Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Dreamers

Reactions to a pandemic are not completely unpredictable, but to have proof a year after you publish a book on it must be a weird sensation. I do understand the students wanting to break the quarantine because they have been given very little information and were handled poorly, but it happened so quick no one knew what was going on. Being unable to truly understand what the patients dreamed enhances the mystery and I love the idea that they are jumping timelines in their sleep. Every moment happens simultaneously and it could be interesting to explore that more. Imagine their deja vu once they woke up.

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lilifane's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What the f*** did I just read?

This book centers around several characters during the outbreak of an infectious disease. It's a virus causing a sleeping sickness, but other than that, the parallels to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic are way too accurate.
All the denial. All the measures to contain the disease, too little too late. All the careless decisions, all the irrational behaviors, all the selfish acts. All the conspiracy theories and specific vocabulary. You'd think it was a book written during lockdown... only it was published in January 2019, a whole year before the pandemic started. I still can't wrap my head around it, how closely someone can predict so many little details in human behavior. (I wonder how many people who read this in 2019 thought they had a déjà vu.)

The writing is beautiful. For the most part, the sentences are short and simple, written in present tense. This way, you get immersed quickly and have the impression to be part of the events that are unfolding in front of your eyes. Which was brilliantly done in my opinion. On the other hand, there are passages of beautiful, whimsical descriptions and quotable sentences, too. It's a very atmospheric book with eerie, melancholic vibes.
There are quite a few characters the book follows and although you don't get to know all of them intimately, it is enough to get attached to them and root for their individual journeys. I actually got very emotional towards the end.

It's definitely not a book for people who like plot driven, action packed stories. Not much happens here. It's really more of a character study, and the ending might disappoint if you are waiting for a big twist or reveal or explanations. Instead, it raises some philosophical questions, which I personally liked. It fit the atmosphere of the story.

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todayisnot's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Read for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2023 - prompt: #BookTok recommendation.

Objectively, I can see why people would like this story. It starts off interestingly - a sleeping sickness descends on a quiet college town and you see the consequences through the eyes of a few characters as they muddle through it. It was atmospheric and reflective but by the end it just felt a little flat/repetitive and unresolved. And there were perspectives I actively disliked.

Most of the characters are very passive, which is reflective of the dream-like nature of the sickness and story. But it also made it feel like the story was dragging on and repetitive. Ultimately, there's no explanation for why the plague starts and no reason given why it ends - again, this isn't a hard science book but a little more exploration would have helped move the plot better. Finally, reading about pregnancy developments (especially essentially forced pregnancy) really squicks me out. I hate it so much. One of the dreamers is unknowingly pregnant and this is treated essentially as a blessing as the fetus develops. It's just not for me and it kept recurring - i had to forward through those parts in order to finish the book.

Content Warnings