Scan barcode
A review by esotericreason
The Edge of Sleep by Willie Block, Jake Emanuel
3.0
3.5 Stars, rounded down - TLDR below.
In the midst of my Battle of the Books stupor, I have consumed so far two books that have pushed my definition of "marketable literature" off of a cliff, discarding any hope I have for contemporary works in the carnage of their young-adult havoc. In an attempt to allow my spirits to heal or perhaps just to feel something once more, I picked up what was seemingly quite the compelling thriller from the bookstore, and sat down with a lovely cup of coffee in hopes of pulling my cold, dead, writhing body from the depths of YA dystopian hell. Amongst having quite the lovely cover, this novel is unique down to the core structure of its existence - I have never once encountered a novel that was a portrait of collaborative spirit from not two, but three different young men. With high hopes, I phoned my adoring partner and invited him to join me in cleaning up the rubble of my enjoyment. Together, we began reading The Edge of Sleep.
I began and started this novel with the same expression on my face - Shocked, quite disappointed, and once again insurmountably disheartened. This novel is in third person present tense; often not a great sign for novels written with a compelling narrative. The prose is, in all honesty, quite far from the dictionary definition of "prose" whatsoever, with dull imagery and shallow metaphors that, even after extraneous pondering and many cerebral headaches, could not be explored deeper than the surface level meanings that they provided. The time period of the novel is contemporary, and shockingly so, with mentions of modern-day social media and other various terms, such as "influencer" being common sights throughout the manuscript. Although this is not inherently an issue, their presence did seem to remove a minute sense of formality throughout the narrative. Characters would often describe things as "TikTok worthy", which, although I suppose is adequate for the scenario if you are under the age of 18, seems nonchalant and often inappropriate for the circumstance it is often used in.
The characters, although majorly compelling and relatable, fell short in the spots that they needed to shine the hardest. Dialogue felt stiff, and at times felt nearly impossible - interactions seemed to be based off a sheet that the authors had written for each character, discarding any and all interpersonal or outward conflict. Even in times of extreme peril and catastrophe, characters discarded their own personalities in exchange for making a remark or retorting an insult that "fit inside the expenditure of their traits". This is only minutely irritating at times; however, if you value character development as I do, this might be quite annoying and unfortunately does not relent or improve as the novel goes on. There is little to no development for all of the leads, with all of them remaining horrifically static throughout the entire novel, even in moments of disastrous peril or circumstance that makes them believe that they are to lose their lives in the next moment. Throughout this, I will give credit to their authors for their striking consistency - it was difficult for me to distinguish the three authors' writing. Even though the characters were flat at times, they were thankfully incredibly consistent in their actions and never crossed the threshold of their own realm of possibility. Matteo, the lead's best friend, stays consistently humorous throughout the entire expenditure of the novel. Although this is boring at times and not inherently realistic, I admire the sense of consistent and constant genuine humility and humour he provided for the ebbing plot line.
The Edge of Sleep is originally based off of a podcast series, and this is glaringly obvious via way of "Transmissions from Earth", various sections that negate the themes of the next segment and expands the terrain of the conflict out across the world and continental Earth. These were mostly intriguing and at times were relevant to previously mentioned side characters, which tended to be a nice break from the ongoing narrative. However, when completely unrelated to the main characters or any of the side characters, these segments simply fell redundant and extraneous in nature, often even shattering my concentration on the main narrative or spoiling a mystery aspect that I had been quite elated about prior.
Overall, this novel wasn't bad. The characters were quite relatable, especially for anyone that experiences a sleep disorder in their day to day life. However, relatability unfortunately does not mitigate loss of quality, which this novel suffered the carnage of painstakingly often. I believe this is meant to be the first of a series, which makes my next comment redundant - However, the ending of this novel made a pitiful amount of sense. Any and all questions were expanded upon instead of being resolved, leading the reader into a maze that they have to traverse through blindfolded and unable to feel the endless cowering walls around them. If the reader is meant to wonder and perhaps comprehend it themselves, I find that to be quite unfortunate - lack of comprehension unfortunately yields bad writing, which leads to unfortunate twists of fate akin to the one that I experienced. This is an incredibly fast-paced read, but falls microscopically short in the last fifty pages due to the conclusion being beyond nonsensical. I sincerely believed that I was going to enjoy this novel, and for the most part, I certainly did - it was only when the authors decided to be cheeky and force the reader to believe in their own inference and guessing conscience that I decided this novel was perhaps, not enough fuel to propel me out of the reading slump hell I had been so graciously tossed into the confines of.
TLDR : A parasitic entity wants to destroy humanity, and does so by torturing and ultimately decimating people in their sleep. Although attempting to be a legendary work of science fiction and an advocate for the medicinal nightmare that is insomnia, The Edge of Sleep simply comes off as a confusing piece of media that leaves readers wondering why they had believed this work was of any substance. The characters, although bleak and nonsensical in themselves, are thankfully consistent and do have distinguishable personalities that can be read simply by way of observation. Although the imagery is shallow and the prose is nonexistent, the plot is compelling enough to allow the reader's imagination to wander just enough to suffice. If you're able to stand intriguing plots that throw themselves off of a cliff in the last eighth of the novel, go ahead and read this. You'll likely quite like it. However, if you don't fancy inconsistent plot saturation, you might find this novel not worth your time. I was almost falling asleep attempting to withstand the last portion.
In the midst of my Battle of the Books stupor, I have consumed so far two books that have pushed my definition of "marketable literature" off of a cliff, discarding any hope I have for contemporary works in the carnage of their young-adult havoc. In an attempt to allow my spirits to heal or perhaps just to feel something once more, I picked up what was seemingly quite the compelling thriller from the bookstore, and sat down with a lovely cup of coffee in hopes of pulling my cold, dead, writhing body from the depths of YA dystopian hell. Amongst having quite the lovely cover, this novel is unique down to the core structure of its existence - I have never once encountered a novel that was a portrait of collaborative spirit from not two, but three different young men. With high hopes, I phoned my adoring partner and invited him to join me in cleaning up the rubble of my enjoyment. Together, we began reading The Edge of Sleep.
I began and started this novel with the same expression on my face - Shocked, quite disappointed, and once again insurmountably disheartened. This novel is in third person present tense; often not a great sign for novels written with a compelling narrative. The prose is, in all honesty, quite far from the dictionary definition of "prose" whatsoever, with dull imagery and shallow metaphors that, even after extraneous pondering and many cerebral headaches, could not be explored deeper than the surface level meanings that they provided. The time period of the novel is contemporary, and shockingly so, with mentions of modern-day social media and other various terms, such as "influencer" being common sights throughout the manuscript. Although this is not inherently an issue, their presence did seem to remove a minute sense of formality throughout the narrative. Characters would often describe things as "TikTok worthy", which, although I suppose is adequate for the scenario if you are under the age of 18, seems nonchalant and often inappropriate for the circumstance it is often used in.
The characters, although majorly compelling and relatable, fell short in the spots that they needed to shine the hardest. Dialogue felt stiff, and at times felt nearly impossible - interactions seemed to be based off a sheet that the authors had written for each character, discarding any and all interpersonal or outward conflict. Even in times of extreme peril and catastrophe, characters discarded their own personalities in exchange for making a remark or retorting an insult that "fit inside the expenditure of their traits". This is only minutely irritating at times; however, if you value character development as I do, this might be quite annoying and unfortunately does not relent or improve as the novel goes on. There is little to no development for all of the leads, with all of them remaining horrifically static throughout the entire novel, even in moments of disastrous peril or circumstance that makes them believe that they are to lose their lives in the next moment. Throughout this, I will give credit to their authors for their striking consistency - it was difficult for me to distinguish the three authors' writing. Even though the characters were flat at times, they were thankfully incredibly consistent in their actions and never crossed the threshold of their own realm of possibility. Matteo, the lead's best friend, stays consistently humorous throughout the entire expenditure of the novel. Although this is boring at times and not inherently realistic, I admire the sense of consistent and constant genuine humility and humour he provided for the ebbing plot line.
The Edge of Sleep is originally based off of a podcast series, and this is glaringly obvious via way of "Transmissions from Earth", various sections that negate the themes of the next segment and expands the terrain of the conflict out across the world and continental Earth. These were mostly intriguing and at times were relevant to previously mentioned side characters, which tended to be a nice break from the ongoing narrative. However, when completely unrelated to the main characters or any of the side characters, these segments simply fell redundant and extraneous in nature, often even shattering my concentration on the main narrative or spoiling a mystery aspect that I had been quite elated about prior.
Overall, this novel wasn't bad. The characters were quite relatable, especially for anyone that experiences a sleep disorder in their day to day life. However, relatability unfortunately does not mitigate loss of quality, which this novel suffered the carnage of painstakingly often. I believe this is meant to be the first of a series, which makes my next comment redundant - However, the ending of this novel made a pitiful amount of sense. Any and all questions were expanded upon instead of being resolved, leading the reader into a maze that they have to traverse through blindfolded and unable to feel the endless cowering walls around them. If the reader is meant to wonder and perhaps comprehend it themselves, I find that to be quite unfortunate - lack of comprehension unfortunately yields bad writing, which leads to unfortunate twists of fate akin to the one that I experienced. This is an incredibly fast-paced read, but falls microscopically short in the last fifty pages due to the conclusion being beyond nonsensical. I sincerely believed that I was going to enjoy this novel, and for the most part, I certainly did - it was only when the authors decided to be cheeky and force the reader to believe in their own inference and guessing conscience that I decided this novel was perhaps, not enough fuel to propel me out of the reading slump hell I had been so graciously tossed into the confines of.
TLDR : A parasitic entity wants to destroy humanity, and does so by torturing and ultimately decimating people in their sleep. Although attempting to be a legendary work of science fiction and an advocate for the medicinal nightmare that is insomnia, The Edge of Sleep simply comes off as a confusing piece of media that leaves readers wondering why they had believed this work was of any substance. The characters, although bleak and nonsensical in themselves, are thankfully consistent and do have distinguishable personalities that can be read simply by way of observation. Although the imagery is shallow and the prose is nonexistent, the plot is compelling enough to allow the reader's imagination to wander just enough to suffice. If you're able to stand intriguing plots that throw themselves off of a cliff in the last eighth of the novel, go ahead and read this. You'll likely quite like it. However, if you don't fancy inconsistent plot saturation, you might find this novel not worth your time. I was almost falling asleep attempting to withstand the last portion.