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snowwhitehatesapples 's review for:
The Sleepless
by Jen Williams
adventurous
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
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
The monsters and humans theme has always been a favourite of mine so I thought I’d greatly enjoy this book, especially since it has such an intriguing premise but ultimately, The Sleepless is giving ✨️ Wattpad ✨️ and not in the best ways.
For one, the characters are all two-dimensional. Though distinctive enough to remember who is who, at the end of the day, they’re just your standard YA Fantasy characters with no life in them. This made a largely character-driven story utterly boring to read.
Moreover, the flatness of the characters — particularly the main three — resulted in a romance as fiery as a bunch of dead embers. Sure, there were sparks here and there but they never ignited, creating only moments where hope for this romance to burn passionately became no more than just matches struck in the wind. Truly, they’d all be better off as friends instead of being forced into this underdeveloped, emotionally flat relationship.
It also didn’t help that the middle of the book gave off strong ‘I don’t know how to fill the gaps between the start and the end so let’s just go with the flow until it’s enough’ vibes. Issues get conveniently solved, dialogue becomes unnatural and the prose gets unnecessarily purple. This aimless meandering middle made staying engaged harder as it took away any sense of urgency and importance that should’ve been there due to the characters’s main goals.
Suffice it to say, The Sleepless is clearly a case of a promising concept that suffered from poor execution. I imagine it’d be brilliant as an adult romantasy, but alas, it’s not.
The monsters and humans theme has always been a favourite of mine so I thought I’d greatly enjoy this book, especially since it has such an intriguing premise but ultimately, The Sleepless is giving ✨️ Wattpad ✨️ and not in the best ways.
For one, the characters are all two-dimensional. Though distinctive enough to remember who is who, at the end of the day, they’re just your standard YA Fantasy characters with no life in them. This made a largely character-driven story utterly boring to read.
Moreover, the flatness of the characters — particularly the main three — resulted in a romance as fiery as a bunch of dead embers. Sure, there were sparks here and there but they never ignited, creating only moments where hope for this romance to burn passionately became no more than just matches struck in the wind. Truly, they’d all be better off as friends instead of being forced into this underdeveloped, emotionally flat relationship.
It also didn’t help that the middle of the book gave off strong ‘I don’t know how to fill the gaps between the start and the end so let’s just go with the flow until it’s enough’ vibes. Issues get conveniently solved, dialogue becomes unnatural and the prose gets unnecessarily purple. This aimless meandering middle made staying engaged harder as it took away any sense of urgency and importance that should’ve been there due to the characters’s main goals.
Suffice it to say, The Sleepless is clearly a case of a promising concept that suffered from poor execution. I imagine it’d be brilliant as an adult romantasy, but alas, it’s not.
Thank you so much Pansing for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! The Sleepless by Jen Williams will be available at all good bookstores.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Murder