A review by millah
De sovende by Owen King, Stephen King

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

This book somehow reminded me of horror books I used to devour as a kid, and unfortunately, not in a particularly good way. The story had its moments, but I felt like something was missing. The plot was centred around themes like gender roles and misogyny, and I could appreciate (be horrified by) the accurate examples of injustice and how they set the scene. Reality is a scary monster (even if the American reality can seem unreal from the outside). 

"De sovende" (Sleeping Beauties) had potential to be a good horror story and a comment on our society, but there were some issues that I couldn't ignore. First of all: The story lacked genderqueer, trans and intersex representation. Really? In a story where all the women fall asleep and leave the men? That felt very wrong, and like a huge piece of the story was missing.  Another thing: I wish the authors had dug deeper into what a world without women would be like. Also, I didn't get why the main villain had to be sexualised. And the ending fizzled out a bit, although that could be just me not caring much anymore. All in all, I liked parts of the book, but I expected a lot more.