"The Sleepwalkers” masterfully combines elements of romance, suspense, and psychological drama. It's a gripping tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat, revealing how love and honesty can be the most powerful tools against fear and deception.

This book is for anyone who loves a thrilling story set against a picturesque backdrop with complex characters and unexpected twists.

As a long-time fan of Scarlett Thomas since PopCo, I found The Sleepwalkers to be a darker, more mature novel. Set against the backdrop of a seemingly idyllic Greek beach vacation, the story follows newlyweds Evelyn and Richard as they uncover sinister secrets about each other and their surroundings. The contrast between the sunny resort and the noir plot, including the mysterious deaths of the previous guests, creates a chilling atmosphere that kept me turning the page.

I unfortunately found the main character insufferable and gave up in the 3rd chapter. I was so excited as I loved the show The White Lotus and was looking forward to the drama.

I really enjoyed The End of Mr Y and PopCo when I read them long ago and was excited to try another Scarlett Thomas book. I thought the premise of The Sleepwalkers sounded really interesting. Unfortunately the execution isn’t working for me and I decided to DNF. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

This book started strong with some really interesting and compelling characters, but it quickly fell apart for me. I found it slightly more absurd than I like my sci-fi/thrillers to be, and I just couldn't stop pulling at threads that broke open the entire premise.

Weddings and honeymoons are supposed to be some of the happiest, most romantic times in a person's life. But suspense authors know they are rife with opportunities for betrayal, heartbreak, and death. British author Scarlett Thomas’s latest book, The Sleepwalkers, turns an idyllic honeymoon into a deadly nightmare. If you dream of a vacation in the Greek Isles, don’t read this book!

The Sleepwalkers harkens back to the very beginning of fiction, formatting the story in the form of letters. Bride Evelyn kicks off the story, writing a goodbye letter to her husband Richard while he sleeps. What could go so wrong on a honeymoon that the bride wants to leave? According to Evelyn, the problems all started when the couple set foot in their hotel, Villa Rosa, especially chosen by Richard’s mother for this week only, forcing Evelyn to turn down an acting job. The hotel’s proprietress, Isabella, only has eyes for Richard and treats Evelyn scornfully. Rather than defending his wife, Richard takes Isabella’s side. Since Richard and Evelyn originally met when she worked as his family’s housekeeper, the slight is especially galling. Isabella enthralls Richard with the story of the Sleepwalkers, a married couple who drowned while sleepwalking. As a storm brews, Evelyn tries to make her escape. But as her letter grows longer, it becomes obvious that the couple’s problems began long before their honeymoon started. Eventually, we get a letter from Richard and his side of the story, which doesn’t do him any favors. Then the letters themselves become part of the plot, and there’s a surprising twist and a time jump.

The Sleepwalkers is being compared to the HBO series The White Lotus as written by Patricia Highsmith. Unlike The White Lotus, I doubt readers would want to visit the Villa Rosa, and Thomas’s descriptions of the Greek Isle don’t do the locale any favors, either. Several times, Thomas references the Edward Albee play The Zoo Story (Evelyn is an actress and playwright), but I think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is the more apt comparison, with its hateful married couple and the games they play at the center of the action. Neither Richard nor Evelyn is particularly likeable, but the mysteries that Thomas weaves in, and her haunting way of telling the story, keep readers engaged even though her characters aren’t easy to root for.

While its plot might feel familiar for readers who enjoy domestic suspense, Thomas’s stream-of-consciousness writing style and the languid atmosphere of her setting make the story unique. While The White Lotus comparison didn’t work for me—Villa Rosa hardly provided the luxury of those resorts—The Sleepwalkers is highly visual and might also find itself streaming on the small screen someday.

I started this and put it down - I did end up finishing and it was confusing in places but a compelling story. A honeymoon gone wrong, Greece, go!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster as well as the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#NetGalley #Simon&Schuster #TheSleepwalkers #ScarlettThomas

Title: The Sleepwalkers
Author: Scarlett Thomas
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 9, 2024
Themes: family, mystery, humans as monsters, marital relationships, vacation horror,
Trigger Warnings: Adultery. Sexual assault, pedophilia, human traffiking
This was a tough one at times. It was a good idea but the execution left something to be desired. “Sleepwalkers” is a collection of letters between newlyweds. Through their letters to each other, written during their honeymoon in an awful hotel on a Greek island, we are privy to their already failing relationship…and a mystery ensues.

Right from the beginning, this story had trouble coming together. The letters of Evelyn were very wordy and a little ridiculous. Through the letters, we learn that Evelyn and Richard have had a very unusual honeymoon. During the first half of the trip, the couple was joined by Richard’s best friend and his girlfriend. The strangeness only increases as Evelyn and Richard arrive at the second hotel to spend some alone time. The woman in charge of their new accomodations exhibits very odd behavior. She treats Evelyn rudely and Richard like a prince. Richard clearly likes it. A mystery starts to appear slowly and strangely. The disjointed way the story was presented was distracting for me. I can see a good story in the narrative but it’s buried under its presentation. In addition to the choppy pacing, the characters were difficult for me to like or care about. This couple hates each other and it shows. Sometimes, that’s fun but in the case of this unusual book, I can’t say that it worked for me. The whole thing was too long and had too little at stake. This was disappointing to me as I really love Scarlett Thomas’ writing style and her ideas are creative. This one just didn’t work for me. I’m sure the next one will.

A gothic story on a Greek island? Yes, please! This was very unique. I binged it and couldn’t put it down.

I DNF'd at 48%. I tried reading the ebook twice from the beginning & could not get into it. I tried listening ti the audiobook it still struggled. It just seemed to drag & I had no idea what was even going on after 3 attempts.

Rating this was hard because did I enjoy this book? Not really… but only because of the subjects and the characters. I had hope for a crazy twist or something juicy to happen, especially with the island setting and impending storm which usually equals drama (gave me major Lucy Foley vibes)

Unfortunately, this only got worse! WTF is up with these characters???? Clearly the author can write but this book in particular was just too f$&%ed up to rate highly. Everyone and everything about this was ICK!

I can tell the author was going for disturbing* and unlikeable characters but this was a stretch

*Beware of extremely sexually vulgar topics and descriptions (porn, pedophilia, incest) there are lots of awful triggers in this one.

Thank you #netgalley and @simonbooks for my gifted e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

The style and set up is definitely different than the other books I had read this year so far. It reminded me Janice Hallett books where you get the story through materials presented to someone: make your conclusions and fill your own gaps. It leaves a lot to your imagination and let you choose your own adventure

Richard and Evie went to this Greek island for their honeymoon. Everything started as it should be until they moved to the hotel chosen by Richard's mother. The owner of the hotel was not the kind you would expect to see in hospitality business. She was perfectly attentive to men, but women, especially Evie, not so much! As days go by Evie started to feel more and more annoyed by Isabella's actions and her husband's nonchalance. When Isabella started to talk about the sleepwalkers who walked in to the sea, Evie got even more sensitive

A wild whodunnit with implications stretching into some unsavory groups and actions. Next time you are on vacation, be on the look out for people who are extremely beautiful but look out of place. Maybe you can help someone out of a hairy situation

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for letting me read this one early. This one is out now!

I didn't like these characters which made me hate the book. For me, it was like hanging out with people you don't enjoy and I never wanted to pick up this book. For that reason, I don't recommend this one.

Well this was an interesting one. I was invested because I wanted to know exactly what was going on but I didn't really enjoy the any characters. I couldn't believe this couple was on their honeymoon acting like they hated each other. But I found out why. The twists were more drama more than thriller but yes they were shocking! I definitely yelled at the book because of that. Overall a solid and strange read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an eARC of The Sleepwalkers in exchange for my honest review!

I tried to vibe with this book, I really did, but it simply leaves me in a bleh state by the end of it. I can appreciate Scarlett Thomas's ambition in creating this enigmatic tale that forces us to piece everything together for ourselves via letters, diary entries, a recording transcript, and lists of photos. It's an intriguing format choice for sure, but it ends up just making things more frustrating as I attempt to dive into the story, as I follow characters of varying unlikability, as the atmosphere admittedly builds up in a claustrophobic and enthralling fashion and yet fails to compensate for my disconnection with the narrative. The abrupt and open-ended conclusion doesn't help matters, even though I understand that it's a purposeful decision.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Sleepwalkers 2.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to 2 stars on Goodreads. Again, I wish I could have had a better time with this, but oh well, at least I gave it a try.

Evelyn and Richard spend their honeymoon on a Greek Island for a two-week period. The second week, they check-in to a special villa, owned and operated by the beautiful and mysterious Isabella. Right away, Isabella has eyes for Richard and acts as if Evelyn is not there. Richard and Isabella both gaslight Evelyn into thinking she's imagining things and losing personal items. A storm hits the island and unleashes feelings and secrets that no one can escape.

I really wanted to like this book, hence why I waited a few days to write my review. I had some issues following the plot and the excerpts, but I am not sure if the issue was the formatting on the digital copy or if that's just how the book was written (it was written in letter format). I liked that this was fast paced and sometimes comical, but I honestly still don't really know what happened.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Scarlett Thomas and NetGalley for the ARC.

Scarlett Thomas' "The Sleepwalkers" isn't for the faint of heart. It's a plunge into a swirling vortex of secrets, unreliable narrators, and a fractured timeline that will leave you questioning everything you think you know. But here's the beauty of it: the very confusion the story evokes is exactly what makes it so brilliant.

From the very first page, Thomas throws you headfirst into the disarrayed world of Evelyn and Richard, a honeymooning couple on a storm-battered Greek island. Their fractured relationship and cryptic conversations hint at dark secrets lurking beneath the surface. As the narrative unfolds through a combination of present-day narration and Richard's unsettling letters, the line between truth and deception blurs. You'll find yourself echoing the sentiment of the character Marcus, who pleads, "You gotta make it clearer what actually happened."

Yes, the jumping timeline and fragmented storytelling can be off-putting at first. The letter format, riddled with Richard's cryptic confessions, adds another layer of disorientation. But trust me, this is all part of Thomas' masterful plan. As the pieces of the puzzle slowly fall into place, the fragmented narrative becomes a reflection of the fractured relationship at its core. The confusion you experience as a reader mirrors the confusion Evelyn grapples with throughout the story.

By the end of "The Sleepwalkers," the fragmented nature of the story transforms from a hurdle into a revelation. It becomes clear that Thomas wasn't aiming for a straightforward narrative; she was crafting an experience. The disorientation you felt throughout the story becomes a powerful tool, allowing you to viscerally understand the emotional turmoil of the characters.

"The Sleepwalkers" is a bold and daring novel that demands your full attention. It's not a comfortable read, but it's a rewarding one. If you're looking for a story that will stay with you long after you turn the final page, then this is a must-read.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for allowing me to read and review.

I enjoyed this. 3.5 stars

The story was a mixture of genres. It balanced quiet and introspective moments with thrilling, action-packed sequences.

I enjoyed the stylistic choices made by the author. The story read like a screenplay at times, and like hazy stream-of-consciousness at others. The characters were deplorable, and the author didn't shy away from that, but her chosen perspectives really enhanced that experience.

I have one criticism, and it's that the story gets too complicated at the end. The reasons behind everything were too 'big' for the rest of the story, and ended up feeling rushed and messy.

Total White Lotus vibes here, minus the plushy resort and Tanya’s charm 🐚

This sharp, dark novel is about honeymooners in Greece, with secrets of their own, who learn of a couple who died when one chased the other who was sleepwalking into the sea. It’s told through a unique structure that totally worked for me, setting the wife’s version of events against the husband’s, and comparing the dead sleepwalkers’ tale to the young honeymooners’. Some of the story is told through partially destroyed letters, which was particularly confusing in the kindle version. The more I read the more I wondered if the honeymooners actually were the sleepwalkers?

So interested in discussing this with other readers - the reviews on Goodreads are all over the place!

I really enjoyed so much about this book. It was very evocative. The author really created this claustrophobic, paranoid atmosphere, and the vibes were very unsettling. I liked how mysterious it was, I liked the setting and was really curious to keep reading and see where it would go. The characters were compelling and the twists and turns kept my guessing. Unfortunately, the ending kind of ruined it for me because it was so unclear! I'm not sure if I just didn't get it, but the questions weren't answered, and the plot wasn't really tied up in a satisfying way. I don't need things to be tied up with a bow, but it felt a little like the author gave up at the end. Ultimately I loved the vibes and how unique this was but I wish the ending had been more clear and satisfying.