a never ending run-on sentence with no beginning, middle, or end. While the heart of the plot and present day storyline were promising, it was impossible to actually get into the story with Evelyn’s constant need to take the reader on random tangents down memory lane. One moment you’re reading about what’s going on in the present moment on Evelyn and Richard's honeymoon and the next you’re listening to Evelyn’s internal dialogue, reminiscing about birdwatching with her father-in-law. I found it nearly impossible to get into the story as a whole with Evelyn’s scattered brain telling almost the first half of the story. As soon as I thought something interesting was starting to happen, the momentum and excitement of the moment was killed by some seemingly inconsequential memory. I think this is honestly the whole point of the writing style, but if I am going to read a mystery/thriller, as this book is categorized, then I usually expect a plot that is much more cohesive and faster paced than this novel. At 25% into the book, I went back and reread the synopsis and was shocked to realize practically nothing had happened yet that related to what the summary of the book promised. So, I kept reading because I hoped eventually the plot would start to pick up. Unfortunately, Evelyn continued to write her letter in a way that had the story pin-balling all over the place. I just know the author was breaking the forth wall when Evelyn so appropriately wrote, “one should never write freestyle… you can end up lost in your own sentences, like pythons wrapping around you.” Later she she asked, “Am I boring you?” and the answer was yes Evelyn, you really are. And so I read, and I read, and I read, and I read, and yet I still felt like nothing was happening. One of the most frustrating aspects of the writing style was that when something important actually did happen or was revealed, I either almost missed it or didn’t care because I was so uninterested by the meandering flashbacks it was sandwiched between. When she said “I hope you’re following this, with all my jumps in time? Perhaps not,” I felt like she could read my mind regarding how I was feeling. I’m assuming that was the point and I have to give the author credit for at least being self aware. But still, I continued to hold out hope. Then Richard’s letter came along and it’s no wonder Evelyn and Richard had problems because together they are two of the worst communicators I’ve ever encountered. Granted, their problems go way, way, way beyond just poor communication. While the second half of the book had more plot, by that point I really didn’t care and just wanted to get to end. Now I fear Evelyn and Richard’s writing styles have rubbed off on me as I realize I’ve rambled on and on in this review. At least I had more fun writing this review than reading the book. My sincerest apologies to anyone who truly enjoyed this book and as I said before, it is possible that the entire point of the book went over my head. Clearly, I was not the target audience for this book, but I still gave it 1.5 stars because I did finish it and I weirdly enjoyed the experience of continuing to read, just waiting for something to actually happen, even though I saw no point of it at all. Lastly, if you do still decide to read this book, please check trigger warnings as there are certain themes that are discussed that could be upsetting.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC of The Sleepwalkers in return for my honest review.

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elthereal's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and the author for an eARC.

The Sleepwalkers is described as 'Patricia Highsmith meets White Lotus' and I would endorse that description. The strongest parts were definitely those that really leaned into the same eerie atmosphere of White Lotus. Atmospherically, I might describe it more as 'White Lotus meets Rebecca.'

I really appreciated the story being told in mixed media (letters, audio transcript, etc) and how the "found-footage" format gave it a very cinematic reading experience.

None of these characters were good people but Evelyn & Richard were complex and compelling nonetheless. Some of the reveals were truly jaw-dropping here.

The last chapter/letter was the weakest part of the book. By this time, we've gotten a lot of the big reveals done and are just tying up loose-ends. Unfortunately, it does read as if we're just tying up loose-ends and we lose a lot of the suspense that carried us to this point. If the last bit was tightened up, I think this would've been a really fantastic thriller. However, I'm sure there are people who will really appreciate the sense of closure that they get from the lengthy conclusion.

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