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A review by thebooknerdscorner
Sleeping Daddy by Nicholas Westerfer
4.0
A father's journey to fight the demons of his past while learning to fall in love with the daughter he never knew he needed.
Keith Higgins is about to become a father, but he is plagued by the demons of his past. His father, Frank, is an abusive alcoholic and Keith can't help but worry that he has been permanently tainted by the way he was raised. Can he truly be a father to his daughter when he was never loved by one himself? And on top of that, Ella's labor goes traumatically wrong, and she soon takes off to California, leaving Keith alone, struggling to be a father his daughter needs him to be. With the help of an eccentric coworker by the name of Jenny, Ella's mother Christina, and his doctor Ethan, who has insight on Ella's secrets, Keith is forced to fight his demons if he wants his daughter to have the life he's dreamed of her having.
"Sleeping Daddy" is such a complex book that had me tearing up near the end. It's a story of a man grappling with the demons of his childhood. It's a tale of finding one's true identity after wearing a mask for decades. It's finding love in unlikely places and learning what it is like to love someone more than you could ever love yourself. It's the fight of trying to stitch a family back together after they are ripped apart at the seams. But most importantly, it shows the unconditional love that a parent can have for their child. I don't want to go too deeply into any specifics of this book, because the impactful nature of this novel truly comes from following the ups and downs of Keith's life as he navigates some treacherous waters.
This book is pitched as a Sleeping Beauty retelling, but it mostly just has loose elements inspired by the tale. The Sleeping Daddy bit that Keith has with his daughter is so heartwarming though, so I'm not disappointed by the fact that this book sold itself as a Sleeping Beauty tale, just know that it is a very loose inspiration.
This book goes into many long monologues of Keith thinking to himself about the complexities of life and the nature of things that happen to humanity. I personally ate up all of these psychological musings, but I could see how these could be distracting to some readers or make the story drag for those who like faster paced stories.
As a teenager myself, I am not looking to have children any time in the near future, but I love how Westerfer captured the father-daughter relationship in this book. The way that Keith thinks about his little girl is so powerful and I feel that reading "Sleeping Daddy" helped me better understand the unconditional love that parents feel for their children from moment one.
The very end of "Sleeping Daddy" was so well done. The suspenseful scene close to the end had my heart racing and my body filling with dread. Luckily, the story let me down nicely with some really cute moments between Keith, his daughter, and Ella that involved the movie "Frozen" which I thought was sweet. Funny enough, "Frozen" was part of Keith's philosophical final think fest of the novel. As a girl who grew up with Anna and Elsa as some of my childhood companions, I found this session to be quite amusing. And the epilogue? Man, it had me tearing up. This book really encompasses the entirety of Keith's life, so I really felt like I knew this man by the end. That made the nature of the epilogue to be very moving and quite sad.
Before I leave this rant fest, I have to give a brief warning about how heavy this book is. This book covers topics such as alcoholism, physical abuse, sexual assault, the loss of a child, homophobia, complex identity crises, death of a parent, gun violence, and other traumatic experiences. Make sure to check this book for all its trigger warnings and make sure you are in a safe place to read this book. I learned so much about many of these traumatic events, but it is always important to put your mental health first.
Overall, I was pleased by how much I learned and the extreme feelings that "Sleeping Daddy" elicited from me. This book is definitely a hard read with all the traumatic events and identity hurdles that it tackles. The fact that so many people live through things like the events that happen in this book on a daily basis pains me greatly, but I'm glad that survivors of these events are strong enough to share their struggles with others like me which turns me into a more empathetic and caring person. If you are wanting to make yourself a better person by tackling a tough read with hopeful and inspiring takeaways, I would definitely recommend looking into "Sleeping Daddy."
Keith Higgins is about to become a father, but he is plagued by the demons of his past. His father, Frank, is an abusive alcoholic and Keith can't help but worry that he has been permanently tainted by the way he was raised. Can he truly be a father to his daughter when he was never loved by one himself? And on top of that, Ella's labor goes traumatically wrong, and she soon takes off to California, leaving Keith alone, struggling to be a father his daughter needs him to be. With the help of an eccentric coworker by the name of Jenny, Ella's mother Christina, and his doctor Ethan, who has insight on Ella's secrets, Keith is forced to fight his demons if he wants his daughter to have the life he's dreamed of her having.
"Sleeping Daddy" is such a complex book that had me tearing up near the end. It's a story of a man grappling with the demons of his childhood. It's a tale of finding one's true identity after wearing a mask for decades. It's finding love in unlikely places and learning what it is like to love someone more than you could ever love yourself. It's the fight of trying to stitch a family back together after they are ripped apart at the seams. But most importantly, it shows the unconditional love that a parent can have for their child. I don't want to go too deeply into any specifics of this book, because the impactful nature of this novel truly comes from following the ups and downs of Keith's life as he navigates some treacherous waters.
This book is pitched as a Sleeping Beauty retelling, but it mostly just has loose elements inspired by the tale. The Sleeping Daddy bit that Keith has with his daughter is so heartwarming though, so I'm not disappointed by the fact that this book sold itself as a Sleeping Beauty tale, just know that it is a very loose inspiration.
This book goes into many long monologues of Keith thinking to himself about the complexities of life and the nature of things that happen to humanity. I personally ate up all of these psychological musings, but I could see how these could be distracting to some readers or make the story drag for those who like faster paced stories.
As a teenager myself, I am not looking to have children any time in the near future, but I love how Westerfer captured the father-daughter relationship in this book. The way that Keith thinks about his little girl is so powerful and I feel that reading "Sleeping Daddy" helped me better understand the unconditional love that parents feel for their children from moment one.
The very end of "Sleeping Daddy" was so well done. The suspenseful scene close to the end had my heart racing and my body filling with dread. Luckily, the story let me down nicely with some really cute moments between Keith, his daughter, and Ella that involved the movie "Frozen" which I thought was sweet. Funny enough, "Frozen" was part of Keith's philosophical final think fest of the novel. As a girl who grew up with Anna and Elsa as some of my childhood companions, I found this session to be quite amusing. And the epilogue? Man, it had me tearing up. This book really encompasses the entirety of Keith's life, so I really felt like I knew this man by the end. That made the nature of the epilogue to be very moving and quite sad.
Before I leave this rant fest, I have to give a brief warning about how heavy this book is. This book covers topics such as alcoholism, physical abuse, sexual assault, the loss of a child, homophobia, complex identity crises, death of a parent, gun violence, and other traumatic experiences. Make sure to check this book for all its trigger warnings and make sure you are in a safe place to read this book. I learned so much about many of these traumatic events, but it is always important to put your mental health first.
Overall, I was pleased by how much I learned and the extreme feelings that "Sleeping Daddy" elicited from me. This book is definitely a hard read with all the traumatic events and identity hurdles that it tackles. The fact that so many people live through things like the events that happen in this book on a daily basis pains me greatly, but I'm glad that survivors of these events are strong enough to share their struggles with others like me which turns me into a more empathetic and caring person. If you are wanting to make yourself a better person by tackling a tough read with hopeful and inspiring takeaways, I would definitely recommend looking into "Sleeping Daddy."