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bookcheshirecat's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
“Those are not my words. In fact, I had to look up the exact quote. Like everyone else, I only knew 'I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' We tend to romanticize good quotes, and I always imagined Oppenheimer uttering those words while staring at the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. In reality, he spoke those words during an interview for an NBC documentary in 1965. He had had twenty years to think about it.”
➽ I was curious about Sleeping Giants because it's a pretty popular sci-fi! I really enjoy mixed-media books and the audiobook has a full cast, so I was excited to check it out. Sleeping Giants is about a young girl called Rose who discovers a giant metal hand. Years later, she's leading a research time to find out more about the bizarre artefacts that have been left all over the world. The body parts are supposed to make up a giant figure, but there seem to be even more secrets hiding within them! I liked the idea and the fact that the story is told in journal entries and interviews! Unfortunately, unlike other similar books (such as The Illuminae Files) I didn't enjoy Sleeping Giants, as I wasn't engaged in the story.
➽ I had such a hard time caring for any of the characters. They didn't have much depth and the interview format worked against connecting to anyone in this book. I think it would have been better to focus on Rose since she has a personal connection to the hand and reframe the story from her perspective. I also wasn't a big fan of the included forced romances, as they felt out of place. I wanted more focus on the giants and less on the romantic drama in the research team.
➽ Another big issue was that I despised the unnamed interviewer, he was always acting so smug and superior. Since 80% of the files are interviews, he showed up all the time. We never really find out who he is, so it's hard to tolerate him when he's constantly manipulating and insulting the people he interviews. I actually liked him more in the very end, as he finally loses his composure instead of being this insufferable know-it-all. I just found all the interviews so offputting, since the interviewer constantly lets you know how powerful he is and that he seemingly can solve all the problems.
➽ In general, I was just disappointed by this story. It wasn't engaging and the only hook happens in the epilogue, but still isn't enough to make me want to read the sequels. I feel like the story was all over the place with all the military operations and discussions of war I didn't care about. So much went over my head and the mystery of the giant should have been the focus. I don't think I ever understood why everyone was so obsessed with this research, the story failed to establish the personal and bigger stakes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism, Torture, Kidnapping, and War
kidalana's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
While I love books being in weird formats, I spent the whole time wondering why this story was presented like this. Any context I could imagine for all these files to exist under was often contradicted by the numbering or what was being recorded. Maybe it's worth it as an audio book?
The concept and lore are interesting but the story that holds them is poorly executed (I'm not dinging the author on referencing other big robot media, that's kind of how big robot media works). Things happen in a way that feels like the author just went 'hmm and what if...' before sitting down every day. Towards the first half/third (cannot remember exactly when) it was pretty good, but the arbitrarily raising stakes and seemingly random actions of b-villains in the later part was the unfun kind of hokey and ruined the rest of it for me.
Nothing to write home about in regards to characters, the main cast are very samey and bland. The narrator/view-point character is just kitschy (and not Rose btw ) and a touch annoying. Plus their morals and core motivations seem to change on a whim according to who knows what. I really thought they were gonna turn out to be an alien or related to the aliens but... they're not?? What?? Then why do they care so much????
It's a super quick read, which is a huge plus. If the library had the third volume on the shelf I'd probably read the others for completion's sake but it wasn't there so I'll spare myself (for now).
The concept and lore are interesting but the story that holds them is poorly executed (I'm not dinging the author on referencing other big robot media, that's kind of how big robot media works). Things happen in a way that feels like the author just went 'hmm and what if...' before sitting down every day. Towards the first half/third (cannot remember exactly when) it was pretty good, but the arbitrarily raising stakes and seemingly random actions of b-villains in the later part was the unfun kind of hokey and ruined the rest of it for me.
Nothing to write home about in regards to characters, the main cast are very samey and bland. The narrator/view-point character is just kitschy (
It's a super quick read, which is a huge plus. If the library had the third volume on the shelf I'd probably read the others for completion's sake but it wasn't there so I'll spare myself (for now).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Medical trauma
Minor: Car accident and Deportation
maxierosalee's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Hovering around 3.75-4 stars.
This was a book where my star rating went up the more as I read the book. It started as a pretty "meh" 3 out of 5, but the score had risen by the time I reached the end.
It had an intriguing premise: a mysterious, giant hand is uncovered by a young girl in her backyard. As the years go on, the journey to find the other parts of whatever enormous robotic body it belonged to unfolds, along with the mission to find out what exactly it is and what it does. But it wasn't just the premise that caught my interest: the format did as well. Instead of traditional narrative prose, the book is told in epistolary format. It uses the form of documents and transcripts, but mostly interviews between characters to tell the story. For me, the epistolary format is a bit of a mixed bag. It can be a very intriguing way to tell a story and give it a certain kind of tone/atmosphere...but it's a common shortcoming that due to their nature, epistolary novels often suffer from a very bad case of "telling, not showing." I've read books in this format that were just exposition dump after exposition dump, and it gets to be a drag to read.
This one was a pretty engaging read. I was pretty invested in the plot. I wanted to read on as the characters worked to untangle the mystery of the giant robotic hand and see what would happen. Also, with the interview format, I found the characters decently captivating, and the author did a good job giving the main characters their voices and showcasing their personality through their words only, which I consider pretty hard to do since you can't use described action to show what these characters are like. Certain developments in the plot got me hooked enough to want to keep going and events happening to characters took me for a surprise.
I have some complaints with the book: it does sort of fall into the exposition dump from time to time, but it is by no means bad, in my viewpoint. It also suffers from a common epistolary problem in that sometimes, characters say things in supposed "interviews" that don't sound natural, since you're supposed to believe that the characters are saying this out loud in a conversation (I cannot imagine anyone saying with any kind of natural tone a sentence like "he had leathery-esque skin" out loud to someone else). A big plot complaint is, without any spoilers, how we get the "explanation" for the giant robot body parts. It seemed to come absolutely out of nowhere with no build-up, no foreshadowing, just dump a random exposition character in there.
On that last note...to be fair, this is the first in a trilogy of books, and it may be meant to be explored in the later books. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and a pretty intriguing one...
All in all, a pretty good book that's held back by some flaws, but an enjoyable read with a unique format!
This was a book where my star rating went up the more as I read the book. It started as a pretty "meh" 3 out of 5, but the score had risen by the time I reached the end.
It had an intriguing premise: a mysterious, giant hand is uncovered by a young girl in her backyard. As the years go on, the journey to find the other parts of whatever enormous robotic body it belonged to unfolds, along with the mission to find out what exactly it is and what it does. But it wasn't just the premise that caught my interest: the format did as well. Instead of traditional narrative prose, the book is told in epistolary format. It uses the form of documents and transcripts, but mostly interviews between characters to tell the story. For me, the epistolary format is a bit of a mixed bag. It can be a very intriguing way to tell a story and give it a certain kind of tone/atmosphere...but it's a common shortcoming that due to their nature, epistolary novels often suffer from a very bad case of "telling, not showing." I've read books in this format that were just exposition dump after exposition dump, and it gets to be a drag to read.
This one was a pretty engaging read. I was pretty invested in the plot. I wanted to read on as the characters worked to untangle the mystery of the giant robotic hand and see what would happen. Also, with the interview format, I found the characters decently captivating, and the author did a good job giving the main characters their voices and showcasing their personality through their words only, which I consider pretty hard to do since you can't use described action to show what these characters are like. Certain developments in the plot got me hooked enough to want to keep going and events happening to characters took me for a surprise.
I have some complaints with the book: it does sort of fall into the exposition dump from time to time, but it is by no means bad, in my viewpoint. It also suffers from a common epistolary problem in that sometimes, characters say things in supposed "interviews" that don't sound natural, since you're supposed to believe that the characters are saying this out loud in a conversation (I cannot imagine anyone saying with any kind of natural tone a sentence like "he had leathery-esque skin" out loud to someone else). A big plot complaint is, without any spoilers, how we get the "explanation" for the giant robot body parts. It seemed to come absolutely out of nowhere with no build-up, no foreshadowing, just dump a random exposition character in there.
On that last note...to be fair, this is the first in a trilogy of books, and it may be meant to be explored in the later books. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and a pretty intriguing one...
All in all, a pretty good book that's held back by some flaws, but an enjoyable read with a unique format!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Medical trauma, and War
Minor: Deportation
The body horror might seem like a weird one, but there's honestly a part that counts as body horror to me and gave me the slightest feeling of squick. One of the charactersd_ho16's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
It took me a while to settle into the interview format, but once it clicked for me it was smooth sailing the entire time. This book is a great first entry in a trilogy - while some details are definitely (purposefully) missing it sets up for a continuation really well, and I am very excited to read the rest of the trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and War
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.25
Finished reading: September 7th 2023
“I was smart enough to know it was wrong, but not brave enough to stop them.”
It's true that I don't usually read a lot of sci-fi, and especially when there are aliens involved... But there was something about Sleeping Giants that made me curious ever since it was first published back in 2016. I guess my TBR jar thought it was time I finally gave this first book of a trilogy a chance, and I'm very glad this title popped up now. Why? I have to say that I was very much impressed by Sleeping Giants! There was just something about this story that was both addictive and able to make you feel humble at the same time. The fact that you don't exactly know what is going on only adds to the suspense, and it was absolutely fascinating learning more about what was being discovered. The writing style itself stands out as it is told through interviews, diaries and other files, but somehow the story was still very readable. It makes you wonder what would happen if such a discovery would be made in real life, and how the people involved would react... The different characters involved added humanity to the story and while I could have done without the love triangle, in general I enjoyed learning more about them. And after how things ended, I also can't wait to pick up the sequel to see what will happen next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Genocide, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
vickybuka's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Good story. Sometimes events were just too convenient.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Medical content
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Violence
Minor: Genocide, Gun violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
surprisebear's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Listening to this as an audiobook was super cool, it's a fun premise that is really interesting and engaging. I just really enjoyed myself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism and Gun violence
ireadinbed's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Honestly the shadowy figure made this book for me. I liked the way all threads lead back to them.
Unfortunately i dont think it lived up to the premise. Like it was fun dont get me wrong, but the characters really feel flat, and the Ebook is not formatted particularly well.
The pitch was whimsical but thw execution lacks that wonder
Unfortunately i dont think it lived up to the premise. Like it was fun dont get me wrong, but the characters really feel flat, and the Ebook is not formatted particularly well.
The pitch was whimsical but thw execution lacks that wonder
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Medical trauma
jojo_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia