lil_owl_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
You can absolutely tell this is Meg Wolitzer's first book; she has become a much stronger writer in many of her more recent works. However, this book holds much of her character and charm, and was quite an enjoyable read. The plot doesn't exactly go where many of the summaries imply it will go, so I don't know if you should open Sleepwalking expecting a dark academia school girl The Secret History-esque novel. It's much more a book about how grief affects us, how our relationships are changed after death, and how writing can affect us. A very good introduction to Wolitzer's style.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Death
san_dra's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Child death, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Vomit, and Incest
savvylit's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
2.0
The good: relatively well written and empathetic towards very specific new adult feelings of anxiety and depression.
The bad: I found the book boring and naive. Mostly because I am certainly not the target audience at all. To begin, the initial trio of girls obsessed with death were full of intrigue. But Claire left the other "death girls" behind so quickly. Additionally, I didn't realize quite how young this entire book would feel. Wolitzer was twenty-one when she published Sleepwalking and it shows. I think I might have enjoyed this when I was somewhere around that same age. At 32, though, Sleepwalking just seemed like a shallow story striving too hard for meaning. I've read much better debuts by young authors.
The bad: I found the book boring and naive. Mostly because I am certainly not the target audience at all. To begin, the initial trio of girls obsessed with death were full of intrigue. But Claire left the other "death girls" behind so quickly. Additionally, I didn't realize quite how young this entire book would feel. Wolitzer was twenty-one when she published Sleepwalking and it shows. I think I might have enjoyed this when I was somewhere around that same age. At 32, though, Sleepwalking just seemed like a shallow story striving too hard for meaning. I've read much better debuts by young authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Grief
vera_nikolajevna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death, and Grief
Minor: Drug use and Domestic abuse
fatsss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
You know when you’re sad or you want to cry so you listen to sad music? This book is the sad music. Good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness
hunkydory's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Child death
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Drug use
yiuve's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
3.75
I liked the book, but there was many things i didn't.
Also what happened to Laura? She lost her mind and we forgot about her?
Spoiler
Like the ending. It has this happy ever after vibe, that doesn't fit the book. Like Lucy's mother is all better and dancing around after years of depression all because this girl who reminds her of her dead dauther can to clean their house for like a week?Also what happened to Laura? She lost her mind and we forgot about her?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death
Minor: Pedophilia
chiya's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
** character development isn't strong. there was a change to the characters but its not drastic. in my opinion there wasnt much of difference with them from when the story started, but there was a change and i feel like that counts for something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Grief
Minor: Vomit and Drug use
_alittleliterary_'s review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
ryraeriv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Cancer, and Death