Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas

2 reviews

blacksphinx's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I feel like I didn't like this for reasons that are different than some of the other negative reviews. 

I loved the format, writing, and pacing of this story. When I was told it's entirely epistolary, starting with a table of contents that doesn't match the actual contents of the book, and that the story ends halfway though a sentence... It intrigued me. I loved Evie's stream-of-consciousness style. It wasn't how people actually write letters but it IS how people talk if you give them the space and don't reply, so I really enjoyed it. I liked discovering the "terrible secret" that was outed at the wedding reception. The way the confession letter is torn in half, with that break in the middle? How things that seemed inconsequential became both important and sinister in retrospect? Loved it.

It was some of the other plot points not involving our main couple that have left me cold. This book kind of wants to be about too many big ideas, too many social ills, and it doesn't get enough time to sit with some of them. It was convoluted and coincidental to the extreme. (I am also completely baffled by the amount of people I've seen say the story is funny?) It kind of felt to me that, just like our main narrator, the author didn't know how the story ended either and hoped there was enough present that us readers would want to chew it over and come to our own conclusions. I couldn't care enough to do so. I kind of think I would have liked the story more without the last 70 pages, even though that's where most of the plot not directly involving our couple is laid out. 

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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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