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A review by lmt01
Sleeping Beauties by Owen King, Stephen King
3.0
Fellow Goodreads-user Edward Lorn wrote a review about this book; if you want a really good review, you should look for his.
Still with me? Okay, then; let's get to it.
I think that most of the problems I have with SLEEPING BEAUTIES are the same ones that I had with UNDER THE DOME: the characters are black-and-white on a Dean Koontz level; the ending is pretty rushed; etc. However, one problem that wasn't present in the latter novel, and was in this one, is this: none of the characters--protagonists or antagonists--were likeable. Take Lila, for instance:
Lila accuses Clint of cheating on her, even spitting questions relating to how good a lay said woman was. Clint then, calmly, proves to her that he did not cheat on her, to which she says 'I have some apologising to do' without actually doing so. Then, she accuses Clint of buying a pool without asking her about it, and that's fair--except for the fact that Clint went through the foster system, and the only things he got were bruises and depressive sights. Lila knows this, and yet is upset by Clint wanting something nice. Then, she goes on about how he doesn't tell her about his past, moaning about how he just doesn't trust her, because, as a woman, she's too precious. But wouldn't the more logical answer be that he's worried about how she would view him if he told her about the levels he stooped to? That would be the explanation in any other novel, but because this is a book about how woman are great and men are the worst, the Two Kings go out of their way(s) to make every single man an ass.
Look, the fact that I am a man is probably getting in the way of my judgement here. I'll admit that. I won't say you're stupid for liking this novel or its characters, because how I viewed SLEEPING BEAUTIES is probably clouded by my gender.
Also: Evie Black. She is a disappointment of a character; what starts as a mysterious, cunning entity turns into a hypocrite. She goes on about how men naturally turn to violence, and yet she instigates most of the death occurring in SLEEPING BEAUTIES. She says about how women should have a choice, and yet she a) forced them to leave the real world and b) let a SINGLE COMMUNITY decide whether they would stay in the new world or not. She says about how no women has ever started a war (in reality, this is true), but then she starts the big civil war in Dooling and is responsible for the complete collapse of society following the impacts of Aurora.
On that note: every man in this book is written to act like a complete dumbass. No way would society collapse that quickly if something like Aurora actually happened. Sure, it would collapse eventually--since, let's be honest, humanity needs women to survive, where as if men blipped out of existence, life would go on--but not that fast, and not to that extent in less than a bloody week.
Barely anything in SLEEPING BEAUTIES is actually explained; Evie hints at being the servant of some kind of higher power (probably some kind of Dark Tower thing), but said higher power is never mentioned again. Evie says that she isn't a supernatural being and is just a normal woman, which is a crock of shit considering her powers. It set's up a history between Evie and the snake, along with the tiger and the Tree, but never actually goes into it.
Also, they try to use the Bible as a jab against men (one character says something along the lines of 'The Garden of Eden without Adam'), but anybody who knows of the Bible would also know that Eve was the one tempted by the Devil to eat the apple, then convinced Adam to do so. Another thing I think is dumb is how they act like all men--every single one of them, even children, even babies!--are exactly the same in every single way, that they are all sexist pigs who see women as fragile, and how there is no diversity among the characteristics of men. What about male feminists, then? Are they mindless brutes too? Or transgender people? Or tom-girls? What about, and here's where we get into some really dangerous territory here, what about people who aren't sexist pigs and are respectful of women? Good lord, could such a male exist?! Don't tell the Two Kings that! Also, one thing that I really dislike is how they tell you that men are pigs often than they show you. Look at Grady Hendrix’s SLAYING VAMPIRES novel and you’ll see that he has his male characters, specifically the main protagonist’s husband, act like a completely unlikeable jerk. Here, however, you are simply told that men are bad, and are expected to just shrug, say “Well, okay, I can work with that”, and go along with it. With SLAYING VAMPIRES, I wasn’t offended by the cutting remarks about the men, because even I, a man, hated the male characters. With SLEEPING BEAUTIES, though, it’s hard to hate the male characters when you’re, for example, praising Clint for putting up with that bitch Lila for so long.
All these things aside, SLEEPING BEAUTIES was an okay book. The writing wasn't too bad, the idea was actually pretty interesting, and the fight scene towards the end was one of King's bests (although it's possible that Owen wrote that). I honestly believe that it would have been better of Stephen wrote this book with his wife, Tabitha King, for then it would probably be a more realistic look at how women feel about men and how they would adapt to a world without them. All books about women written about men go to extremes in order to convey a feminist message, which makes them seem forced, and it comes of as hypocritical when two men get angry at other men for being men. But I guess what the Kings were trying to achieve is pretty admirable, so I've got to give them that. Also, the fight scene at the Prison towards the end of the novel is one of the best fight scenes in any of King's works, so that's something that demands to be acknowledged.
All in all, I would probably recommend SLEEPING BEAUTIES to King fans, but I warn you that it isn't one of his strongest. I'm sorry if I've offended anybody with this review, but like I said earlier, being a male probably gets in the way of a fair judgement of this book, and maybe even shows that some of what this book says about males is partially true; everybody has their opinions, though, and this is mine regarding this novel. Again: sorry for causing any anger. If you disagree with my review, then you'll probably enjoy SLEEPING BEAUTIES. (Side-note: how gorgeous is the cover of this book?)
Still with me? Okay, then; let's get to it.
I think that most of the problems I have with SLEEPING BEAUTIES are the same ones that I had with UNDER THE DOME: the characters are black-and-white on a Dean Koontz level; the ending is pretty rushed; etc. However, one problem that wasn't present in the latter novel, and was in this one, is this: none of the characters--protagonists or antagonists--were likeable. Take Lila, for instance:
Lila accuses Clint of cheating on her, even spitting questions relating to how good a lay said woman was. Clint then, calmly, proves to her that he did not cheat on her, to which she says 'I have some apologising to do' without actually doing so. Then, she accuses Clint of buying a pool without asking her about it, and that's fair--except for the fact that Clint went through the foster system, and the only things he got were bruises and depressive sights. Lila knows this, and yet is upset by Clint wanting something nice. Then, she goes on about how he doesn't tell her about his past, moaning about how he just doesn't trust her, because, as a woman, she's too precious. But wouldn't the more logical answer be that he's worried about how she would view him if he told her about the levels he stooped to? That would be the explanation in any other novel, but because this is a book about how woman are great and men are the worst, the Two Kings go out of their way(s) to make every single man an ass.
Look, the fact that I am a man is probably getting in the way of my judgement here. I'll admit that. I won't say you're stupid for liking this novel or its characters, because how I viewed SLEEPING BEAUTIES is probably clouded by my gender.
Also: Evie Black. She is a disappointment of a character; what starts as a mysterious, cunning entity turns into a hypocrite. She goes on about how men naturally turn to violence, and yet she instigates most of the death occurring in SLEEPING BEAUTIES. She says about how women should have a choice, and yet she a) forced them to leave the real world and b) let a SINGLE COMMUNITY decide whether they would stay in the new world or not. She says about how no women has ever started a war (in reality, this is true), but then she starts the big civil war in Dooling and is responsible for the complete collapse of society following the impacts of Aurora.
On that note: every man in this book is written to act like a complete dumbass. No way would society collapse that quickly if something like Aurora actually happened. Sure, it would collapse eventually--since, let's be honest, humanity needs women to survive, where as if men blipped out of existence, life would go on--but not that fast, and not to that extent in less than a bloody week.
Barely anything in SLEEPING BEAUTIES is actually explained; Evie hints at being the servant of some kind of higher power (probably some kind of Dark Tower thing), but said higher power is never mentioned again. Evie says that she isn't a supernatural being and is just a normal woman, which is a crock of shit considering her powers. It set's up a history between Evie and the snake, along with the tiger and the Tree, but never actually goes into it.
Also, they try to use the Bible as a jab against men (one character says something along the lines of 'The Garden of Eden without Adam'), but anybody who knows of the Bible would also know that Eve was the one tempted by the Devil to eat the apple, then convinced Adam to do so. Another thing I think is dumb is how they act like all men--every single one of them, even children, even babies!--are exactly the same in every single way, that they are all sexist pigs who see women as fragile, and how there is no diversity among the characteristics of men. What about male feminists, then? Are they mindless brutes too? Or transgender people? Or tom-girls? What about, and here's where we get into some really dangerous territory here, what about people who aren't sexist pigs and are respectful of women? Good lord, could such a male exist?! Don't tell the Two Kings that! Also, one thing that I really dislike is how they tell you that men are pigs often than they show you. Look at Grady Hendrix’s SLAYING VAMPIRES novel and you’ll see that he has his male characters, specifically the main protagonist’s husband, act like a completely unlikeable jerk. Here, however, you are simply told that men are bad, and are expected to just shrug, say “Well, okay, I can work with that”, and go along with it. With SLAYING VAMPIRES, I wasn’t offended by the cutting remarks about the men, because even I, a man, hated the male characters. With SLEEPING BEAUTIES, though, it’s hard to hate the male characters when you’re, for example, praising Clint for putting up with that bitch Lila for so long.
All these things aside, SLEEPING BEAUTIES was an okay book. The writing wasn't too bad, the idea was actually pretty interesting, and the fight scene towards the end was one of King's bests (although it's possible that Owen wrote that). I honestly believe that it would have been better of Stephen wrote this book with his wife, Tabitha King, for then it would probably be a more realistic look at how women feel about men and how they would adapt to a world without them. All books about women written about men go to extremes in order to convey a feminist message, which makes them seem forced, and it comes of as hypocritical when two men get angry at other men for being men. But I guess what the Kings were trying to achieve is pretty admirable, so I've got to give them that. Also, the fight scene at the Prison towards the end of the novel is one of the best fight scenes in any of King's works, so that's something that demands to be acknowledged.
All in all, I would probably recommend SLEEPING BEAUTIES to King fans, but I warn you that it isn't one of his strongest. I'm sorry if I've offended anybody with this review, but like I said earlier, being a male probably gets in the way of a fair judgement of this book, and maybe even shows that some of what this book says about males is partially true; everybody has their opinions, though, and this is mine regarding this novel. Again: sorry for causing any anger. If you disagree with my review, then you'll probably enjoy SLEEPING BEAUTIES. (Side-note: how gorgeous is the cover of this book?)