I actually did not finish this book. Written in a series of letters that went on and on, I did not find it engaging. The characters did not act like newly weds and were constantly sniping at each other and tearing each other down. Isabella was also an unlikable character.

The story is good and the setting is interesting. The style of writing makes it difficult to follow the plot. It is told through letters and unseen photos. Some of the letters are not even finished. I spent most of the book unsure what was going on to the point that I lost interest. The ending made it clear but by that time I wasn't as invested.

This was a very unsettling book, in a good way. Evelyn and Richard are on what would seem like an idyllic honeymoon in Greece, but appearances can be deceiving! Not only do they have secrets and complicated family dynamics, another couple staying at their hotel died in mysterious circumstances, many years earlier. Will these mysterious deaths come back to haunt Evelyn and Richard? And what's up with the strange proprietor, who is quite friendly to Richard and just the opposite to Evelyn.

The author does a good job of going back and forth in time and slowly teasing out the story. What kept me from loving this book is that none of the characters were very likeable. As a result, I didn't care all that much what happened to them. But I'm definitely interested in reading more from Scarlett Thomas--she's a great storyteller!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Newlyweds Evelyn and Richard visit a small island in Greece for their honeymoon as arranged by the groom’s mother. They arrive at a B&B by a suspicious woman named Isabella. On the island, there is an uncanny feeling that things are not as they seem.

PROS:
- engaging plot. The beginning can be a bit difficult to parse, but stick with it
- Good twists
- Interesting experimental/modern elements

CONS:
- last chapter/ending felt a bit too heavy handed. Really felt like they were scrambling to tie up the plot
- Unlikeable characters. Not necessarily a con for me, but I know there are many people out there who need to have a character to root for. You are unlikely to find one here

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable read. If you watched season 2 of White Lotus, you may think it’s the exact same plot but it’s actually very different and much darker.

A DISTURBINGLY DELICIOUS FEAST FOR THE MIND

Evelyn is far from leading her best life. An impetuous marriage and a honeymoon in the Greek isles are the recent additions to her growing list of regrets. Ditto the accommodations at something called the Villa Rosa. The stay at the hotel a wedding gift from her husband Richard’s mother, the property is owned by Isabelle, a woman who only has eyes for the husband that Evelyn may or may not keep. Even though undecided, it’s outrageously impolite for a seducer of men to crash in on a marriage until Simon says she can. And it’s not the only thing annoying. There are Isabelle’s insane notions about how it’s safe to leave doors unlocked and okay to leave purses filled with IDs, credit cards, and money in unprotected hallways. Then there’s Isabelle insisting Evelyn keep the windows in her room open at all times. While she assures it has to do with getting fresh air, Evelyn is willing to bet its true purpose is giving her access in spying on the newlyweds when they make love. But creepy digresses into eerie when Isabelle relates a tale of two guests committing suicide by walking into the ocean—the ocean that is seen through those open windows. The story sounds fake—as fake as the person telling it—and it triggers the first vibes of fear. With a storm closing in, the impending sense of doom nears and whispers in Evelyn’s ear that the two guests were murdered … and that she and her husband are next.

This is the unsettling premise of THE SLEEPWALKERS, Scarlett Thomas’ newest novel. It lays the fertile groundwork for unpleasantries to flourish. Sometimes humorous, sometimes embarrassingly real, the flowers mingling with the vines births a landscape of beauty laced with boa constrictive fatality. This is my first-time reading Ms. Thomas, and I found myself getting caught up in both the liquidity of the language and the ferocious delivery of the message contained. The story is unraveled by a series of letters written by the newlyweds to each another. There is a decided stream of consciousness flowing above, under, and between the words. It’s my favorite kind of writing since events are not held hostage by time. Instead, events connect to emotion … emotions that may be decades apart. Thus the snubbing by a friend may bring up an incident in third grade and another when they gave birth. All mentioned in consecutive sentences… the resulting paragraphs are bursting with anger, sorrow, or futile attempts at resolving complexities caused by debasement of self or célébrité.

But there is another aspect to be gotten out of these characters and this story, and it’s how past ordeals affect us. our opinions, how the world sees us, and how we see the world. If there’s ever a clearer case for us collectively having absolutely no idea how people view us and our behavior, it is to be found in the pages of this book. It is one of the things that makes this novel so fascinating. With every hurt, a new layer is created. The layer a defense mechanism, it’s all about developing a new persona to keep from being hurt. It can and does include the normalization of abnormal thoughts and behavior. One example stands out and concerns Evelyn casting out a twisted misperception that everyone daydreams about sleeping with their boyfriend’s father. Projection at its finest No, not everyone does this—not by a long shot. But people who have been ruthlessly assaulted and have lost their bearings do.

I highly recommend THE SLEEPWALKERS by Scarlett Thomas. She has a clear true voice with a SWAT team trigger finger. The pacing of the book is tantamount to walking on the ledge of a high rise. You just know somebody’s going to going to get hurt. Or is that they already have? Five stars for this one.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing an ARC copy and allowing me to review this book.

I loooved this one! I think it would be so fun for a book club. Provides a lot of opportunity for discussion. 5 stars!

This was a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

Though The Sleepwalkers has an incredibly interesting style and format– that of almost found footage, with letters and receipts and the like– the prose was purple in a way that, in my opinion, did not serve the narrative very well. Descriptions were intensely detailed and sometimes incredibly gory (which, on some level, is enjoyable when reading a thriller). For example, in the first letter, the wife writes to her soon-to-be ex / estranged husband in a way that feels purposefully obtuse and poetic. Though on some level I can get behind this, it felt unnecessary, especially considering much of the novel was written this way.

There was also a strange undercurrent of misogyny that did serve to emphasize the unlikable nature of these characters, but made me feel uncomfortable reading it. Personally, when I pick up something marketed as a thriller, I want something light and enjoyable, something I can read in one sitting. I didn't feel that way with this. I struggled through misogynistic comments and maximalist writing (and don't get me wrong, I usually love maximalist writing and purple prose).

I think there is an audience for this book, but the audience is not me. Readers who want an innovative, uncomfortable thriller should absolutely pick this up.

This was a weird read for me! I enjoyed the subject matter but it was hard for me to follow. As I continued to read, it became easier to understand. My suggestion to you is to keep reading!!! This book keeps you on your toes and if you’re not careful you could lose all sense of reasoning! I will recommend this book to my friends who enjoy books like this . I don’t think I will recommend it to my book club because there are some in the group that don’t care for books like this. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!!!

Man, this book is BLEAK.

This is the story of Evelyn and Richard, a newly married couple who absolutely HATE each other. She thinks he is boring and spoiled, he thinks she is narcissistic and "slutty". They are terrible people who are even worse together. As their story unfolds, it becomes clear that they have a horrible, dark connection to each other's past that neither of them wants to discuss.

The author adopts a kind of meta view on everything... At one point, she references Chekov's advice to always drop the end of the story. This probably explains why her story doesn't actually have a definitive ending. It's also clear that Evelyn and Richard are meant to be "the sleepwalkers" referenced in the title (at multiple points in the story when the "sleepwalker" couple is being discussed, a character actually says to Evelyn "this seems like more of your story"), however, it's never really clear why that was the case.

Death hangs heavy over the entire story. The author includes gory descriptions of animals dismembering each other and frequently describes colors in terms of blood or rotting meat. There are a lot of references to pomegranates and pomegranate seeds, including the main narrator eating a single pomegranate seed, à la Persephone. It's clear that someone will end up dead by the end of the book but we aren't certain who it will be. As we got to know each of the characters better, I found myself hoping that none of these jerks survived.

There are a lot of things that I came to dislike about The Sleepwalkers, although when it first started, I was fully on board. I liked the author's use of descriptive language and imagery to really paint every setting. Sometimes this kind of thing can feel expository but it was beautifully effective here. Unfortunately, as the story shifted between various narrators and points of view, the voice didn't. Each of the characters seemed to have this same flare for language, which almost led to the feeling that the original narrator was pretending to speak from the point of view of these other characters.

Because the story was told in the form of letters that had been collected, torn apart and burned, there were certain places in each narration where there were big gaps in the actual prose: large chunks missing, then single sentences dropped on the page with no context. I know it was meant to add flashes of insight but it became distracting and tedious as it continued to occur over and over again. I noticed that other reviewers also found that to be confusing and took it as a glitch in the digital version of the book, which means that it obviously did not add very much to the story.

Overall, this book wanted to speak on so many hot button topics that it ended up losing its way. Off the top of my head, I can think of plot points involving murder, domestic abuse, PTSD, human trafficking, infidelity, sexual assault, the Me Too movement, Covid, immigration and xenophobia, gang rape, cancel culture, mental illness, class warfare, systems designed to protect the guilty, and appropriation of trauma. It also dabbles in tropes like Fame At Any Cost, A Daring Escape, Being On The Run, Finding God, and Living Your Truth.

The Chekhov-esque ending was very muddled. Did anyone make it out alive? Did everyone make it out alive? Who knows. Who cares... the author obviously didn't. The villain's motive is hastily slapped on at the last minute in order to draw the story to a close, with no prior groundwork having been laid. Nothing is ever resolved, no consequences are ever applied. The lead character never deals with her trauma. And then the book is over.

The book blurb was described as Highsmith meets White Lotus. I'm guessing this is because both of those stories take place on Mediterranean islands. Otherwise, there's no overlap. It is also described as "very funny", and this is a STRAIGHT UP LIE. There is nothing funny about this book. It's dark and depressing and I don't think I ever even cracked a smile reading it.

I believe this author is talented but this project was too ambitious.

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.

This story is written in narrative form. It is told from the point of view of Evelyn and Richard who are husband and wife. The story tracks their lives in the present and the past. It gives very vivid descriptions of the setting and the characters that they encounter. It is an interesting story but readers will need to stay focused on who the narrator is at any given moment.

Thanks for this advance copy. I loved this book! I just read it in a day, so it's so good. If you are looking for a book to inmerse you as much as you forget about the outside world, this is it!

The synopsis for this book is quite long, and it tells the reader just about everything they need to know about the plot. Richard and Evelyn are getting married, but Richard’s mother changes their plans by paying for the honeymoon. She’s chosen Villa Rosa, a boutique hotel in Greece, for the couple to enjoy - whether they like it or not.

Villa Rosa is small, and the owner, Isabella, is getting things ready for an upcoming storm. Soon, Richard and Evelyn find out about a haunting story that happened during a similar storm, at this very hotel. A man was sleepwalking, his wife woke up and saw him heading for the ocean, and she followed. They died that stormy night, but their legends live on.

While at the hotel, Richard and Evelyn meet a strange group of people: some younger, hip kids who look like they’re in a band, a strange owner of a curio shop, and a couple of interesting characters who work for Isabella. As we go through the book, we find out all about these people, in a very different way…

This book is written not as a book, but as a series of letters and (unseen) photographs. The unique writing style made this a very unique read, as you get the story in bits and pieces until finally, with the last letter, everything comes together. It’s an interesting story with quite a few layers, and while the tone of the book isn’t one that I’m used to, I did end up liking it in the end. This one gets 3.5 stars, rounded up!

(Thank you to Simon & Schuster, Scarlett Thomas and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 9, 2024.)

This one was a bit weird… it got really difficult to follow about halfway through. I still don’t fully understand the ending or if Richard is out there in hiding, maybe that’s the point? I did think reading the story from letters and notes left behind or stolen was interesting but the missing parts made it too difficult for me to understand and I mostly felt like I was reading nonsense lol

It’s really surprising this ARC is messed up since S&S is usually the one publisher who always sends quality ARCs. Either way, it’s not readable.

Evelyn and Richard’s honeymoon makes for such a captivating story. The story is set on a Greek island and is full of mystery in such a unique way. The perspective shifts as the story unravels and you learn more about the couple’s back story and the island’s famous sleep walkers who mysteriously disappeared into the water together. A perfect mix of intrigue, family history and relationship drama comes together to perfectly tell their tale.

This might be one of the most unique books I’ve ever read and I still don’t know how I feel about it.

Written in mostly letters and transcripts, this book tells the story of Evie and her new husband’s honeymoon at a sketchy villa in Greece. The story is interesting and vivid, and the writing is excellent, but the format really threw me. The letters cut off randomly and a new letter will start up written by a different author and you have to piece together who is writing it and how it all fits together. It’s clever but for at least half the book I didn’t know if this was intentional or an editing or corrupted file issue.

I am legitimately confused if I liked this book or even understand what happened, but I will 100% be thinking about this long after I finished it tonight.

This is a rather odd story. Not without its own appeal, but not to my personal taste. It centers around a newly-wedded couple who are spending their honeymoon on a Greek island; the first half is in a hotel of their own choosing with another couple, the second half in a hotel selected by and paid for by the groom's mother. The interesting thing in this story is that we hear both sides, the husband's and wife's, of the events that transpire, and how very different their viewpoints are regarding the inn's proprietess and employees. But these alternating viewpoints also add to some confusion and it's never really clear to me what the motivation is for the events that happen. Even when the underlying issue is exposed at the end, it feels like the author had to quickly come up with a motive. I really didn't see any hints about what was happening at this inn until it was revealed. So the ending felt disconnected from the remainder of the story. And there are places where a sentence just ends halfway through - is this intentional or a problem with my e version? If intentional, it made no sense to me.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher, the opinions expressed herein are strictly my own.

What a wild read! Told from alternating letters to each other, as well as others, which was a writing style that I happen to love! Evelyn and Richard are on their honeymoon on a Greek Isle and become separated during a vast storm. There are quite a few crazy things we find out about these characters during this time. The story jumps back and forth in time and I found it a little difficult to keep up. However, the imagery and conflicts held my attention! So many conflicts, secrets, and so much marital disparity. This was a unique read, and definitely will take you on a roller coaster of happenings!
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

My first reaction to finishing this book was that I wanted to read more from this author. Wow, what an interesting story. This book involves a couple that just married, but their relationship is quickly moving towards divorce. The story takes place on their honeymoon, where many of the couple’s past issues are revealed. The issues are all interesting and complex, but the way the story is told is what makes this a great book. The book is a series of letters, pages, transcripts, etc. in the form of evidence. You never know what will come next.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.