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The Sleepwalkers
From “one of the UK’s most interesting authors” (Kirkus Reviews), Patricia Highsmith meets White Lotus in this surprising and suspenseful modern gothic story following a couple running from both secretive pasts and very present dangers while honeymooning on a Greek island.
Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It’s the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the “beautiful people,” the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel’s owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.
Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests—an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie—with the story of “the sleepwalkers,” a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.
Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some “beautiful people,” as well as the “dapper little man”—the strange yet fashionable owner of the island’s lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.
But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it’s their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.
Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society—where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.
Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It’s the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the “beautiful people,” the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel’s owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.
Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests—an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie—with the story of “the sleepwalkers,” a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.
Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some “beautiful people,” as well as the “dapper little man”—the strange yet fashionable owner of the island’s lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.
But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it’s their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.
Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society—where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published April 9, 2024
357 people are currently reading
18910 people want to read
About the author
Scarlett Thomas
32 books1,838 followersScarlett Thomas was born in London in 1972. Her widely-acclaimed novels include PopCo, The End of Mr Y and The Seed Collectors. As well as writing literary fiction for adults, she has also written a literary fantasy series for children and a book about writing called Monkeys with Typewriters. Her work has been translated into more than 25 languages.
She has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, shortlisted for the South African Boeke Prize and was once the proud recipient of an Elle Style Award. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing & Contemporary Fiction at the University of Kent in the UK. She lives in a Victorian house near the sea and spends a lot of time reading Chekhov and Katherine Mansfield.
She is currently working on a new novel and various projects for TV.
She has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, shortlisted for the South African Boeke Prize and was once the proud recipient of an Elle Style Award. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing & Contemporary Fiction at the University of Kent in the UK. She lives in a Victorian house near the sea and spends a lot of time reading Chekhov and Katherine Mansfield.
She is currently working on a new novel and various projects for TV.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,071 reviews
April 1, 2024
You ever finish a book and wonder wtf you just read? And not in a good way? That’s me with this one. As soon as I started it I knew this would either be a love or hate it situation for me but I was interested enough that I wanted to see it all the way through and hoped it would be worth it and it just wasn’t for me at all. It’s very unique and told in letters but the first one didn’t end until forty three percent and good lord that just seemed excessive. The beginning tells you there’s ruined documents involved but as you read sentences are cut off or the voice changes abruptly and I know that was a specific choice but it wasn’t a good choice. It made it difficult to piece the story together and I think I’m a smart reader but this was confusing. The ending was such a letdown and left way too many questions, a decent premise but the execution was awful for me.
December 31, 2023
4-5 stars rounded up
Evelyn and Richard are on a small Greek island for their honeymoon, but it’s the end of the season and a storm is brewing in more ways than one. Perhaps it’s that Isabella, the hotel owner, only has eyes for Richard or that Isabella wants to impress an American couple, or maybe that all anyone wants to talk about, is “the sleepwalkers” an married couple who drowned in the sea the previous year. Perhaps too, it’s that the fates do not align for Evelyn and Richard, the omens certainly aren’t good. This fascinating novel is chiefly written in letter form which heightens the mystery and suspense.
I knew I’d enjoy this as I love the original and creative way that Scarlett Thomas writes and have greatly enjoyed her other books. This is a multilayered novel, those layers cleverly revealing themselves a little bit at a time. There’s tension and strain from the get go, it’s stormy, moody, troubled, and ominous from the beginning. There are off notes, some that are disturbing, it’s odd, strange and weird at the Villa Rosa and you sense that immediately. This is further heightened by some baffling incidents, there are games being played here, and it seems that Evelyn and maybe Richard are not privy to the rules. The tone becomes increasingly foreboding, there’s danger in the air, and it feels prophetic, and the building storm intensifies the situation, which certainly escalates.
I love the way the author tells the story as the letters allow some suspenseful cliffhangers and it becomes clear that there is a very big secret which is tantalising. The storytelling becomes increasingly dark as these secrets start to bubble to the surface, and they’re bad, very bad, and it all starts to make awful sense. Both main characters become honest and there’s a rawness to it. It’s also interesting that the reader knows more than Evelyn does at several points through Richard’s letters. There is some powerful imagery which adds to the intensity and I enjoy the occasional use of dark humour. The setting on the Greek island is fantastic and the end of season atmosphere along with the weather allows the author a lot of scope.
What of the characters? It’s fair to say they are not easy to like, but what is also true is that they are very complex and exceptionally well portrayed. Although the letters do change my perspective, especially on Evelyn as the realisation dawns that others have few merits.
Overall, this is a unique, twisty and very different story, it’s certainly an enigmatic puzzle which I thoroughly enjoy.
With thanks to NetGalley, and especially to Simon and Schuster, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
If you haven’t read this terrific author before it’s worth checking out her other books especially The End of Mr Y.
Evelyn and Richard are on a small Greek island for their honeymoon, but it’s the end of the season and a storm is brewing in more ways than one. Perhaps it’s that Isabella, the hotel owner, only has eyes for Richard or that Isabella wants to impress an American couple, or maybe that all anyone wants to talk about, is “the sleepwalkers” an married couple who drowned in the sea the previous year. Perhaps too, it’s that the fates do not align for Evelyn and Richard, the omens certainly aren’t good. This fascinating novel is chiefly written in letter form which heightens the mystery and suspense.
I knew I’d enjoy this as I love the original and creative way that Scarlett Thomas writes and have greatly enjoyed her other books. This is a multilayered novel, those layers cleverly revealing themselves a little bit at a time. There’s tension and strain from the get go, it’s stormy, moody, troubled, and ominous from the beginning. There are off notes, some that are disturbing, it’s odd, strange and weird at the Villa Rosa and you sense that immediately. This is further heightened by some baffling incidents, there are games being played here, and it seems that Evelyn and maybe Richard are not privy to the rules. The tone becomes increasingly foreboding, there’s danger in the air, and it feels prophetic, and the building storm intensifies the situation, which certainly escalates.
I love the way the author tells the story as the letters allow some suspenseful cliffhangers and it becomes clear that there is a very big secret which is tantalising. The storytelling becomes increasingly dark as these secrets start to bubble to the surface, and they’re bad, very bad, and it all starts to make awful sense. Both main characters become honest and there’s a rawness to it. It’s also interesting that the reader knows more than Evelyn does at several points through Richard’s letters. There is some powerful imagery which adds to the intensity and I enjoy the occasional use of dark humour. The setting on the Greek island is fantastic and the end of season atmosphere along with the weather allows the author a lot of scope.
What of the characters? It’s fair to say they are not easy to like, but what is also true is that they are very complex and exceptionally well portrayed. Although the letters do change my perspective, especially on Evelyn as the realisation dawns that others have few merits.
Overall, this is a unique, twisty and very different story, it’s certainly an enigmatic puzzle which I thoroughly enjoy.
With thanks to NetGalley, and especially to Simon and Schuster, for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
If you haven’t read this terrific author before it’s worth checking out her other books especially The End of Mr Y.
April 28, 2024
Evelyn and Richard have just embarked on their honeymoon after they’re given a surprise gift to Greece thanks Richard’s mother, Annabelle. Upon setting foot on the island of Kathos, they arrive at Villa Rosa where Annabelle has reserved them a suite. At first glance, however, Evelyn has a bad feeling. Whether it’s how the hotel’s owner, Isabella, keeps making eyes at her husband or the swift dismissal of any request that she makes herself, the weather isn’t the only troubling thing that Evelyn senses. Even the other guests and workers seem off. Is it just her? Or is there something sinister afoot?
This feeling only grows when talk turns to “the sleepwalkers.” Almost a year ago exactly, a couple also staying at Villa Rosa died via drowning. It’s rumored that the husband sleepwalked into the sea and his wife—desperate to stop him—followed in his wake. Or at least that is the story that they’re told. Evelyn is just as captivated as everyone else, until she finds out that they’re staying in the very same room. Does this, on top of what already happened at the wedding, mean that they’re cursed? And if so, will they meet the very same fate as the ill-fortuned pair that visited Villa Rosa before them?
An atmospheric story that took on a much darker and chilling tone than expected, The Sleepwalkers was certainly original. Told via letters, a recording transcript, journal entries and photography lists, I had to read between the lines for much of the book. While at times this format was frustrating, it did all come together in the end. Although I do have to say that it felt somewhat disjointed at times as I had to work rather hard to connect the dots between what was provided and what was merely insinuated.
One of the most successful aspects, however, were the jaw-dropping twists that shocked me to my core. Partially due to the ambiguity of the plot, the storyline was wholly unguessable to this armchair sleuth master. Quite frankly, I tried repeatedly to figure everything out before the final revelation, but, try as I might, the perfectly placed holes meant I failed over and over. While that would have been a problem had all of the secrets not been revealed, instead it left me admiring Ms. Thomas. After all, this sort of plot couldn’t have been easy to construct. With no particular structure or driving momentum, all I could do was hold on for the ride.
In the end, while the slow burn first half, long chapters, and multiple cliffhangers meant that this book took a bit more effort to read, I inhaled it in one sitting just the same. The evocative prose, intriguing subplots, and distinct voices revealed a true virtuoso at the helm. As for the characters, some of the personas just barely scraped the surface while others were thoroughly unlikeable, but each of them had—and kept—my attention. So if this kind of format sounds tantalizing to you, I definitely recommend grabbing a copy. Just be prepared to work for this tale. Rating of 4 stars.
Thank you to Scarlett Thomas, Simon and Schuster, and the Simon Books Buddy influencer program for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: April 9, 2024
Scroll down for my potentially plot spoiling trigger list.
Trigger warning: gaslighting, infidelity, blackmail, rape, mention of: pedophilia, human trafficking
This feeling only grows when talk turns to “the sleepwalkers.” Almost a year ago exactly, a couple also staying at Villa Rosa died via drowning. It’s rumored that the husband sleepwalked into the sea and his wife—desperate to stop him—followed in his wake. Or at least that is the story that they’re told. Evelyn is just as captivated as everyone else, until she finds out that they’re staying in the very same room. Does this, on top of what already happened at the wedding, mean that they’re cursed? And if so, will they meet the very same fate as the ill-fortuned pair that visited Villa Rosa before them?
An atmospheric story that took on a much darker and chilling tone than expected, The Sleepwalkers was certainly original. Told via letters, a recording transcript, journal entries and photography lists, I had to read between the lines for much of the book. While at times this format was frustrating, it did all come together in the end. Although I do have to say that it felt somewhat disjointed at times as I had to work rather hard to connect the dots between what was provided and what was merely insinuated.
One of the most successful aspects, however, were the jaw-dropping twists that shocked me to my core. Partially due to the ambiguity of the plot, the storyline was wholly unguessable to this armchair sleuth master. Quite frankly, I tried repeatedly to figure everything out before the final revelation, but, try as I might, the perfectly placed holes meant I failed over and over. While that would have been a problem had all of the secrets not been revealed, instead it left me admiring Ms. Thomas. After all, this sort of plot couldn’t have been easy to construct. With no particular structure or driving momentum, all I could do was hold on for the ride.
In the end, while the slow burn first half, long chapters, and multiple cliffhangers meant that this book took a bit more effort to read, I inhaled it in one sitting just the same. The evocative prose, intriguing subplots, and distinct voices revealed a true virtuoso at the helm. As for the characters, some of the personas just barely scraped the surface while others were thoroughly unlikeable, but each of them had—and kept—my attention. So if this kind of format sounds tantalizing to you, I definitely recommend grabbing a copy. Just be prepared to work for this tale. Rating of 4 stars.
Thank you to Scarlett Thomas, Simon and Schuster, and the Simon Books Buddy influencer program for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: April 9, 2024
Scroll down for my potentially plot spoiling trigger list.
Trigger warning: gaslighting, infidelity, blackmail, rape, mention of: pedophilia, human trafficking
January 20, 2024
Man, this book is BLEAK.
This is the story of Evelyn and Richard, a newly married couple who absolutely HATE each other. She thinks he is boring and spoiled, he thinks she is narcissistic and "slutty". They are terrible people who are even worse together. As their story unfolds, it becomes clear that they have a horrible, dark connection to each other's past that neither of them wants to discuss.
The author adopts a kind of meta view on everything... At one point, she references Chekov's advice to always drop the end of the story. This probably explains why her story doesn't actually have a definitive ending. It's also clear that Evelyn and Richard are meant to be "the sleepwalkers" referenced in the title (at multiple points in the story when the "sleepwalker" couple is being discussed, a character actually says to Evelyn "this seems like more of your story"), however, it's never really clear why that was the case.
Death hangs heavy over the entire story. The author includes gory descriptions of animals dismembering each other and frequently describes colors in terms of blood or rotting meat. There are a lot of references to pomegranates and pomegranate seeds, including the main narrator eating a single pomegranate seed, à la Persephone. It's clear that someone will end up dead by the end of the book but we aren't certain who it will be. As we got to know each of the characters better, I found myself hoping that none of these jerks survived.
There are a lot of things that I came to dislike about The Sleepwalkers, although when it first started, I was fully on board. I liked the author's use of descriptive language and imagery to really paint every setting. Sometimes this kind of thing can feel expository but it was beautifully effective here. Unfortunately, as the story shifted between various narrators and points of view, the voice didn't. Each of the characters seemed to have this same flare for language, which almost led to the feeling that the original narrator was pretending to speak from the point of view of these other characters.
Because the story was told in the form of letters that had been collected, torn apart and burned, there were certain places in each narration where there were big gaps in the actual prose: large chunks missing, then single sentences dropped on the page with no context. I know it was meant to add flashes of insight but it became distracting and tedious as it continued to occur over and over again. I noticed that other reviewers also found that to be confusing and took it as a glitch in the digital version of the book, which means that it obviously did not add very much to the story.
Overall, this book wanted to speak on so many hot button topics that it ended up losing its way. Off the top of my head, I can think of plot points involving murder, domestic abuse, PTSD, human trafficking, infidelity, sexual assault, the Me Too movement, Covid, immigration and xenophobia, gang rape, cancel culture, mental illness, class warfare, systems designed to protect the guilty, and appropriation of trauma. It also dabbles in tropes like Fame At Any Cost, A Daring Escape, Being On The Run, Finding God, and Living Your Truth.
The Chekhov-esque ending was very muddled. Did anyone make it out alive? Did everyone make it out alive? Who knows. Who cares... the author obviously didn't. The villain's motive is hastily slapped on at the last minute in order to draw the story to a close, with no prior groundwork having been laid. Nothing is ever resolved, no consequences are ever applied. The lead character never deals with her trauma. And then the book is over.
The book blurb was described as Highsmith meets White Lotus. I'm guessing this is because both of those stories take place on Mediterranean islands. Otherwise, there's no overlap. It is also described as "very funny", and this is a STRAIGHT UP LIE. There is nothing funny about this book. It's dark and depressing and I don't think I ever even cracked a smile reading it.
I believe this author is talented but this project was too ambitious.
I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.
This is the story of Evelyn and Richard, a newly married couple who absolutely HATE each other. She thinks he is boring and spoiled, he thinks she is narcissistic and "slutty". They are terrible people who are even worse together. As their story unfolds, it becomes clear that they have a horrible, dark connection to each other's past that neither of them wants to discuss.
The author adopts a kind of meta view on everything... At one point, she references Chekov's advice to always drop the end of the story. This probably explains why her story doesn't actually have a definitive ending. It's also clear that Evelyn and Richard are meant to be "the sleepwalkers" referenced in the title (at multiple points in the story when the "sleepwalker" couple is being discussed, a character actually says to Evelyn "this seems like more of your story"), however, it's never really clear why that was the case.
Death hangs heavy over the entire story. The author includes gory descriptions of animals dismembering each other and frequently describes colors in terms of blood or rotting meat. There are a lot of references to pomegranates and pomegranate seeds, including the main narrator eating a single pomegranate seed, à la Persephone. It's clear that someone will end up dead by the end of the book but we aren't certain who it will be. As we got to know each of the characters better, I found myself hoping that none of these jerks survived.
There are a lot of things that I came to dislike about The Sleepwalkers, although when it first started, I was fully on board. I liked the author's use of descriptive language and imagery to really paint every setting. Sometimes this kind of thing can feel expository but it was beautifully effective here. Unfortunately, as the story shifted between various narrators and points of view, the voice didn't. Each of the characters seemed to have this same flare for language, which almost led to the feeling that the original narrator was pretending to speak from the point of view of these other characters.
Because the story was told in the form of letters that had been collected, torn apart and burned, there were certain places in each narration where there were big gaps in the actual prose: large chunks missing, then single sentences dropped on the page with no context. I know it was meant to add flashes of insight but it became distracting and tedious as it continued to occur over and over again. I noticed that other reviewers also found that to be confusing and took it as a glitch in the digital version of the book, which means that it obviously did not add very much to the story.
Overall, this book wanted to speak on so many hot button topics that it ended up losing its way. Off the top of my head, I can think of plot points involving murder, domestic abuse, PTSD, human trafficking, infidelity, sexual assault, the Me Too movement, Covid, immigration and xenophobia, gang rape, cancel culture, mental illness, class warfare, systems designed to protect the guilty, and appropriation of trauma. It also dabbles in tropes like Fame At Any Cost, A Daring Escape, Being On The Run, Finding God, and Living Your Truth.
The Chekhov-esque ending was very muddled. Did anyone make it out alive? Did everyone make it out alive? Who knows. Who cares... the author obviously didn't. The villain's motive is hastily slapped on at the last minute in order to draw the story to a close, with no prior groundwork having been laid. Nothing is ever resolved, no consequences are ever applied. The lead character never deals with her trauma. And then the book is over.
The book blurb was described as Highsmith meets White Lotus. I'm guessing this is because both of those stories take place on Mediterranean islands. Otherwise, there's no overlap. It is also described as "very funny", and this is a STRAIGHT UP LIE. There is nothing funny about this book. It's dark and depressing and I don't think I ever even cracked a smile reading it.
I believe this author is talented but this project was too ambitious.
I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.
August 7, 2024
{Minor spoilerish material ahead - proceed with caution!]
This book is so convoluted, disjointed and messy that I am surprised someone actually published it. Hard to believe this is the author's 11th book as it reeks of being a novice effort. Not only is it hard to follow, but there is no consistency anywhere and after nearly 300 pages, one is left with many, MANY questions and few answers.
For example, at one point, Richard, the husband, reveals that he and his pal Paul had drugged and gangbanged a girl named Luciana several years back, who apparently revealed such at his wedding to Evelyn. 150 pages later, Evelyn then offhandedly throws out a line about '... when Richard and Paul raped me' - but there has been NOTHING prior to this - or subsequently - explicating how, when or why that happened. Did the author just FORGET who it was they raped? The story being told keeps changing, as do the extremely inconsistent unlikeable characters, and it is impossible to figure out what it is even trying to say.
Other examples of inconsistency: Evelyn flees to the airport where she finds two other guests from the hotel who are flying out in their private plane who offer her a ride. Evelyn gratefully accepts, and then for no apparent reason, she is suddenly on a different commercial flight to New Zealand that she pays for. Hamza, a refugee ALSO leaves the island because his life is in danger, but then a few months later, he is BACK on the island with no explication on how or WHY he returned. These are constantly jarring the attentive reader and one has to backtrack to figure out if one just got it wrong - or the author is flaky. (I vote the latter!!)
Towards the end of the book, suggestions are thrown out as to various possible explanations as to what's going on, but when one ends the book not even knowing what has happened to Richard, if he is alive or has been killed - or indeed what happened to the titular characters also ... we've got problems. And at one very late point it purports that what has been driving the action all along is a child sex trafficking operation that - until those last 20 pages - has never been foreshadowed or even alluded to - which cheapens a very serious topic.
Not only that, but the WAY in which this book is written is completely ludicrous. The first 110 pages purport to be a letter Evelyn writes to new hubby Richard, right before she intends to abscond from their Greek island honeymoon. She starts the letter late at night and apparently writes - by hand - 110 frigging pages before morning. Who the f**k writes a 110-page letter - BY HAND - in 6 hours? Not only that, but it is telling Richard in detail stuff he already knows (he was THERE for most of it!) - but the reader doesn't - but this exposition is so poorly handled, including dozens of pages of verbatim dialogue, that one loses all suspension of disbelief. (This is followed by Richard's own 62-page letter - WTF?!!)
There is the germ of an interesting story here, and there are a few propulsive and effective set pieces sprinkled throughout - but where was the editor telling his client to do a couple more drafts and clean up this travesty! Won't EVER be picking up any other novels by this author, that's for damn sure!
This book is so convoluted, disjointed and messy that I am surprised someone actually published it. Hard to believe this is the author's 11th book as it reeks of being a novice effort. Not only is it hard to follow, but there is no consistency anywhere and after nearly 300 pages, one is left with many, MANY questions and few answers.
For example, at one point, Richard, the husband, reveals that he and his pal Paul had drugged and gangbanged a girl named Luciana several years back, who apparently revealed such at his wedding to Evelyn. 150 pages later, Evelyn then offhandedly throws out a line about '... when Richard and Paul raped me' - but there has been NOTHING prior to this - or subsequently - explicating how, when or why that happened. Did the author just FORGET who it was they raped? The story being told keeps changing, as do the extremely inconsistent unlikeable characters, and it is impossible to figure out what it is even trying to say.
Other examples of inconsistency: Evelyn flees to the airport where she finds two other guests from the hotel who are flying out in their private plane who offer her a ride. Evelyn gratefully accepts, and then for no apparent reason, she is suddenly on a different commercial flight to New Zealand that she pays for. Hamza, a refugee ALSO leaves the island because his life is in danger, but then a few months later, he is BACK on the island with no explication on how or WHY he returned. These are constantly jarring the attentive reader and one has to backtrack to figure out if one just got it wrong - or the author is flaky. (I vote the latter!!)
Towards the end of the book, suggestions are thrown out as to various possible explanations as to what's going on, but when one ends the book not even knowing what has happened to Richard, if he is alive or has been killed - or indeed what happened to the titular characters also ... we've got problems. And at one very late point it purports that what has been driving the action all along is a child sex trafficking operation that - until those last 20 pages - has never been foreshadowed or even alluded to - which cheapens a very serious topic.
Not only that, but the WAY in which this book is written is completely ludicrous. The first 110 pages purport to be a letter Evelyn writes to new hubby Richard, right before she intends to abscond from their Greek island honeymoon. She starts the letter late at night and apparently writes - by hand - 110 frigging pages before morning. Who the f**k writes a 110-page letter - BY HAND - in 6 hours? Not only that, but it is telling Richard in detail stuff he already knows (he was THERE for most of it!) - but the reader doesn't - but this exposition is so poorly handled, including dozens of pages of verbatim dialogue, that one loses all suspension of disbelief. (This is followed by Richard's own 62-page letter - WTF?!!)
There is the germ of an interesting story here, and there are a few propulsive and effective set pieces sprinkled throughout - but where was the editor telling his client to do a couple more drafts and clean up this travesty! Won't EVER be picking up any other novels by this author, that's for damn sure!
April 18, 2024
In an unusually constructed tale, we follow a period in the lives of two people, just married. We catch up with Richard and Evelyn while they’re honeymooning on a small Greek island, close to the Turkish coast. They seem an ill-matched pair: he rather straight and somewhat pompous, and she sharp, self-deprecating, and funny. We’re to follow their already disintegrating relationship and their various other travails through a number of documents, starting with a long (very long!) letter written by Evelyn and addressed to her husband. In future we’ll be presented with more letters as well as entries in a hotel’s guest book and even a transcript of a recorded conversation.
The honeymoon is already a strange affair as they’re joined for the first part by Richard’s best friend and his current girlfriend. For the second half of their stay, the married couple will transfer to what’s billed as more upmarket accommodation, booked and paid for by Richard’s mother. Their initial accommodation is rough and ready, and it’s clearly the end of the season. Everything is closing down. Nonetheless, everything seems relatively calm – until the pair transfer to their new accommodation, that is. Evelyn quickly becomes suspicious of the attractive girl who greets them and seems to be in charge here. Richard, on the other hand, is clearly taken with her. There are a few other people hanging around the place, but there are no other guests at this stage.
A mystery will begin to surface, something that’s been in the background but not yet openly talked about. It’s clearly a cause of some tension between the newlyweds. But here, the structure of the story started to bug me somewhat. The length of the first letter was irrationally long, and then I started to spot sentences that were unfinished in the documents presented. It irritated me as I assumed I’d downloaded a damaged version of the book to my Kindle. I even downloaded it a second time to check if it was a problem in the transfer – no, they were both the same. I carried on, but a series of similar issues cropped up, nearly always at the most inconvenient points. Later, I checked some reviews of the book, and it seems that this might well be intended, a quirk or feature of the storytelling. Some readers liked this. They thought it clever, but it just frustrated me and nearly persuaded me to give up on the book.
I did finish the book, and I’m now conflicted in my view of it. There are some great passages and sections I thought were hilarious or brilliantly described feelings, particularly when it comes to jealousy or frustration with one’s partner. But I didn’t like the fractured way the story was told. Also, I’m not sure I fully believed in the story: there are elements that, to me, seemed too co-incidental or just unrealistically extreme; there’s some really strong writing here, but very average storytelling. I think this is a book that will divide opinions, I’ve already seen some very positive reviews, but I think other readers will share my discontentment with some elements. It’s a three star offering for me.
My thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The honeymoon is already a strange affair as they’re joined for the first part by Richard’s best friend and his current girlfriend. For the second half of their stay, the married couple will transfer to what’s billed as more upmarket accommodation, booked and paid for by Richard’s mother. Their initial accommodation is rough and ready, and it’s clearly the end of the season. Everything is closing down. Nonetheless, everything seems relatively calm – until the pair transfer to their new accommodation, that is. Evelyn quickly becomes suspicious of the attractive girl who greets them and seems to be in charge here. Richard, on the other hand, is clearly taken with her. There are a few other people hanging around the place, but there are no other guests at this stage.
A mystery will begin to surface, something that’s been in the background but not yet openly talked about. It’s clearly a cause of some tension between the newlyweds. But here, the structure of the story started to bug me somewhat. The length of the first letter was irrationally long, and then I started to spot sentences that were unfinished in the documents presented. It irritated me as I assumed I’d downloaded a damaged version of the book to my Kindle. I even downloaded it a second time to check if it was a problem in the transfer – no, they were both the same. I carried on, but a series of similar issues cropped up, nearly always at the most inconvenient points. Later, I checked some reviews of the book, and it seems that this might well be intended, a quirk or feature of the storytelling. Some readers liked this. They thought it clever, but it just frustrated me and nearly persuaded me to give up on the book.
I did finish the book, and I’m now conflicted in my view of it. There are some great passages and sections I thought were hilarious or brilliantly described feelings, particularly when it comes to jealousy or frustration with one’s partner. But I didn’t like the fractured way the story was told. Also, I’m not sure I fully believed in the story: there are elements that, to me, seemed too co-incidental or just unrealistically extreme; there’s some really strong writing here, but very average storytelling. I think this is a book that will divide opinions, I’ve already seen some very positive reviews, but I think other readers will share my discontentment with some elements. It’s a three star offering for me.
My thanks to Simon and Schuster UK for providing an ARC of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
September 21, 2025
Waterstones thriller of the month? YES, please 🙏🏼
I picked this book up on a bit of a whim. I knew it was praised as Waterstones thriller of the month, and a brief glance at the synopsis told me it would be a unique read. What I would find inside, I truly had no idea…
This was a strange book 🤨 There were no chapters, rather a content list at the beginning. Furthermore, the narrative began with a (very long!!) letter from Evelyn to Richard. The tone was very cold and aloof. And, even after 60 pages I had no idea where Scarlett Thomas was taking us…🤷🏻♀️
However, after a while I found myself getting caught up by the toxicity of it all and furthermore, now that I have finished the book, I can see that this unusual beginning was a case of foreboding what was ahead 🤐
Evelyn and Richard have just embarked on their honeymoon; a surprise gift to Greece thanks Richard's mother, Annabelle. The story begins as the couple step foot on the island of Kathos, soon they arrive at Villa Rosa where a suite has been reserved for them. Sounds good right? WRONG 🙅🏻♀️
Evelyn immediately gets a bad feeling about the place, and hotel’s owner, Isabella. Everything seems off - is it her? Or is there something truly sinister at play?
There is a sense of tension and strain from the get go; it's stormy, moody, and ominous. Things are not quite right. There are off notes - disturbing, odd, and strange - at the Villa Rosa and you sense that immediately. However, the feeling only grows, reaching a peak when talk turns to "the sleepwalkers.". This dark and chilling story takes a turn for the worse, leading to a trail of unexpected consequences…
The narrative ticks along at a steady pace, and then out of nowhere 💥 you step onto the rollercoaster and you are taken up and down, and all around. Twists and turns at every corner. Past meets present. Revelations discovered. Mysteries solved. Dark pasts ignited. Get ready because this is a mighty dark and tangled story fuelled by power and abuse 😵💫
Was it a cleverly written mystery? YES!
But, did I enjoy reading it? Not particularly. The first half took a lot of work but the second half proved to be worth it.
I think a major issue for me was the lack of chapters. The story was told via very long letters, a recording transcript, and journal entries. I needed something to split up the large volume of information given to us in the form of letters as it was difficult to connect the dots at times.
In the end, it turned out to be an interesting, complex and unique read. It was certainly thrilling and jaw-dropping at times. However, I can’t ignore the struggle I had getting through the first half. If you are willing to put in the work, and are looking for a layered, and original mystery then this might just be your cup of tea.
3.5 🌟🌟🌟💫
I picked this book up on a bit of a whim. I knew it was praised as Waterstones thriller of the month, and a brief glance at the synopsis told me it would be a unique read. What I would find inside, I truly had no idea…
This was a strange book 🤨 There were no chapters, rather a content list at the beginning. Furthermore, the narrative began with a (very long!!) letter from Evelyn to Richard. The tone was very cold and aloof. And, even after 60 pages I had no idea where Scarlett Thomas was taking us…🤷🏻♀️
However, after a while I found myself getting caught up by the toxicity of it all and furthermore, now that I have finished the book, I can see that this unusual beginning was a case of foreboding what was ahead 🤐
Evelyn and Richard have just embarked on their honeymoon; a surprise gift to Greece thanks Richard's mother, Annabelle. The story begins as the couple step foot on the island of Kathos, soon they arrive at Villa Rosa where a suite has been reserved for them. Sounds good right? WRONG 🙅🏻♀️
Evelyn immediately gets a bad feeling about the place, and hotel’s owner, Isabella. Everything seems off - is it her? Or is there something truly sinister at play?
There is a sense of tension and strain from the get go; it's stormy, moody, and ominous. Things are not quite right. There are off notes - disturbing, odd, and strange - at the Villa Rosa and you sense that immediately. However, the feeling only grows, reaching a peak when talk turns to "the sleepwalkers.". This dark and chilling story takes a turn for the worse, leading to a trail of unexpected consequences…
The narrative ticks along at a steady pace, and then out of nowhere 💥 you step onto the rollercoaster and you are taken up and down, and all around. Twists and turns at every corner. Past meets present. Revelations discovered. Mysteries solved. Dark pasts ignited. Get ready because this is a mighty dark and tangled story fuelled by power and abuse 😵💫
Was it a cleverly written mystery? YES!
But, did I enjoy reading it? Not particularly. The first half took a lot of work but the second half proved to be worth it.
I think a major issue for me was the lack of chapters. The story was told via very long letters, a recording transcript, and journal entries. I needed something to split up the large volume of information given to us in the form of letters as it was difficult to connect the dots at times.
In the end, it turned out to be an interesting, complex and unique read. It was certainly thrilling and jaw-dropping at times. However, I can’t ignore the struggle I had getting through the first half. If you are willing to put in the work, and are looking for a layered, and original mystery then this might just be your cup of tea.
3.5 🌟🌟🌟💫
December 14, 2023
I waited a bit to write this review because I couldn’t decide if I liked this book or not. A few days later and I’m still not entirely sure- it’s a really unique read. The story centers on Evelyn and Richard who are spending their honeymoon on a remote Greek island. The story is entirely told from letters they write to each other and other people (as well as other writings from tertiary characters). I actually liked that writing style, even though it was sometimes jarring to leave a letter mid-thought and move to another voice.
The story was weaved together well and there were a couple good twists. I had forecasted a huge twist that didn’t happen at all. The thing that I struggled with was that the author didn’t help the reader connect the dots all that much- the story was somewhat disjointed and I had to figure out what was going on without much info at some points. I liked the end, though I did feel like I had to suspend my disbelief a bit.
Overall, I really enjoyed the unique writing style of this book but didn’t like having to work so hard to figure out how it fit together. I’m glad I read it but still have trouble deciding how much I actually liked it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The story was weaved together well and there were a couple good twists. I had forecasted a huge twist that didn’t happen at all. The thing that I struggled with was that the author didn’t help the reader connect the dots all that much- the story was somewhat disjointed and I had to figure out what was going on without much info at some points. I liked the end, though I did feel like I had to suspend my disbelief a bit.
Overall, I really enjoyed the unique writing style of this book but didn’t like having to work so hard to figure out how it fit together. I’m glad I read it but still have trouble deciding how much I actually liked it. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Read
December 21, 2023DNF @ 50%. It is very hard to imagine I could hate any characters as much as I hate these.
September 20, 2024
I hated everyone in this book and hoped for all of them to be murdered.
November 12, 2023
I am totally blown away by this crazy story!
Meet Evelyn and Richard as they vacation on their honeymoon on a small Greek island.Evelyn begins the story and seems somewhat hard to please..I do understand that the hotel is not up to the standard she hoped for but is the hoteliere Isabella truly unhelpful, or are Evelyn's standards too high?
As the story continues we hear from several others including Richard himself. We learn that there was an incident where two honeymooners died via sleepwalking. Isabella is quite excited to host an American couple who has come to make a film on the subject.
A large scale storm threatens the island and the two are separated. In the melee to leave, we learn far more about Evelyn and Richard then you would have ever guessed. Through different sources including photograph lists, journals, letters and recorded conversations you will learn about the inhabitants of the island and never quite forget them! This atmospheric story is truly one of a kind and you must pick it up! #TheSleepwalkers #scarlettthomas .#simonschuster
Meet Evelyn and Richard as they vacation on their honeymoon on a small Greek island.Evelyn begins the story and seems somewhat hard to please..I do understand that the hotel is not up to the standard she hoped for but is the hoteliere Isabella truly unhelpful, or are Evelyn's standards too high?
As the story continues we hear from several others including Richard himself. We learn that there was an incident where two honeymooners died via sleepwalking. Isabella is quite excited to host an American couple who has come to make a film on the subject.
A large scale storm threatens the island and the two are separated. In the melee to leave, we learn far more about Evelyn and Richard then you would have ever guessed. Through different sources including photograph lists, journals, letters and recorded conversations you will learn about the inhabitants of the island and never quite forget them! This atmospheric story is truly one of a kind and you must pick it up! #TheSleepwalkers #scarlettthomas .#simonschuster
January 17, 2024
The synopsis for this book is quite long, and it tells the reader just about everything they need to know about the plot. Richard and Evelyn are getting married, but Richard’s mother changes their plans by paying for the honeymoon. She’s chosen Villa Rosa, a boutique hotel in Greece, for the couple to enjoy - whether they like it or not.
Villa Rosa is small, and the owner, Isabella, is getting things ready for an upcoming storm. Soon, Richard and Evelyn find out about a haunting story that happened during a similar storm, at this very hotel. A man was sleepwalking, his wife woke up and saw him heading for the ocean, and she followed. They died that stormy night, but their legends live on.
While at the hotel, Richard and Evelyn meet a strange group of people: some younger, hip kids who look like they’re in a band, a strange owner of a curio shop, and a couple of interesting characters who work for Isabella. As we go through the book, we find out all about these people, in a very different way…
This book is written not as a book, but as a series of letters and (unseen) photographs. The unique writing style made this a very unique read, as you get the story in bits and pieces until finally, with the last letter, everything comes together. It’s an interesting story with quite a few layers, and while the tone of the book isn’t one that I’m used to, I did end up liking it in the end. This one gets 3.5 stars, rounded up!
(Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Scarlett Thomas and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 9, 2024.)
Villa Rosa is small, and the owner, Isabella, is getting things ready for an upcoming storm. Soon, Richard and Evelyn find out about a haunting story that happened during a similar storm, at this very hotel. A man was sleepwalking, his wife woke up and saw him heading for the ocean, and she followed. They died that stormy night, but their legends live on.
While at the hotel, Richard and Evelyn meet a strange group of people: some younger, hip kids who look like they’re in a band, a strange owner of a curio shop, and a couple of interesting characters who work for Isabella. As we go through the book, we find out all about these people, in a very different way…
This book is written not as a book, but as a series of letters and (unseen) photographs. The unique writing style made this a very unique read, as you get the story in bits and pieces until finally, with the last letter, everything comes together. It’s an interesting story with quite a few layers, and while the tone of the book isn’t one that I’m used to, I did end up liking it in the end. This one gets 3.5 stars, rounded up!
(Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Scarlett Thomas and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 9, 2024.)
May 10, 2024
Started out with an ominous and intriguing premise, but lost its way and became a muddled, tedious mess. I ended up skimming just to get it over with - date rape and porn and lots of fruit used at metaphors, xenophobia, drowning, movie scripts, a bunch of long-winded letters, a guy obsessed with white dresses, storms, secret recordings, ugh, I don't know, it was all over the place.
April 21, 2024
Since there are books some call 'unputdownable,' there have to be others which are 'unpickbackupable.' This is one of the latter. (I made it halfway, which was generous.)
Story told by two main characters, wife and husband, on their honeymoon, in a terrible hotel who write lengthy letters (or notes) to one another. Mostly about each other's faults. But who can sit down and write 20 pages or more in a single setting? (Which is the way the letter-writing is presented.) They are both very good at getting every word correct, every insult and argument they have.
The thing is this: there IS a good story hiding here somewhere, about a different, older couple who stayed at the same hotel and walked into the sea and drowned. This writer can write - there are some eloquent, lovely passages about the location, about a storm, about the way two people can bite and carp at each other while being in love. But something gets lost in the endless pages of endless arguing...
Two stars.
Story told by two main characters, wife and husband, on their honeymoon, in a terrible hotel who write lengthy letters (or notes) to one another. Mostly about each other's faults. But who can sit down and write 20 pages or more in a single setting? (Which is the way the letter-writing is presented.) They are both very good at getting every word correct, every insult and argument they have.
The thing is this: there IS a good story hiding here somewhere, about a different, older couple who stayed at the same hotel and walked into the sea and drowned. This writer can write - there are some eloquent, lovely passages about the location, about a storm, about the way two people can bite and carp at each other while being in love. But something gets lost in the endless pages of endless arguing...
Two stars.
April 11, 2024
Scarlett Thomas is a new author for me, but I chose to read this book because it is set on a Greek island (and I've always secretly wanted to go to Greece) and because the description says the book is "very funny" and I like humor in a book.
Description:
Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It’s the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the “beautiful people,” the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel’s owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.
Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests—an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie—with the story of “the sleepwalkers,” a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.
Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some “beautiful people,” as well as the “dapper little man”—the strange yet fashionable owner of the island’s lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.
But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it’s their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.
Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society—where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.
My Thoughts:
The book is atmospheric and gave me a sense of being outside looking in. Evelyn seems to have some issues and some of that is revealed later on. I had some trouble with the prose stopping midsentence and the next paragraphs being seemingly unrelated, like some of the text was missing. This occurred at various times during the book. I failed to find any humor here. Maybe I'm dense, but even at the end I wasn't sure what I'd read and what really happened and what was imaginary. The writing was easy to read, but this book was just not for me. I do see some people really loved it though. I'm on the fence about whether I would recommend it to my friends. Some might find it interesting, it just seems too unfinished to me.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster through Netgalley for an advance copy.
Description:
Still reeling from the chaos of their wedding, Evelyn and Richard arrive on a tiny Greek island for their honeymoon. It’s the end of the season and a storm is imminent. Determined to make the best of it, they check into the sun-soaked doors of the Villa Rosa. Already feeling insecure after seeing the “beautiful people,” the seemingly endless number of young models and musicians lounging along the Mediterranean, Evelyn is wary of the hotel’s owner, Isabella, who seems to only have eyes for Richard.
Isabella ostensibly disapproves of every request Evelyn makes, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they are there at all. Isabella is also preoccupied with her chance to enthrall the only other guests—an American producer named Marcus and his partner Debbie—with the story of “the sleepwalkers,” a couple who had stayed at the hotel recently and drowned.
Everyone seems to want to talk about the sleepwalkers, save for Hamza, a young Turkish man Evelyn had seen with some “beautiful people,” as well as the “dapper little man”—the strange yet fashionable owner of the island’s lone antiques and gift shop she sees everywhere.
But what at first seemed eccentric, decorative, or simply ridiculous, becomes a living nightmare. Evelyn and Richard are separated the night of the storm and forced to face dark truths, but it’s their confessions around the origins of their relationship and the years leading up to their marriage that might save them.
Exhilarating, suspenseful, and also very funny, The Sleepwalkers asks urgent questions about relationships, sexuality, and the darkest elements of contemporary society—where our most terrible secrets are hidden in plain sight.
My Thoughts:
The book is atmospheric and gave me a sense of being outside looking in. Evelyn seems to have some issues and some of that is revealed later on. I had some trouble with the prose stopping midsentence and the next paragraphs being seemingly unrelated, like some of the text was missing. This occurred at various times during the book. I failed to find any humor here. Maybe I'm dense, but even at the end I wasn't sure what I'd read and what really happened and what was imaginary. The writing was easy to read, but this book was just not for me. I do see some people really loved it though. I'm on the fence about whether I would recommend it to my friends. Some might find it interesting, it just seems too unfinished to me.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster through Netgalley for an advance copy.
April 24, 2024
2.75
The first half was more of a fun palette cleanser & then the last half ruined it. I see how it is compared to The White Lotus but the execution missed the mark
The first half was more of a fun palette cleanser & then the last half ruined it. I see how it is compared to The White Lotus but the execution missed the mark
April 13, 2024
Scarlett Thomas has written almost a postmodern response to Jess Walter's BEAUTIFUL RUINS and, perhaps more accurately, crafted a gothic mystery about competing narratives and the ever-present argument over who gets to tell another person's story. If I'm making this novel out to be some intellectual experiment, then I'm not describing it sufficiently! Because Thomas pursues this with an uncommonly visceral narrative. She writes with boldness and assurance and a determination to throw off the shackles of all the earlier books she's known for. I felt tremendously uncomfortable while reading this book -- in large part because I did not want to meet any of these people. Evelyn, the scheming playwright whose tone completely alters in the final letter (thus calling into question its actual authorship!). Isabella, the creepy hotel owner. Richard, the husband who carries dark streaks. But then that is the point of reading fiction, isn't it? To have access to people we would not meet in real life.
The more I thought about this book, the more I realized what a subtle achievement it was. It demands that you pay attention -- whether it be what the characters eat or how they react. I think a lot of readers are going to hate this book because the characters aren't "likable" enough (*sigh*), but Thomas is, once again, ahead of the curve in interrogating vital issues about narrative (again, with the feel of blind instinct!) that are discomfiting. Perhaps it will take five years or so for people to appreciate what Thomas is up to here. But I think it's very much worth investigating now!
The more I thought about this book, the more I realized what a subtle achievement it was. It demands that you pay attention -- whether it be what the characters eat or how they react. I think a lot of readers are going to hate this book because the characters aren't "likable" enough (*sigh*), but Thomas is, once again, ahead of the curve in interrogating vital issues about narrative (again, with the feel of blind instinct!) that are discomfiting. Perhaps it will take five years or so for people to appreciate what Thomas is up to here. But I think it's very much worth investigating now!
June 26, 2024
Insufferable!
August 17, 2024
Read an outstanding review of this in the NYT. Loved the premise. Only stayed with it because the Times gave it such great accolades. It was insufferable. Disjointed. Weird (like why letter format…. Richard knows everything that is going on so why is she writing him a letter?) Felt like the editor fell asleep while trying to edit. And the “reveal” at the end had never even been hinted at or foreshadowed, and I felt like that really cheapened a very serious subject. The author used five pages to wrap everything up and I still have so many questions. Wasn’t for me.
January 7, 2025
Ani ryba, ani rak. Ani príbeh, ani tajomný, ani neogotický, ani triller, ani psychologický, ani tajomný... no nič.
Na úvod poviem, že výber knihy je jednoznačne moja chyba. Neuvedomila som si, že si kupujem knihu Scarlett Thomasovej, od ktorej som kedysi dávno čítala inú stupiditu s názvom PopCo. Dala som sa pomýliť skutočnosťou, že knihu vydalo v českom preklade brnenské vydaateľstvo Host, čo je u mňa záruka kvalitnej literatúry. No tak aj tu som sa knižne "sekla" a to poriadne!
Z dvoch čitateľských skúseností so Scarlett Thomas za seba hovorím, že autorka si naberie na plecia témy, ktoré sú nad rámec jej autorských schopností. Veľmi nešťastne volila v knihe Námesačníci výber formy ( listy, ktoré listami nie sú a prepisy rozhovor z mobilu) a tým pádom si zvolila rozprávačov príbehu, ktorý sú nesúrodí, plochí, nezaujímaví, nereálni a vyznievajú viac dramaticky a ich konanie a dialógy pripomínajú ochotnícke divadelné predstavenie, ktoré napísala pre miestnych neprofesionálov skvelá miestna pani učiteľka slovenčiny na novembrové halloweensku noc.
Nestrácajte s touto knihou čas, je to zbytočné. Knižný čitateľský život nie je neobmedzený a na nás všetkých kdesi čaká toľko skvelých kníh, tém, spracovaní, originálnosti, invencie a nových pohľadov.
Na úvod poviem, že výber knihy je jednoznačne moja chyba. Neuvedomila som si, že si kupujem knihu Scarlett Thomasovej, od ktorej som kedysi dávno čítala inú stupiditu s názvom PopCo. Dala som sa pomýliť skutočnosťou, že knihu vydalo v českom preklade brnenské vydaateľstvo Host, čo je u mňa záruka kvalitnej literatúry. No tak aj tu som sa knižne "sekla" a to poriadne!
Z dvoch čitateľských skúseností so Scarlett Thomas za seba hovorím, že autorka si naberie na plecia témy, ktoré sú nad rámec jej autorských schopností. Veľmi nešťastne volila v knihe Námesačníci výber formy ( listy, ktoré listami nie sú a prepisy rozhovor z mobilu) a tým pádom si zvolila rozprávačov príbehu, ktorý sú nesúrodí, plochí, nezaujímaví, nereálni a vyznievajú viac dramaticky a ich konanie a dialógy pripomínajú ochotnícke divadelné predstavenie, ktoré napísala pre miestnych neprofesionálov skvelá miestna pani učiteľka slovenčiny na novembrové halloweensku noc.
Nestrácajte s touto knihou čas, je to zbytočné. Knižný čitateľský život nie je neobmedzený a na nás všetkých kdesi čaká toľko skvelých kníh, tém, spracovaní, originálnosti, invencie a nových pohľadov.
April 13, 2024
I read Scarlett Thomas’s the sleepwalkers in one sitting– – and so should you. It’s an excellent, surprising thriller, one written in 15 different styles: transcripts, letters, lists, screenplay formats – – beginning with a letter, and 110 page letter mind you, from the unreliable narrator who is the focus of the story. Beginning with a honeymoon gone terribly wrong, Thomas’ book takes you places that you would never imagine from the beginning pages. It’s fiendishly clever. I have no idea why the reviews here on Goodreads are so low, especially considering how clever the pieces of this book fit together. Maybe it’s because of how dark the story actually gets or the fact that it can be confusing, if not read in one sitting. I loved it.
July 19, 2024
I think I picked up the wrong "Sleepwalkers" and that I must have intended to get Chris Bohjalian's "Sleepwalker". I wish I knew who to blame for this besides myself. Anyhow, I have discovered a new Ambien and it's this book. I couldn't finish it because every time I picked it up I fell asleep. The story is about a couple on their honeymoon on a remote Greek island at the end of tourist season. This couple is fascinated by the story of another couple who supposedly sleepwalked into the sea and drowned. An interesting premise but a real snooze of a book.
June 30, 2024
Gothic, though set in the present day, with a cast of English characters and more, told through a variety of documents including guest book pages, an audio transcript that holds horrible truths but is funny to read, and especially by letters written by Evelyn whose career as a playwright of one-woman plays based on herself has gone cold, and her new husband, Richard. This is a honeymoon gone bad, set on a Greek island, the sense of threat and intrigue is palpable. Though there were too many coincidences for me, including a trauma central to both Evelyn and Richard's lives that connects them in the past and present, Evelyn's voice is strong, and various mysteries unfold at the same time - what happened at Evelyn and Richard's wedding (which I'm not sure I ever discovered, or I missed), what is going on on the island, who are the beautiful young people, who is Isabel really, what happened to the older couple the summer before, a tragedy that is the reason they've been named "the sleepwalkers," exactly how many versions of exploitation can one book hold... it's a strange place these characters have come from, and a strange place where they end up. A fun, twisty, engaging read.
April 29, 2024
Simmering with tension this was a tantalizing read from a new to me author, this was quite the enigma, told in an epistolary (and many other)format this follows Evelyn and Richard honeymooning on a small Greek island where things go incredibly wrong, this was creative and unique in the way it was told keeping me on edge throughout, it felt like the mystery was constantly evading the reader and far from being frustrating it felt like a flirty game of cat and mouse, Scaretts writing is razor sharp, equal parts funny and foreboding what starts off as a story about marital discord slowly mutates into something much darker, something is very very wrong but you can't quite put your finger on it, the writing is incredibly vivid and I enjoyed the more gruesome visceral descriptions, this was a twisty gothic thriller I'd recommend to those who enjoy not knowing what the hell is going on but still having a grand old time with it!
November 27, 2023
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas. Thanks to @simonandschuster for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Newlyweds Evelyn and Richard arrive at Villa Rose, a small greek island inn, with a storm coming. Evelyn is wary of the owner, Isabella, and it causes strife in their new marriage.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this based on the format style that I read about in reviews, but I was hooked immediately. It starts with marital discord and arguments, which is always my thing. I loved the style since we got raw honestly in first narration. There were some serious twists and it got much darker than I expected but I loved this unique read.
“People grasp any chance to minimize their failure, their despair. Offer them something good, on the other hand, and they bite your arm off.”
The Sleepwalkers comes out 4/9.
Newlyweds Evelyn and Richard arrive at Villa Rose, a small greek island inn, with a storm coming. Evelyn is wary of the owner, Isabella, and it causes strife in their new marriage.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like this based on the format style that I read about in reviews, but I was hooked immediately. It starts with marital discord and arguments, which is always my thing. I loved the style since we got raw honestly in first narration. There were some serious twists and it got much darker than I expected but I loved this unique read.
“People grasp any chance to minimize their failure, their despair. Offer them something good, on the other hand, and they bite your arm off.”
The Sleepwalkers comes out 4/9.
May 31, 2024
Really annoying, the structure is just silly and confusing. Parts of the book are ridiculous. The big plot twist is not credible, none of the characters are credible (or likeable) and Id say the main one has major issues with men - the sexual content is gratuitous and revolting.
This was a book club book - we’ll be reviewing next week but have already exchanged messages to say we are not enjoying at all - suspect many will have given up.
The only way I would get this book (with its stupid unfinished letters, jumbles and fragments, would be to re-read the whole thing. I’m not going to do that!
The author has imagination and good use of language but clearly needs help with plot, writing structure and characters. It’s like a first novel - (one that should be rejected and treated as practice). Don’t bother. Life is short and there are many many other better books.
This was a book club book - we’ll be reviewing next week but have already exchanged messages to say we are not enjoying at all - suspect many will have given up.
The only way I would get this book (with its stupid unfinished letters, jumbles and fragments, would be to re-read the whole thing. I’m not going to do that!
The author has imagination and good use of language but clearly needs help with plot, writing structure and characters. It’s like a first novel - (one that should be rejected and treated as practice). Don’t bother. Life is short and there are many many other better books.
April 19, 2024
What a gonzo book. Had me laughing and then cringing and then asking wth is going on
July 2, 2024
The Sleepwalkers needs a warning label: This novel is for reading only. Listening to the audiobook may lead to confusion, self doubt and migraine.” I didn’t automatically understand that sentences purposefully dropped off suddenly, that paragraphs were intentionally omitted from a story-within-the-story, all kinds of author manipulation I regularly enjoy on the page didn’t translate to audio. I liked both the book and its two performers well enough to hang on, but even with occasionally re-listening, I wasn’t quite able to put the pieces together at the end. Even now, I find myself puzzling over the here’s-what-really-happened in The Sleepwalkers (though I confess, not enough to buy it, and the wait time for borrowing a reading copy is approximately never).
The telling of the story - an extremely unhappy, increasingly ominous honeymoon on a stormy Greek island - is passed back and forth between the newlyweds, Evelyn and Richard. Their relationship unspools in endless (as in 100 pages endless) letters to each other, not for a minute believable, though somehow this isn’t the problem it should be. You’re not to trust either of them, their deception succeeding in making them more interesting. Hard to pull that off, but done well here.
Evelyn’s voice largely carries the novel; she’s a playwright whose career has plummeted, a self consumed, generally unlikable woman, but often darkly funny. She’s also given to passages of wildly florid writing, a nice bit of mocking by the author.
For that matter, the further in one gets, the clearer it becomes that neither Richard nor Evelyn has even the smallest of redeeming qualities. They have both done wicked, unforgivable things, to each other and to others. There were moments I felt a little queasy, but I never lost interest - despite (let’s itemize) a) not easily understanding the many editorial tricks employed, indecipherable on audio; b) not believing the supposed letters were anything of the kind; and c) disliking not only the 2 central characters, but also loathing the only other characters of any real note, the sexy-slimy hotel proprietress, and a grotesque filmmaker couple who show up seeking inspiration from the local lore of “the sleepwalkers”, past hotel guests - if they ever existed! - now ghosts. Add to that, I also detested everyone else on the island. Yet not one thought of putting down the book and moving on to the next. I didn’t care that there were no redeemable characters. Go figure. I wasn’t dazzled, but I was fully there, in the growing darkness, not looking for an easy way out. If anything, I wanted to see just how bad things would actually get (having judged, midway, that it was all going to hell eventually, given the voluptuous remains of a dinner table feast - oozing rare meats, berries dripping blood onto the white tablecloth).
There’s a bit approaching the final moments of the novel that contains very clever, self-referential closing lines - and yet I still don’t entirely understand what happened at the end! Do I really have to buy this book? (I might). Oh well, I really like the cover.
( but you said you weren’t going to keep buying buying buying books books books, oh shush, conscience, please )
The telling of the story - an extremely unhappy, increasingly ominous honeymoon on a stormy Greek island - is passed back and forth between the newlyweds, Evelyn and Richard. Their relationship unspools in endless (as in 100 pages endless) letters to each other, not for a minute believable, though somehow this isn’t the problem it should be. You’re not to trust either of them, their deception succeeding in making them more interesting. Hard to pull that off, but done well here.
Evelyn’s voice largely carries the novel; she’s a playwright whose career has plummeted, a self consumed, generally unlikable woman, but often darkly funny. She’s also given to passages of wildly florid writing, a nice bit of mocking by the author.
For that matter, the further in one gets, the clearer it becomes that neither Richard nor Evelyn has even the smallest of redeeming qualities. They have both done wicked, unforgivable things, to each other and to others. There were moments I felt a little queasy, but I never lost interest - despite (let’s itemize) a) not easily understanding the many editorial tricks employed, indecipherable on audio; b) not believing the supposed letters were anything of the kind; and c) disliking not only the 2 central characters, but also loathing the only other characters of any real note, the sexy-slimy hotel proprietress, and a grotesque filmmaker couple who show up seeking inspiration from the local lore of “the sleepwalkers”, past hotel guests - if they ever existed! - now ghosts. Add to that, I also detested everyone else on the island. Yet not one thought of putting down the book and moving on to the next. I didn’t care that there were no redeemable characters. Go figure. I wasn’t dazzled, but I was fully there, in the growing darkness, not looking for an easy way out. If anything, I wanted to see just how bad things would actually get (having judged, midway, that it was all going to hell eventually, given the voluptuous remains of a dinner table feast - oozing rare meats, berries dripping blood onto the white tablecloth).
There’s a bit approaching the final moments of the novel that contains very clever, self-referential closing lines - and yet I still don’t entirely understand what happened at the end! Do I really have to buy this book? (I might). Oh well, I really like the cover.
( but you said you weren’t going to keep buying buying buying books books books, oh shush, conscience, please )
January 27, 2025
Evelyn and Richard arrive on a remote Greek island for their honeymoon, hoping to escape the chaos of their wedding. At the end of the tourist season, with a storm approaching, they check into the Villa Rosa, where Evelyn feels insecure among glamorous guests and wary of Isabella, the enigmatic owner who seems fixated on Richard. Isabella dismisses Evelyn’s requests and captivates the other guests with the eerie tale of "the sleepwalkers," a couple who recently drowned at the hotel.
I read about half of this book because I wanted to find out the big secret that kept being alluded to. The more I read, the stranger the book got and finally when it got to some of Richard's secrets and things he did when he was younger it was too disturbing for me to continue on. The letter format of the book was strange and I just didn't like any of the characters.
I read about half of this book because I wanted to find out the big secret that kept being alluded to. The more I read, the stranger the book got and finally when it got to some of Richard's secrets and things he did when he was younger it was too disturbing for me to continue on. The letter format of the book was strange and I just didn't like any of the characters.
April 21, 2024
This book started off so well - great setting in the Greek Islands, intriguing premise, unreliable narrator and some stylish and wickedly funny writing. However, around the 50% mark it took a weird, fragmented structural turn that jolted me out of the story for a while. It did recover but the lost momentum meant this wasn’t quite the book I had hoped it would be.
Evelyn and Richard are an English couple on their honeymoon in Kathos, a fictional Greek island resembling Samos. They’re staying at the ramshackle Villa Rosa, where the previous year two holidaymakers died when they apparently sleepwalked into the sea, a story which has piqued the interest of two Hollywood filmmakers who arrive at the hotel to buy the rights to the story.
The hotel is run by the beautiful and enigmatic Isabella who immediately takes a shine to Richard, much to Evelyn’s irritation. Doors stay unlocked at the hotel and there’s a sinister vibe to it all, the decadent beauty of the hotel a stark contrast to the squalid refugee camp on the other side of the island.
It’s obvious from the start that Evelyn and Richard’s marriage is marred by secrets and lies, though it’s some time before those are revealed to the reader, through a letter from Richard to Evelyn. It’s quite a shocking reveal too, so reader caution is advised.
Overall this was a very good read, albeit that the structure of the book didn’t always work for me. I loved Evelyn’s chaotic messiness, Richard’s bumbling uselessness (never having matured beyond his private schoolboy teenage years) and Isabella’s fiendish, manipulative ways. Clever, perhaps ultimately just a little too clever that it lost its smoothness. 3.5/5 ⭐️
*Many thanks to the author, publisher Scribner and @netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. The Sleepwalkers was published yesterday.
Evelyn and Richard are an English couple on their honeymoon in Kathos, a fictional Greek island resembling Samos. They’re staying at the ramshackle Villa Rosa, where the previous year two holidaymakers died when they apparently sleepwalked into the sea, a story which has piqued the interest of two Hollywood filmmakers who arrive at the hotel to buy the rights to the story.
The hotel is run by the beautiful and enigmatic Isabella who immediately takes a shine to Richard, much to Evelyn’s irritation. Doors stay unlocked at the hotel and there’s a sinister vibe to it all, the decadent beauty of the hotel a stark contrast to the squalid refugee camp on the other side of the island.
It’s obvious from the start that Evelyn and Richard’s marriage is marred by secrets and lies, though it’s some time before those are revealed to the reader, through a letter from Richard to Evelyn. It’s quite a shocking reveal too, so reader caution is advised.
Overall this was a very good read, albeit that the structure of the book didn’t always work for me. I loved Evelyn’s chaotic messiness, Richard’s bumbling uselessness (never having matured beyond his private schoolboy teenage years) and Isabella’s fiendish, manipulative ways. Clever, perhaps ultimately just a little too clever that it lost its smoothness. 3.5/5 ⭐️
*Many thanks to the author, publisher Scribner and @netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. The Sleepwalkers was published yesterday.
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