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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I really liked the concept of the story- a sleeping sickness spreading through a small town inducing strange dreams. In the end, though, I found the explanation or semi-rationale behind it kind of forced and trying to be a lil too heady. Also there was no main character to really bond with although they were all well written. Probably would have been a 3 if I wasn’t such a sucker for apocalypse books.
I'd enjoyed the author's earlier book, Age of Miracles, and this was similarly written in that we have beautiful prose in juxtaposition to a terrifying apocalypse. This time, it's a pandemic virus that makes its victim fall into a deep sleep, and without medical intervention, they'll dehydrate and die. And sometimes even with constant medical care, their heart rates slow until they just slip away. And patient zero is a first-year college student.
The virus spreads through the dorm and campus, seeping out into the whole town. But not everyone is infected. No-one is sure how it is carried. We have multiple POVs, starting with the roommate of Patient Zero, several classmates, and several college professors and their prospective families. Most of these are well done. Slight spoiler
The most interesting aspect of this whole virus was that the afflicted had unusual dreams. They were bizarre and meant different things to various victims. I wish more explanation would have been given to why the afflicted had such strong memories of these dreams and what they meant. I guess that is what makes this literary fiction rather than mainstream, as you just just have to shrug about some things.
The virus spreads through the dorm and campus, seeping out into the whole town. But not everyone is infected. No-one is sure how it is carried. We have multiple POVs, starting with the roommate of Patient Zero, several classmates, and several college professors and their prospective families. Most of these are well done. Slight spoiler
Spoiler
I didn't like poor Mei's fate, and thought it was sad that her fellow volunteer saved others but not her from the fire. I think it was intended to convey the fickleness of fate, but it came out as a cold ending to our original protagonist, as she could have woken up fully and saved herself, decided to rely on someone who was less interested in her than she was in him. That was disappointing.The most interesting aspect of this whole virus was that the afflicted had unusual dreams. They were bizarre and meant different things to various victims. I wish more explanation would have been given to why the afflicted had such strong memories of these dreams and what they meant. I guess that is what makes this literary fiction rather than mainstream, as you just just have to shrug about some things.
Karen Thompson Walker was dreaming of 2020 when she wrote this book.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
in my DNF era and this was putting me into a slump oops
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Perhaps I’m overly sensitive as a new parent, but I found this novel a relentless onslaught of people being mean to each other and falling ill, without enough payoff at the end. Some of the prose is lovely, though. Saramago’s “Blindness” and Russell’s “Sleep Donation” cover similar mysterious epidemics and societal impact in more interesting ways.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Certainly hits different after 2020
Justice for Mei