I will be honest - I almost dnf this book because I absolutely could not figure out what was going on, I thought sentences were missing. I thought parts of the story had strayed. But I decided to tough it out and then I realized that the book was written as a series of letters with several quirkily intentional literary devices. At one point in the book the author writes, "It is as Chekhov says, always delete the ending." The letters have been rescued and there may be rips, tears, or missing pages, There is a poorly translated transcript of a phone recording. And behind it all are the stories: the hotelier Isabella, who seems to ignore Evelyn, while shamelessly flirting with Richard. The origin story of of Evelyn and Richard. And the almost mythic story of the sleepwalking couple, a story woven throughout the book. The atmospheric setting of a stormy Greek island adds to the mysterious, almost Hickock-like feel of the story.

While I am glad that I finished this, I had to work hard to understand what was going on and felt like I was back in college lit classes. I applaud the author for experimenting with different literary elements and format.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance reader's copy.

The Sleepwalkers, by Scarlett Thomas

Short Take: I thought this would be so much better.

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

I don’t know about all of you, but I am really tired of weather that fluctuates by 40-50 degrees in the space of just a day or two. Can we go back to the days of having one season at a time? Between the crazy temperature bounces and getting volunteered to host Easter dinner, this week has me feeling all kinds of unsettled. Kind of like our main characters this week.

Evelyn and Richard are a fairy tale romance come to life. She was the family’s maid, and he fell in love with her, supporting her as she embarked on a glamorous career of writing and producing her own stage and television shows.

Or maybe not. During their wedding, a guest let slip a piece of the darkest, ugliest secret both of them were holding. But now they are on a beautiful island in Greece for a dream honeymoon. Well… except for the gorgeous hotel owner who can’t keep her eyes or hands off of Richard, and the impending storm that will likely keep them trapped on the island for longer than they’d like, and the other honeymoon couple who’d stayed there the year before and died tragically.

It’s a lot for any couple to deal with. As they are pulled apart, they write letters to each other in a last attempt to reconnect and explain their sides, before it’s too late.

Duckies, this book consists of Evelyn and Richard’s letters, some notes from the tragic dead couple, and a transcription of an audio recording. Have I ever mentioned how much I love me some epistolary format? Because I really, really do. It’s like found footage, but for books. I remember being blown away as a wee nerdling when I read Dracula for the first time, how much more immediate the story felt, as the characters told it in their own words.

So I’m sorry to say that the format just didn’t work in this book. There are only a few letters, and they are 60-80 pages long each. Who writes a letter that long?? It reminded me of the beach house episode of Friends, when Ross couldn’t stay awake long enough to read all of Rachel’s letter, and ended up agreeing to something he most emphatically disagreed with. And Joey passed out and ended up in a mermaid sand sculpture, and there was this jellyfish…

Sorry, I wandered off-track. But the point is, what kind of idiot, in the middle of an incoming hurricane and facing a lot of dark truths and possible physical threats, would pause and say, you know what I should do? I should write a letter to my husband, detailing our relationship over scores of pages. I’m sure this is the perfect time to remind him of what I was wearing on this day, or what we ate on that one.

And her idiot husband does THE SAME DAMN THING. Calling these letters a slog is an insult to slogs. But I was determined to power through, even as the aforementioned correspondence would cut off just as something important was about to be revealed. (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that some pages were lost in the story). So what ends up happening is that we get roughly 70% of the important information we need to put it all together, and a million pages of extraneous, meaningless details. Ok, maybe not a million, but it sure felt like it at times.

I get the feeling that the author was going for some sort of Gone Girl-esque switcheroo, giving us one side of the story for the first third, and then flipping the script, but the script never really flipped. Both Evelyn and Richard are boring and completely self-centered and utterly exhausting. Neither one of them seems overly invested in much of anything, other than the sound of their own voice. And after all that? Thanks to the missing pages, the whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense.

On the plus side, it’s not a terribly long book, and the setting is fairly cool.

The Nerd’s Rating: TWO HAPPY NEURONS (and some limoncello, it wasn’t mentioned by name, but I know it when I see it.)

There wasn't much about this book that I liked. I certainly couldn't recommend it to anyone. It is about a newly married couple who hate each other. Death hangs heavy throughout the book, and the author includes gory descriptions of animals dismembering each other and frequently describes colors in terms of blood or rotting meat. Someone will end up dead by the end of the book, but we aren't sure who it will be. Much of the story is told in the form of letters collected, torn apart, and burned. The letters were annoyingly long. The prose had significant gaps; single sentences dropped on the page without context. A quasi-mystery surfaced that left me confused. It was not for me.

“So often true beauty is made from simple words…”

Honestly, I am struggling to determine how I feel about this book. I enjoyed the twists, turns, and overall reading experience, however, I also am left feeling confused and a bit underwhelmed. I’m not sure if the intent is for the reader to feel like they were on a complete whirlwind and still don’t know who or what to believe in the end; or if I was supposed to have grasped a concept that I just flat out missed.

Plot Thoughts: What really sold me on reading this book was the fact that it was compared to “The White Lotus” - I LOVED that show. It’s a mysterious island resort with a variety of people involved and an unsolved death; but IMO that’s where the similarities end. This isn’t a bad thing, I just had a bit of a different mindset going in; thinking we would be following multiple families living the bougie lifestyle & how they all end up intertwining.

The story is told through letters and transcripts; I love a variety of formatting, however, I struggled a bit with this. The “letters” were long - sometimes 100+ pages, so it felt a bit like a run-on stream of consciousness. (Ex. The FMC letter was from 0-43% before we got anything from anyone else). Sometimes the letters were cut short before switching to another letter/POV, and while at first I thought this might have been an error due to reading an eARC, after a handful of times I realized it was intentional. Unfortunately, it provided a bit of a jarring reading experience.

Character Thoughts: All of these characters were so unlikeable - which actually worked really well for this type of story. I was intrigued by the FMC and MMC stories & secrets, however, I wished the side characters had been developed more so I could’ve better understood the twist & ending. But perhaps the reader is meant to feel like “what the heck just happened” after the last 20% is read.

👍🏻Overall, I would recommend as I think it’s an intriguing, worth it read; however, I don’t think it will be everyone’s cup of tea. It was a quick read, and after that ending I almost want to go back and reread it to see if I can pick up more clues the next time after knowing how it ends. So, despite a bit of a harsh review, I still liked it and would consider rereading to see if it “clicks” for me better next time!

Thank you @simonbooks #simonbooksbuddy for the free eARC!

3.75 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

Let me start off this review by saying, you are not reading a novel that has been misprinted. Parts of this epistolary novel will stop and start anew and you think it’s a mistake, but it’s not. I didn’t realize this until the very end, and it would have helped to know that along the way.

Evie and Richard recently married and are on their honeymoon on the Greek island of Kathos. Richard’s mother gave them the honeymoon as a gift, so they’ve not only taken two weeks to spend in an island paradise, the first part of their vacation they are spending with Richard’s best friend Paul and his girlfriend Beth.

They stay in an older, shabbier hotel for this first segment, and all seems well with Richard and Evie. But when they move to the hotel chosen by Richard’s mother Annabelle, things immediately go awry. The ‘hotel’ owner, Isabella, seems put off by Evie. Yet, she is so kind to Richard. Richard thinks Evie is being paranoid, which sets the whole time off on the wrong foot. But things get stranger from there.

As Evie documents in her letter to Richard (the first part of the novel,) she feels someone is spying on them. For one thing, the paintings in the honeymoon suite disappear after Evie states that she thinks they’re creepy. Then a note left for Richard also disappears. Time and time again Richard thinks that Evie is either imagining these things or being paranoid. But something is most definitely amiss in this hotel run by Isabella.

Without giving anything away, the novel comes together at the end, but definitely has its bumps along the way to that. It was imaginative in its format. I enjoyed the story, but at times it just went on and on.

I found the premise of this book to be so interesting and enthralling but the execution of it to fall a bit flat for me. The lack of chapter breaks as well as the switching of POVs every so often definitely served their purpose of confusing me, but I think it was a little toooooo confusing. At times I found it just a little too hard to follow and disjointed.

I also found that the 'Sleepwalkers,' the titular characters of the book were underused, and I just kind of didn't see the purpose of even including them.

I enjoyed the unreliable narration a lot, I just wish it was a little less disjointed.

Thank you @simonbooks @simonandschuster #partner for the free book!

In Sleepwalkers we follow a couple named Evelyn and Richard to a small Greek island for their honeymoon. Their wedding didn’t go as planned but they are determined to make the best of their honeymoon no matter what. It’s that time of the year though and a storm is almost guaranteed. Evelyn also doesn’t love that when she looks around everyone seems to be perfect and attractive that leaves her feeling jealous and insecure. She immediately becomes concerned that the hotels owner Isabella has eyes for her husband and becomes increasingly on high alert. The odd thing is though after they check in they learn of another couple who recently died after sleepwalking into the Mediterranean. All the guests seem to be enamored by this story talking about it nonstop. As the storm rages Evelyn and Richard face their pasts and what has led their relationship to where it is today.

Thoughts: This book is very quirky filled with a unique cast of characters. I really enjoyed the setting and ominous sense of dread in this one. Being stuck somewhere in a storm is very much my jam. I also liked that it was told in a series of letters and photos. I did have a hard time overall however with the characters in this one. Maybe it was my mood but I didn’t become completely invested in Evelyn and Richard because their relationship was so dysfunctional it felt more disheartening and conniving in a way that wasn’t typical in a way that I enjoyed. I encourage you to give this one a try though because I do think maybe it was my mood more than anything. I am always thankful for the opportunity to read books no matter the outcome!

The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas is a recommended epistolary novel that eventually becomes a mystery.

In the opening lengthy letter Evelyn (Evie) is writing to Richard, her new husband. The two are on their honeymoon on a Greek island and staying at the Villa Rosa, which Richard's mother booked for them. Isabella, the hotel's owner makes it obvious she plays up to Richards and actively despises Evie. It also seems clear that Evie and Richard dislike each other and there are weird things going on at the hotel.

The narrative opens through a very lengthy letter written by Evie to Richard. It is at this point many readers are going to realize that the novel seems populated by unlikable characters and that they will have to suspend disbelief because the letter is so very, very, extremely lengthy. Also trying of my patience were the sudden gaps in the flow of the letter. Richard eventually gets to reply to Evie with a letter of his own along with various other notes, audio transcripts, and letters.

Normally I tend to like epistolary novels, but that is when the letters are actually the length of normal letters or even long emails or text messages. I appreciate the interplay between them to build a plot and different points-of-view. I also like it when the voice of the various characters are distinctive rather than all in the same dialect and tone. The writing is very descriptive but it is also similar in every piece of writing. I struggled along to the end where there are some twists and some closure but also open questions. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advance reader's copy via . My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published onEdelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

This is a strange and uniquely written story about a newly wed couple, Evelyn and Richard, on their honeymoon at the Vila Rosa on a Greek island. The vibe of the story immediately makes the reader feel that something isn’t right between the couple, or the people at Vila Rosa. The entire book is written as letters, which adds to the peculiar vibes and suspense. Troubled pasts for both Richard and Evelyn resurface in their own words, written to one another, that intertwine to create the depth of this story that challenges the reader. With a storm on the horizon, the local’s fascination with the death of the “sleepwalkers”, and the unsettling moments experienced by Evelyn at Vila Rosa, you won’t believe how this story plays out..

2.5 stars rounded up!

The Sleepwalkers is the story of newlyweds on their honeymoon. When they go to Greece and stay at a villa where two people have died the year before. When things start getting weird, the couple starts fighting a lot and things start quickly going down hill.

This book had a very interesting premise and setup. I do love the idea of the book told in a series of letters. I also love the setting of the island. Who doesn’t love a vacation gone bad?

I do appreciate a unique format but this one didn’t work for me. I felt the letters to be way too drug on and wordy. The characters were insufferable to me and I did not like reading from anyones point of view. I was also confused throughout. I’m not sure if the arc was wrong or what but some of the pages seemed to end randomly and things were in the wrong spot on the page. That could possibly be the arc and the final will fix that issue. I also don’t like when there are no chapters and instead everyone runs together.

I’m giving this book extra points for the unique format and the setting. However, the story itself didn’t work for me. Thanks so much to netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Who did what? Who knew what and when? Who is the unknown leader controlling everything? The questions left unanswered made the story less enjoyable for me, hence the 3 star rating. If you don’t need all your questions answered, this story has plenty to keep you entertained.

This book was written in a way that was kind of hard to follow and get into. There are some humorous bouts along the way but overall I don't think I cared for this one..

First and foremost, this is much more literary fiction than thriller. I feel that is extremely important to know going into this. What works for me in lit fic doesn’t work for me in thrillers. The epistolary format is interesting, as the entire book is written in letters. I found some things frustrating because sometimes the letter would just drop off, and I don’t know if that was intentional or an ebook formatting issue.

There are no chapters. Maybe this is why it felt like it took twice as long for me to read. There are breaks in dates and povs in the letters, and they could be very confusing to me. It’s never overtly stated who is writing, and I found it hard to follow some of the time.

With all this said, I do believe this is a great book. The way in which this is written leaves the reader completely unnerved. Everyone seems unreliable, there are so many weird interactions, and the characters aren’t likeable, at least in my opinion. This is a unique book that I haven’t quite come across before.

So if you’re in the mood for a unique format with unlikeable and unreliable characters, that will leave you in a state of shock when you’re finished, this is the book for you. I’m just going to go ahead and give this 5 stars for the complete mind f- this did to me.

A captivating story told in an interesting way. The plot unfolds through a series of letters and notes that trace one couple on their ill-fated honeymoon during a storm in a charming hotel in Greece where one year early, a couple sleptwalked to their death.

It’s a wild ride that I won’t spoil by saying too much. Just know, the vibes are excellent and you won’t see where this is going. The device of the letters did get a little confusing in parts, but I was utterly swept up in this story and loved every second.

What in the world did I just read? The concept was so promising and I was super intrigued, but the execution was sloppy and confusing. Both characters were awful humans who hated each other and I found myself caring less and less about them and the story.

Thanks to S&S and NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This kind of book is right up my alley; I love when there are "found objects" which make up the meat of the narrative and make me sort of piece together the plot. This one could have been a leeeetle more cohesive for my taste, but ultimately I was satisfied with how it ended up.

Through a series of letters and journal entries, we experience the honeymoon (If it can be called that?) of Richard and Evelyn. The first week is a pre-honeymoon, at a different hotel, with their friends, Richard's best friend and his girlfriend-of-the-moment. Those two peel off, then Richard and Evie move to another hotel, this one ostensibly classier, arranged and paid by Richard's well-heeled mother (it's eventually made clear that Evie and Richard met while she was the housekeeper for his posh family, and eventually more details come to light surrounding that). But immediately, the vibes are off: they drag their suitcases around the corner in the hot sun. The beach sand is dirty and gritty. The owner of the new hotel is rude to Evelyn, but defers to Richard, and Evelyn is made to feel as if she is imagining this. It's the end of the season, and storms are coming, and everyone in the little Greek town where they are staying is obsessed with the story of the married couple who drowned last year when the husband supposedly sleepwalked down to the ocean and the wife followed him in.

All this is conveyed in a long letter from Evie to Richard, which ends rather abruptly, and then we switch to another form of information sharing, another POV, then another. The story, as it builds, becomes more and more sensational. How believable it is depends on your worldview, really: it encompasses public performance, date rape, coercion, human trafficking, dark academia (briefly!), blackmail - not your everyday occurrences, sure, but they most likely happen more than we are aware, right?

If you are a reader who needs a story to be very concrete and final, with the solution very clear, this may not be for you (I am usually this sort of reader, but Thomas' writing is so good that I didn't mind the nebulousness of the plot, the ending). I, for one, am going to go investigate other Scarlett Thomas books, because she is one hell of a writer. Highly recommend.

For some reason I thought this was going to be a thriller (it's pitched as Patricia Highsmith/White Lotus.)

I think the comparison to White Lotus is fair. The book is very atmospheric and vibe-y but I don't think the languid pace is going to work well for fans of fast-paced thrillers. I don't think "life is a mystery" or "people are an enigma" are going to hold the interest of that kind of reader. I used to be that reader, but my attention span got WAY shorter over the years.

If you enjoy books that are unique and vibe-y without a super-strong plot, read a few pages and see if The Sleepwalkers is for you!

For me this was a 3.5-3.75 read and I wish Netgalley/Goodreads would let us have half stars!

The Sleepwalkers is a book of unlikable but darkly humorous characters some of them are so awful they did make me laugh (Isabella I am looking at you), and I think this was the author’s intention.
The story of the Sleepwalkers entwined with the story of Evie and Richard is a twisty and interesting one, it is tragic and pessimistic but entertaining to read.
I didn’t mind the way the story was written as it did all come together in the end. The letters and almost unreadable transcript (which made some sense once I grasped the way the software had translated it) all added to the chaos of the story.

I really enjoyed this! Fair warning: this story feels a bit experimental. The story is told through documents, mostly letters, with some pieces missing. Mostly told from the wife Evelyn's perspective, but some POV From the husband and others as well.

I really liked how this story played with form, making you question what really happened, how perception changes the truth, how the storyteller of a story changes perception, etc. It was cool and I liked it, especially the wife's letter and distinct character voice. Reminds me of White Lotus with a ridiculous vacation gone wrong situation.

Thank you to the publishing for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Featured in this reading vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLfWvoxbXM

Thank you NetGallery!

This book was hard to follow, I know sometimes ARCs formations are a little messed up. But I was just confused with all the letters.