This is the graphic novel based on the Bestselling book.
I tried repeatedly to read the novel and just could never get very far into it, so I figured the graphic novel would be not only easier but more entertaining.
I was wrong.
Again I have not been able to finish this silly story.
Basically every woman in the world is tired and if you are dumb enough to disturb her sleep, she wakes as a homicidal maniac. That idea should have produced a better story than this.
Most of the time I kept asking what the hell is going on! The story is disjointed, illogical, and way longer than it needs to be.
So many characters keep being introduced I just couldn't keep track.

I am a life long Stephen King fan and I adore his work, even the bad stuff. I like his older son, Joe Hill's work. Though I think his short stories are superior to his novels.
But Owen...not so much.
Nothing could save this inynopinion, not even the wonderful Stephen King

I apologize to the authors but I can not recommend this to those with my taste.

It earns 2 stars for a simple reason; 1 star for the feat of getting this published, though the last name helped I'm sure.
The 2nd star is for the illustrators who did a great job on being the story to life.

Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased option.

The original novel Sleeping Beauties is one of my favorites, and the graphic novel honors it so well - the added layer of illustrations just add so much to the story. All the stars!

Taking the concept of Sleeping Beauty and using it to describe a widespread disease that makes women sleep and puts them into a cocoon is a really fascinating concept. I have never read the original book that was turned into this graphic novel, but I really loved the way the visuals and writing worked together to tell a tense dystopian horror story.

This story encompasses a few genres. In part it feels like a thriller. At other points it gives dystopian, horror, zombie, and psychedelic fantasy. When there is a story that is a lot of things at one time it can become confusing, but I think it does work to tell the story it tells in the graphic novel medium.

The violence and the way people turn against each other in this story is very dystopia. Yet it has its weird creepy vibes and intrigue. I think this is a fun creepy ride with some political commentary woven within it. The art takes the whole concept to another level that I really appreciated.

The arc copy was very difficult to read or enjoy. There was a watermark covering the whole page, so I can’t actually tell you if its any good.

This was the perfect medium to reread this story. I loved the graphics for the most part abd way it brought new life to the story. Definitely something worth checking out if you're a big King fan.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I thought the disease or illness the book is centered around, was creepy and terrifying (if it were real). This is fast paced and the art work is really good. I would definitely recommend!

One morning a sickness spreads across the globe that causes any woman who falls asleep to become wrapped in a cocoon, unable to be woken up. In the US its nicknamed Aurora after Sleeping Beauty. In the small town of Dooling that same morning a woman called Eve is arrested after a string of violent crimes. She is taken to the women's prison where Clint Norcross works as the resident psychologist. As women in Dooling begin to fall asleep, Eve seems unaffected by Aurora. The number of women awake begins to dwindle and the remaining men begin to lean in to their violent tendencies. As the days go on Clint and Eve are drawn into a game that may decide the fate of everyone.

This graphic novel was a great distillation of the long Stephen and Owen King book. The deluxe edition also has a cool selection of in progress pages with commentary that provides fun insight into the process of creating the book. Rio Youers balances the numerous characters across the ten pages and is able to give the story time to breathe. The world building of a society suddenly without almost any women is not always the front of the story but gives interesting color to the good versus evil story that develops. I wasn't the biggest fan of the art, but that may have to do with the fact that the review copies have a lower quality than the actual book, so take that for what you will. After looking at the published book I liked a lot of the choices more and the style is definitely dynamic and colorful. I would recommend this to fans of the book or people who want the story in a new format.

Thank you to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for a copy of Sleeping Beauties in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Sleeping Beauties is a fast-paced graphic novel that both intrigues and creeps into your mind. Women are being infected by some sort of virus that forms a cocoon around their heads and bodies when they fall asleep. They can't wake up, and if anyone tries to remove the cocoon or try to rouse them, they become feral and attack. A mysterious woman called Eve Black appears and seems to know what is to come but is in great danger of being killed for a cure as word has got out that she can sleep normally and nothing happens to her. I haven't read the original non-graphic book of Sleeping Beauties, but this has definitely whetted my interest to start it very soon! The illustrations are great but are quite graphic and gorey in places but were befitting to the story, and the eeriness and creepiness in the book was well captured.

**2.5 stars**

I haven’t read the book this graphic novel volume was originated from so it took me a while to figure out what was going on in the storyline.

The concept of the story was that all of the women of the world are slowly being affected by a sleeping sickness called Aurora. They fall asleep and slowly become entwined with a strange cocoon-like substance; if someone removes the cocoon the woman inside will go into a mindless murderous rage. It shows a world without women and the chaos that ensues. I feel like the storyline was good but some things could have been fleshed out a bit more.

Whilst the art work was really good and definitely brought an eeriness to the story, the watermark did make it difficult to appreciate it fully. There were definitely moments I got confused about what was happening just due to the amount of panels chosen for a single page. Also, there were ALOT of characters which made it hard to keep track.

Overall, the story was okay but not a favourite that I would go to pick up and re-read.

Thanks to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for the advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Thank you for the ARC. This was a DNF for me. The illustrations were great, but it just was not for me.

DNF. I just personally didn’t like and I couldn’t get through 50 pages of it. It wasn’t as interesting to me as I thought it was going to be

I will preface this review by confirming I have not read the novel version of Sleeping Beauties.

Going into anything blind can be a risk, however sometimes that risk has a great payoff.
Not knowing anything about the story meant the first issue of the bind up was a little jarring. The scenes swapped rapidly between different characters' stories and I was confused to say the least. Once the story got underway though I was completely enraptured.

The concept King originally created is unique, harrowing and fantastical. The art was not what I am used to in my normal graphic reading, but I enjoyed it nonetheless (The gallery of alternate covers provided at the end is stunning! ). This story does lean more towards fantasy elements, rather than horror, although let's be honest there are many horrific and unnerving things that happen throughout this graphic novel. Rio Youers did an amazing job of condensing a 700 page novel into just 10 volumes.

This is a new release, with bonus material, of the two volumes of the graphic novel based on Sleeping Beauties, the novel by Stephen King and his son, Owen.

The novel is very long, which I think was my main complaint against it, but the concept (every woman in the world falling asleep and not waking up) is interesting, so it seemed like a good basis for adaptation. I've found some books easier to follow in this format since they tend to be more concise, not to mention being illustrated.

However, this wasn't the case here. Even condensed, the plot felt rather uneventful. And although I had read the novel previously (albeit when it was released) I found it hard to remember who all the characters were and which side they were on. This was not helped by the illustrations either, as I sometimes didn't recognise characters from one frame to the next and I found the frames rather crowded. In fact, even in the bonus material at the end one of the creators refers to a character by an incorrect name!

It's worth a read for King completists like me, but it's not a GN I'd read again and wouldn't be my recommendation for anyone looking for GN adaptions or in general.

Finally, I don't like to complain about mistakes, but this is a re-edition and therefore could/should have misspellings, of which there were several, corrected.

Thanks, NetGalley and IDW for the chance to read this.

The story of Sleeping beauties seemed interesting to me, but the drawing was just pulling me out of that story. While the appearance of Aurora and what it causes in society seems like a very interesting idea to develop, I would have liked to have heard more about it and about exactly what caused this disease and who Evie was exactly. That is, I would have liked it to be a more concrete story and not so dreamlike.

I read Sleeping Beauties a few years ago and really enjoyed it so I was extremely excited to get approved for the ARC of the Sleeping Beauties graphic novel!
The illustrations are beautiful - vibrant and full of detail. The storyline stays true to the novel with a few changes for inclusivity. The addition of concept art and cover art galleries is fun.

I have posted this review on Amazon, Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6815740710

And Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_dbTIOgrQb/?igsh=YnB1bTlqZWk4MXZ3

Publishing date: 03.09.2024
Thank you to Netgalley and IDW Publishing for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

The book as a meal: Abstaining from drinking anything at the bar because my date has some terrifying opinions
The book left me: Grateful that I wake up as normal

Negatives:
Heavy handed on "anti-men" sentiments
A lot of expository dialogue that could simply be expressions from the characters
Watermark on the copy made it hard to read some text

Positives:
Scary concept
Cool artstyle fitting of the story

Features:
Conversations about feminism, a look at how it could be with a (mostly) man-only world, the worst from both genders

Why did I choose this one?
I have tried reading Stephen King once and it didn't really stick with me. Thought I should try at least once more. Also the premise is super terrifying and would affect me in the real world if it was a real thing that could happen.

Pick-up-able? Put-down-able?
Relatively pick-up-able. Here is the thing with this comic ... When it drags, it drags heavily. There was so much text and explanation and retelling of already known information between characters. It really affected the pacing negatively. I think it would help if some dialogue was cut out completely and replaced with expressions from the characters.

What was the vibe and mood?
Apocalyptic. We didn't really see how much of the outside world was affected (the internet, roads and export/import, politics, media), but it was apocalyptic in the few scenarios we got to see. I also felt unsafe the whole read. The way the "victims" were handled got me feeling sick (endearing in this scenario)

Final ranking and star rating?
B tier, 3 stars. Fascinating concept, could be executed better. I thought it was a good idea and had mostly good foundations until we dragged some "supernatural" elements into it. I didn't really understand how it was all connected, and I also didn't like how quickly it was wrapped up when starting to handle these elements.

The dialogue and text, the dragging of the storylines. Lots could be improved. I must be honest and say I haven't read the original book, so I don't know how this compares. At the same time ... this would be better as a show or a movie.

Still, I would maybe recommend this to those who enjoy comics and want to dip their toes into horror and Stephen King. Could be a starting point.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I just didn't connect with this one. It felt heavy handed on the "men suck" (or at least most of them) message, and the art wasn't my favorite. The characters didn't feel very nuanced. And then there was a commentary about race just kinda thrown in at the end. Maybe I'm just an optimist and would hope that men left to their own devices could at least hold it down for a few days without going feral.

Really good, loved being able to consume the story in graphic novel form it made it fast. A good storyline but some points it dragged.

Stephen King’s Sleeping Beauties is a novel that, while not ranking among his very best works, presents a unique and intriguing concept. The graphic novel adaptation, particularly the Deluxe Remastered Edition, brings this story to life with a vivid and striking visual interpretation that enhances the overall experience and adds a new dimension to the narrative.

One of the most notable strengths of this adaptation is the artwork. The illustrations are nothing short of stunning, with a level of detail and artistry that captures the eerie and atmospheric essence of King's story. The graphic novel’s visual style effectively translates the novel’s mood and themes into a compelling visual format. The use of color, shading, and panel layout helps convey the tension and horror that King is known for, while also adding an artistic flair that complements the narrative.

The adaptation succeeds in translating the novel’s intricate plot and character dynamics into a format that is both engaging and accessible. The graphic novel medium allows for a more immediate and immersive experience, bringing King’s characters and their struggles to life in a way that the written word alone may not fully achieve. The artists have done an excellent job of capturing the essence of the characters and their emotional journeys, making the story more relatable and visually impactful.

While Sleeping Beauties may not be one of Stephen King’s most acclaimed novels, the graphic novel adaptation has provided me with a renewed appreciation for the story. The visual representation of the novel’s themes and the way it translates the suspenseful and unsettling atmosphere into art have added a new layer of depth to the narrative. It’s a testament to the power of graphic novels in enhancing and revitalizing literary works.

I’ve seen stories where all of one gender die out or disappear, or where women suddenly GAIN power, but this is the first time I’ve encountered a book where the entire fem populace is rendered inert. The sleeping sickness, Aurora, makes any woman (and that means anyone whom identifies as a woman, so trans women included and trans men excluded) who falls asleep STAY asleep. A chilling concept, all women being unable to react to the actions of men.

And I think the only reason this story doesn’t devolve into constant sexual violation is because sleeping women are covered in a cocoon, which, if torn, wakes the woman to a zombie-like, homicidal rage, which only ends when the one who disturbs her is killed, or she herself dies. That said, there is still an instance of sexual violence early in the book, so check your trigger warnings. Also, the absence of sexual violence against the sleeping women does NOT mean an absence of violence, and on a large scale.

Now, a bit more of review here, before I get into spoilers, because I’m really up for speculating in a little bit.

Plot. Oh, this FEELS like a Stephen King story. A very intriguing setup, and then a need to explain. King rarely lets things just HAPPEN, there’s got to be a bigger plan. The characters aren’t moving the plot so much as it moves them. Someone may go rogue for a bit, but then something else interferes and keeps things as going as King intended. Not sure if Owen King has the same habits, but I wish he brought in a bit LESS mysticism.

Art. Incredible background detail, not a bit of space is wasted. I wish more time was spent on the characters, though. It can sometimes be hard to tell the characters apart, and I think that’s due to style. There’s an attempt at high realism, which reminds me of rotoscoping. Which leads to a lot of weird face shapes, especially around the eyes. Pudgier faces squish and distort, but not in a way that LOOKS natural. While the artist no doubt did a lot of facial studies to get this right,

There’s also a good bit of extra content here, though it’s mostly just production notes. Nothing that expands on the story, just explains the creative process, and mostly the artists’ process. If you’ve got the original 2-volume release, you likely don’t need the remaster.

Now, spoilers.

With typical Stephen King mysticism, we also get to explore the life of some of the sleeping women, who live at accelerated time in an alternate version of their town, Dooling. It’s not a perfect utopia, but the implication is that they could get damn close, without the influence of men. However, shortly after the birth of the first (and only) child in this realm, the women are given a choice: stay in the alternate Dooling, and bring all the sleeping women of the world into this new realm, or ALL return to the “real” world, allowing all women to wake up.

Now, big spoilers, they return, our world moves on. But I’d LOVE to see an alternate ending to this book, where we see how life moves on for the split species. After all, the book specified that trans people go with their lived gender, and we know in the real world that trans men sometimes carry children and trans women sometimes provide gametes to conceive children. Both populations could go on. How would they differ? Fascinating.

Man. Now I gotta see if there’s good fanfic. I’m just left…wanting.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.