Scan barcode
A review by alongreader
The Edge of Sleep by Willie Block, Jake Emanuel
3.0
It's a mixed review!
First off; I haven't heard the podcast at all, so I can't say how closely this book hews to that; it could be word perfect the same or just have the same general premise, I don't know. This review is just based on the book.
It's a fantastic premise! Everyone who falls asleep dies as soon as they start to dream. What a creepy idea. I found myself yawning and tired just reading it!
However, the execution wasn't great, for me. We'd get a chapter with one or another of our main characters, then a couple of vignettes of some random other people falling asleep - apart from twice, they never had any connection to the main characters, or if they did I missed it. It was just 'here's a person falling asleep, now they're dead.' Most of them didn't even know that anything was going on, they just went about their routine and then fell asleep.
Plus, the fact that just about the whole world went down in 24 hours? Ok, it happened between 4 and 5am in the US; most people would be asleep then. But that's 10am in the UK, 12pm in Moscow, 6pm in Bejing. We know there were survivors in the US tweeting and blogging about what was happening. No one in those other countries picked up on those messages and stayed awake? Everyone in Mission Control died before they could warn the ISS?
(I also didn't like the supernatural 'explanation' we were given, but that's just me.)
I liked the writing style, though, it's quick, concise and easy to follow. The characters were interesting as well and I enjoyed following along with them. On that level, I'd definitely recommend this.
But I have to ask - that ending?! Is there meant to be another book coming, or is it really just being left there?
First off; I haven't heard the podcast at all, so I can't say how closely this book hews to that; it could be word perfect the same or just have the same general premise, I don't know. This review is just based on the book.
It's a fantastic premise! Everyone who falls asleep dies as soon as they start to dream. What a creepy idea. I found myself yawning and tired just reading it!
However, the execution wasn't great, for me. We'd get a chapter with one or another of our main characters, then a couple of vignettes of some random other people falling asleep - apart from twice, they never had any connection to the main characters, or if they did I missed it. It was just 'here's a person falling asleep, now they're dead.' Most of them didn't even know that anything was going on, they just went about their routine and then fell asleep.
Plus, the fact that just about the whole world went down in 24 hours? Ok, it happened between 4 and 5am in the US; most people would be asleep then. But that's 10am in the UK, 12pm in Moscow, 6pm in Bejing. We know there were survivors in the US tweeting and blogging about what was happening. No one in those other countries picked up on those messages and stayed awake? Everyone in Mission Control died before they could warn the ISS?
(I also didn't like the supernatural 'explanation' we were given, but that's just me.)
I liked the writing style, though, it's quick, concise and easy to follow. The characters were interesting as well and I enjoyed following along with them. On that level, I'd definitely recommend this.
But I have to ask - that ending?! Is there meant to be another book coming, or is it really just being left there?