A review by marybells
Sleeping Beauties by Owen King, Stephen King
3.0
Meh....
As a huge Stephen King fan, I was incredibly excited to read his latest publication.... that was until I actually read it. The story was flat, the characters not memorable, and to be frank, the story itself was flawed....
So here's my take on it. The overall story is about a plague where all the women of the world who fall asleep turn into cocooned mummies where they awake in an alternate reality with no men. The men, meanwhile, desperate to discover the cure to help their wives, daughters and mothers, break out into violence ending in a huge battle at a prison where one of the women there is immune to the disease. Okay...not bad for a story but here's where I had problems:
1. The Kings decided to primarily focus on the men's side of the story with their desperation in saving the women in terms of violence. Therefore the story read more like a cheap thriller rather than a horror.
2. The women's alternate reality is described almost as a utopia with very little violence since its a women's nature to be passive...despite half of the population in this alternate reality being convicted felons from a nearby prison institution. Speaking of...
3. All of the felons become pretty much upstanding citizens despite drug related issues, but illegal and legal. It's mentioned several times that to help control the prison populace, many of the women are on a form of Xanax. Without these doseages, and with a quick withdrawal in this "fantasy-like" alternate reality, you are still going to have some major emotional swings including depression and anxiety within these women.
4. The idea that the reason that women became "bad, violent, or insane" was directly due to their relationships with the men (whether they be fathers, brothers or lovers). What the f*ck? As a person who's been in a long term relationship with my husband for almost 10 years, I know for a fact that I drive him as equally insane as he does me. Also, I take full responsibility for my actions. What the hell, Kings? My problems are not due to men. They are my problems.
Ugh. I just don't know. It was almost a feminist manifesto but completely messed up on the overall message that that would entail.
I will say that the story line was very unique, I just wished that the story focused equally on the men and women. The women's alternate reality was very rarely noted despite them existing there for over a year by themselves. To make it a true horror, I would have begun the story with the women awaking there, and been haunted by "monsters". For example, buildings falling apart randomly and fires starting around the areas due to unknown causes. Eventually I would have had the women figure out that what was happening to them was due to the men's actions back in the real world when they bombed buildings etc.
Finally, what upset me most was the fact that the women had to choice all together to leave the alternate reality or stay. The men still got to make up their own minds on whether to resort to violence or just drink to death, while the women had to take the most action in forgiving the men's actions and returning to the world to make better again.
Bleh. So, if one chick really doesn't want to go back to the real world the rest must suffer? Damn. That's brutal.
Just saying, if all the men randomly disappeared, the women no doubt would be a bit less violent but I still think it would end up devolving into some weird version of the Lord of the Flies rather than a utopia. As a woman, maybe I am more harsh on my sex, but that being said I know that women are human too. And humans are flawed no matter what sex they are.
Honestly don't really recommend this story to anyone. As I said before its just off in several ways that makes it at times a bit cringey to read and hardly a horror at all. Ah well, not all books can be the best and I am still thankful to be getting to read another book by one of my favorites.
As a huge Stephen King fan, I was incredibly excited to read his latest publication.... that was until I actually read it. The story was flat, the characters not memorable, and to be frank, the story itself was flawed....
So here's my take on it. The overall story is about a plague where all the women of the world who fall asleep turn into cocooned mummies where they awake in an alternate reality with no men. The men, meanwhile, desperate to discover the cure to help their wives, daughters and mothers, break out into violence ending in a huge battle at a prison where one of the women there is immune to the disease. Okay...not bad for a story but here's where I had problems:
1. The Kings decided to primarily focus on the men's side of the story with their desperation in saving the women in terms of violence. Therefore the story read more like a cheap thriller rather than a horror.
2. The women's alternate reality is described almost as a utopia with very little violence since its a women's nature to be passive...despite half of the population in this alternate reality being convicted felons from a nearby prison institution. Speaking of...
3. All of the felons become pretty much upstanding citizens despite drug related issues, but illegal and legal. It's mentioned several times that to help control the prison populace, many of the women are on a form of Xanax. Without these doseages, and with a quick withdrawal in this "fantasy-like" alternate reality, you are still going to have some major emotional swings including depression and anxiety within these women.
4. The idea that the reason that women became "bad, violent, or insane" was directly due to their relationships with the men (whether they be fathers, brothers or lovers). What the f*ck? As a person who's been in a long term relationship with my husband for almost 10 years, I know for a fact that I drive him as equally insane as he does me. Also, I take full responsibility for my actions. What the hell, Kings? My problems are not due to men. They are my problems.
Ugh. I just don't know. It was almost a feminist manifesto but completely messed up on the overall message that that would entail.
I will say that the story line was very unique, I just wished that the story focused equally on the men and women. The women's alternate reality was very rarely noted despite them existing there for over a year by themselves. To make it a true horror, I would have begun the story with the women awaking there, and been haunted by "monsters". For example, buildings falling apart randomly and fires starting around the areas due to unknown causes. Eventually I would have had the women figure out that what was happening to them was due to the men's actions back in the real world when they bombed buildings etc.
Finally, what upset me most was the fact that the women had to choice all together to leave the alternate reality or stay. The men still got to make up their own minds on whether to resort to violence or just drink to death, while the women had to take the most action in forgiving the men's actions and returning to the world to make better again.
Bleh. So, if one chick really doesn't want to go back to the real world the rest must suffer? Damn. That's brutal.
Just saying, if all the men randomly disappeared, the women no doubt would be a bit less violent but I still think it would end up devolving into some weird version of the Lord of the Flies rather than a utopia. As a woman, maybe I am more harsh on my sex, but that being said I know that women are human too. And humans are flawed no matter what sex they are.
Honestly don't really recommend this story to anyone. As I said before its just off in several ways that makes it at times a bit cringey to read and hardly a horror at all. Ah well, not all books can be the best and I am still thankful to be getting to read another book by one of my favorites.