lunabob's review
4.0
It had such an interesting concept. I just wish that he hadn't left out so much. I feel like there are too many gaps, information is left out, and you don't get to know the whole story.
The end was interesting but I wasn't satisfied with it.
The end was interesting but I wasn't satisfied with it.
silkysullivan's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
hannah_hethmon's review against another edition
4.0
Meh. A cool concept that kept me reading, but the ending didn't make sense to me. Overall, entertaining, but not too memorable.
sblue's review
2.0
2 1/2
I read this book a lot faster than most, not because I thought it was great, but because I skimmed a number of areas. One of these was the dream scenes (probably a bad choice of books given sleep/insomnia is the subject). I have a personal dislike for dreams as part of a story, feeling that they are just nonsense filler or contrived way of explaining what is happening. I occasionally tell people about my dreams, but not to help them understand my life, just as a curiosity. Another easy area to skim was the scrambled dialogue of the insomniacs. It was a challenge to figure out what they were trying to say, but I wasn't up to it.
I enjoyed the story for the most part but wished for more. A little more exploration into the reason for the insomnia epidemic. What about the brief appearance by Maria, who could make people sleep? Chase and Jordan becoming the guys running the sleep business? There were holes in places and too much time spent in others. It was an o.k, quick read.
I read this book a lot faster than most, not because I thought it was great, but because I skimmed a number of areas. One of these was the dream scenes (probably a bad choice of books given sleep/insomnia is the subject). I have a personal dislike for dreams as part of a story, feeling that they are just nonsense filler or contrived way of explaining what is happening. I occasionally tell people about my dreams, but not to help them understand my life, just as a curiosity. Another easy area to skim was the scrambled dialogue of the insomniacs. It was a challenge to figure out what they were trying to say, but I wasn't up to it.
I enjoyed the story for the most part but wished for more. A little more exploration into the reason for the insomnia epidemic. What about the brief appearance by Maria, who could make people sleep? Chase and Jordan becoming the guys running the sleep business? There were holes in places and too much time spent in others. It was an o.k, quick read.
litwrite's review against another edition
4.0
Great premise but it really meandered far too much at the end. The writing was well done. It had a lovely dream-like quality that worked with the subject matter quite well. I loved the ideas much more than the execution, I was hoping for a stronger finish.
erndixon's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the ambiguity of some of the plot lines, and disagree that in fiction everything must be tied up neatly with a bow. While some parts were a bit too hallucinatory and long-winded, the majority was fun to read and kept me engaged.
mayajade1701's review against another edition
2.0
For the first few chapters I was really enjoying this book and the set up of the world but at about the half way point it started to get a little stale. I don't ming that it didn't have huge plot as I recognize it was really more about these characters and their specific personal journey's. But I did feel a little let down at the end. It felt like the author really thought they were /saying something/ but I just didn't get it or care to and rushed through the last few chapters so I could finish and start something else.
Also a lot of the story felt gratuitously gorey and violent, like the sheep scenes. And most of the Male characters were exhausting to read. Especially the one who is obsessed with getting a Boner.
The Q code podcast The Edge of Sleep is like the inverse of this story and much better in my opinion.
Also a lot of the story felt gratuitously gorey and violent, like the sheep scenes. And most of the Male characters were exhausting to read. Especially the one who is obsessed with getting a Boner.
The Q code podcast The Edge of Sleep is like the inverse of this story and much better in my opinion.
silea's review against another edition
2.0
The first half of this book is what i term a 'totally not a zombie novel' zombie novel. There's some mysterious affliction turning people into something other than themselves, something dangerous. No one knows the cause, people are trying to stop it, the world falls into disrepair as the majority of the population becomes useless (or dead).
But they're not zombies, no. They're still alive, they just can't sleep, and go crazy (yes, people really go crazy if deprived of sleep for long enough). Why they're prone to fits of violent rage when they see someone sleeping is never quite explained.
But then about halfway through, it turns into some sort of badly disguised literary novel, plumbing the characters' past for trauma, showing how it guides their current actions, with the whole not-zombies thing as just another background feature.
The writing was pretty good, but that plotting was odd. At times we follow through the mundanity of characters' lives, their meals and driving directions, while other times we skip weeks of their lives from one sighting to the next.
And in the end, there's no payoff. One character is just abandoned by the author and never heard from again. Another only gets a single throw-away sentence to explain their fate. Maybe it's a literary fiction thing, but there's no tie-up, no conclusion, just an ending.
In all, an interesting premise was twisted into a faux-zombie-novel, then twisted again into an exploration of the human soul, neither of which was a satisfying read.
But they're not zombies, no. They're still alive, they just can't sleep, and go crazy (yes, people really go crazy if deprived of sleep for long enough). Why they're prone to fits of violent rage when they see someone sleeping is never quite explained.
But then about halfway through, it turns into some sort of badly disguised literary novel, plumbing the characters' past for trauma, showing how it guides their current actions, with the whole not-zombies thing as just another background feature.
The writing was pretty good, but that plotting was odd. At times we follow through the mundanity of characters' lives, their meals and driving directions, while other times we skip weeks of their lives from one sighting to the next.
And in the end, there's no payoff. One character is just abandoned by the author and never heard from again. Another only gets a single throw-away sentence to explain their fate. Maybe it's a literary fiction thing, but there's no tie-up, no conclusion, just an ending.
In all, an interesting premise was twisted into a faux-zombie-novel, then twisted again into an exploration of the human soul, neither of which was a satisfying read.
hyperashley's review against another edition
3.0
Black Moon has an interesting concept, a world without sleep. It's not a world I want to live in, I mean who doesn't like sleep? Unfortunately this book couldn't hold my attention. I flew through it because of how well it was written, Kenneth Calhoun is a fantastic writer. The book easily flowed from person to person but it just wasn't a book for me.
An insomnia epidemic has struck the world, there are a few people that were some how spared by this but the reason is unknown. Matt Biggs is one of those people but his wife Carolyn is not so lucky. One day when he wakes up she is gone. He sets off on a dangerous mission to find her.
I liked all the different sides to the story. Biggs trying to find Carolyn; Lila trying to survive on her own though she is only a teenager; Chase and Jordan wanting to survive off of their stolen sleep medicine. That being said everyone was pretty much the same, they were either a sleeper or sleepless. Sleepers were those that some how were not affected by this horrible epidemic and they lived in fear of being killed by the sleepless because of this "blessing." The sleepless couldn't sleep though they desperately wanted to and they were violent towards people that were able to catch some zzz's. The sleepless were crazy, I know weeks without sleep will make anyone a little coo coo for coco puffs but these people took it to another level.
It's hard to try to imagine a world like this, or maybe I just don't want to imagine it. The part with all the maybes really made me think, what if something like this happened. A part of me would hope I would be a sleeper but always running from the sleep deprived zombies (they acted like zombies) would be horrifying. Maybe if my loved ones were also sleepers then it wouldn't be quite so bad.
At first I liked how Chase and Jordan's parts were a few weeks before the entire world was affected but after awhile it got confusing. I think I kept forgetting they were set back rather than being in present time.
I tried so hard to like this book but I spent the majority of the time confused. Sometimes it was difficult to know if a moment was happening then or if was a flashback, there were a lot of flashbacks especially with Biggs. There was a lot of times I literally said "what" when I read something. Black Moon left me with a lot of questions at the end.
"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."
For more of my reviews visit: http://www.hyperashley.com/
An insomnia epidemic has struck the world, there are a few people that were some how spared by this but the reason is unknown. Matt Biggs is one of those people but his wife Carolyn is not so lucky. One day when he wakes up she is gone. He sets off on a dangerous mission to find her.
I liked all the different sides to the story. Biggs trying to find Carolyn; Lila trying to survive on her own though she is only a teenager; Chase and Jordan wanting to survive off of their stolen sleep medicine. That being said everyone was pretty much the same, they were either a sleeper or sleepless. Sleepers were those that some how were not affected by this horrible epidemic and they lived in fear of being killed by the sleepless because of this "blessing." The sleepless couldn't sleep though they desperately wanted to and they were violent towards people that were able to catch some zzz's. The sleepless were crazy, I know weeks without sleep will make anyone a little coo coo for coco puffs but these people took it to another level.
It's hard to try to imagine a world like this, or maybe I just don't want to imagine it. The part with all the maybes really made me think, what if something like this happened. A part of me would hope I would be a sleeper but always running from the sleep deprived zombies (they acted like zombies) would be horrifying. Maybe if my loved ones were also sleepers then it wouldn't be quite so bad.
At first I liked how Chase and Jordan's parts were a few weeks before the entire world was affected but after awhile it got confusing. I think I kept forgetting they were set back rather than being in present time.
I tried so hard to like this book but I spent the majority of the time confused. Sometimes it was difficult to know if a moment was happening then or if was a flashback, there were a lot of flashbacks especially with Biggs. There was a lot of times I literally said "what" when I read something. Black Moon left me with a lot of questions at the end.
"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."
For more of my reviews visit: http://www.hyperashley.com/