Believing in an idea put forward in a science-fiction story is a matter of investment and putting aside preconceived ideas. Real life experience of a pandemic, the increasing evidence of climate change, lockdowns and some recent political events have certainly forced people to re-evaluate the possibility of a breakdown of society and adapting to life in a post-apocalyptic world. I initially found it difficult to put aside a sense of disbelief with the premise behind the disaster that has occurred in Awakened, but having seen how science, business and politics have twisted ideas of moral behaviour in the name of expedience, productivity and growth, it's perhaps not so far-fetched after all.

The principle behind Awakened is that society has significantly "changed", or to put it another way, completely broken down due to an ill-advised experiment with sleeplessness. Considering that the scientific knowledge of the benefits and necessity of sleep is already out there and beyond any dispute, and that the effects of sleep deprivation are well-known and experienced regularly by many unfortunate people and probably everyone at one time or another, it seems unlikely that any corporation would develop a drug to ensure that humans can exist and effectively double the productivity of their lives without having to waste downtime sleeping.

But that's exactly what has happened when the Orex Corporation received FDA approval - surely it could not have passed stringent health and safety requirements and thorough testing? - to roll out a programme where an inserted neuralchip allows users to go without sleep - at least for significant periods of time. It has been tested first on soldiers for the benefits it would undoubtedly offer the military, which is sort of half-way believable. Needless to say its wider use in the general public has all gone horribly wrong by the start of Awakened. It takes a little time to understand how and why, but the immediate situation we find ourselves in is with a small group of scientists holed up in the Tower of London at the behest of an 'Anonymous Billionaire'. They are currently conducting tests on a "subject", presumably in search of a cure or at least a better idea of what they are facing, because the scale of the problem in the world outside soon becomes clear.

As for why this wasn't tested thoroughly, well the rationale is actually a good one, that the tests were done on increased lengths of sleeplessness time, but considering what we already know about the sleep deprivation, no-one thought that anyone would ever consider total sleeplessness. There is however, as we have learned, always someone willing to do the unthinkable for their own benefit. "Human greed has always outstripped human needs", Thea observes at one point. The science and testing might appear be lacking rigour in the use of these neuralchips, but there is enough here to give benefit of doubt and consider instead the wider implications. Those implications as depicted here in Awakened are scary.

But we have to wait to really get any idea of the impact and scale of the problem of the Sleepless. Thea, one of the scientists in the Tower of London, is the narrator here and between philosophising on the nature of science and society and revisiting memories, is haunted by visions and hallucinations and dreams of her mother who was one of the first to fall to the sleeping sickness. Gradually we begin to piece together some clues about what is happening outside from an interview she conducts with one of the two new subjects who have turned up at the Tower. They are not typical of the feral population that now lives outside, but not human as we know it either. Could humans or the Sleepless possibly have evolved to a new stage?

Laura Elliott's writing - though her troubled narrator - rarely confronts events directly. While the reader might want to know more about the apocalyptic horrors in the outside world, the author avoids sensationalism and instead uses parallels, historical examples and Thea's own thoughts and experiences to probe at the underlying moral and social questions. At a certain stage in her interviews with Vladimir, you wonder who is really being examined, which one exhibits the truer response of human nature. There is not much in the way of conventional plot as such, no development and very little conventional character development. The other scientists are clearly defined but it's hard to really sympathise or relate to them, restricted as we are by Thea's growing unease with what is going on around her and her inability to relate to them.

The writing however is more revealing than we might think and it's not short on incident or shocks either. Little by little, we gain a gradual picture of the slow progress of a scientists' study and discovery (and not getting very far), but at the same time the novel expands outwards (or possibly inwards), gaining weight by the accumulation of detail, drawing you deeper into it, intriguing like a waking dream. Whether it resolves itself in a realistic or satisfactory way, or whether it succumbs itself to a withdrawal from any familiar reality will depend on the reader's expectations, but the direction of travel - in terms of how and why this happened - already indicates an outcome that we might just have to come to terms with based on what we know of humanity now and what to expect of it in the future.

Heavy, dense writing. Darkish horror. Not enough character development. Intelligently written but with a YA feel.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book had a really intriguing concept executed well. I really appreciated the nods to neuro and medical fields, it made the core concept much more believable.

The main character was very endearing and I was very invested in watching her navigate her conflicting emotions and responsibilities. I appreciated the way the author explored her relationships with the other characters too, I was expecting more of a romance subplot and was glad it didn't steer particularly hard in that direction!

My only piece of constructive criticism would be on pacing, the short chapters made it feel choppy at times. Although that may have been the intention, I sometimes found it hard to infer context (e.g. location, surroundings) in a given snippet.

The ending was very poetic in a satisfying way. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys realistic-ish dystopia sci-fi novels with strong character development.

This was a super interesting read! A good psychological horror book when you want to take a break from reading fantasy or romance! I enjoyed how the plot was laid out and had its own sort of pacing that we do not often see!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The premise of this book is strong. When the corporate world profits from investing in medical advancement, what could go wrong? Do people need to sleep? If corporate-backed scientists create a microchip for people’s brains, then they create an unstoppable military and a nonstop workforce.

So begins Awakened. It’s the aftermath of the apocalypse; the aftermath of the implanted chips that turned sleepless humans into monsters. In the effort to find a cure, scientists who created the disaster have barricaded themselves in the Tower of London.

While I like a dark, sci-fi, dystopian thriller, this end-of-the-world novel just didn’t do it for me. The writing style is dense, slow-paced, and heavy. However, there are some serious philosophical theories involved, so I am rating it 3.5.

Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy a dystopian and/or post apocalyptic story, and this tome weighs in heavy and hard with it all.

It's set in future London (which I love) in a dystopia of our making. Science has found ways to stop people sleeping, effectively to get more time out of humans. However, the by product of this is an insanity and a condition akin to vampyrism that has the expected effects on the world.

A thought provoking and grim read - in all the right ways. Highly recommended.

Awakened is an interesting exercise in genre and tone, all shrouded in gothic darkness and angst. It's science fiction written as horror fantasy, recalling the obvious giants of classic speculative fiction like Dracula and Frankenstein. On a more modern note, I was sometimes reminded of Simon Stålenhag's work. I found the emotional and thematic throughlines fascinating, as this dark, fantastical tone is intermittently interrupted by something that feels more fragile and naked, that being the protagonist's recollection of her mother. Thea's motivations and the commentary on ME/CFS really help pull the novel together, and I love the contrast between something so otherworldly and a real-life issue that grounds the novel in the reality that once was. It's a bold move, and one that makes the setting feel all the creepier. However, the philosophical back-and-forth scenes, which make up most of the novel, just feel generally flat and repetitive, so the novel threatened to lose me many times. The dialogue just sometimes has this YA-esque quality to it that doesn't grab me much, and as successful as the novel is at conveying its tone, a lot of that dialogue feels like it exists for tone alone, providing little in the way of character development until fairly late on.

Thank you to NetGally and Angry Robot for an ARC of this book.

“Sleep, those little slices of death, carving out ever-greater chunks of life until precious little of the waking world was left.”

This book had such an intriguing and unique concept, and I am always drawn to dystopian stories. I've never struggled with insomnia but I tend to have some weirdly dystopian dreams. Laura Elliot includes some profound thoughts on sleep that I had never considered before. However, I found myself more interested in the situation than the people involved.

Thea seemed somewhat like an unreliable narrator to me, her mind constantly bouncing between the present, past, and sleep. I found myself a bit bored by the flashbacks even though I wanted to know the cause of the situation. Furthermore, I was in Thea’s head the whole book yet I felt that I barely knew anything about her personality, and I knew close to nothing about most of the side characters. The plot felt kind of meandering and I don’t know what to make of the ending.

Overall, the book intelligently examines sleep and the effects taking sleep from people might have on civilization. I felt that the concept of this book was excellent, I just wish there was more exploration of the characters.

A grimly pleasant and pleasantly grim read for dystopian fiction fans. The main downside is the first person pov which made it harder to fully engage with the narrative but did also help with building tension. I would still definitely recommend this book! 3.5 stars!

n a world where capitalism has pushed human productivity to its limit, a group of scientists create a neural chip that works in harmony with the human brain.
Promoted as a cure for some of the most debilitating diseases and the pinnacle of productivity the chips are implanted in droves. Sleep is no longer the necessity it once was, instead it can be planned and controlled.

It’s revolutionary…until something goes wrong. A wave of violence washes over London as a few people override their chips and cause a catastrophic chain reaction.
Everyone with a chip implanted becomes sleepless. Human beings physically and mentally changed by the inability to rest.
We join Thea, our main character at the end of the world. One of the scientists who had a hand in ending the world working ruthlessly to find a cure; for the world, for her mother, to assuage her guilt.
Set in the Tower of London, in a self sustaining community, there are some really strong observations of the outside world that recur throughout but most of the narrative is internal.
Thea’s narration switches between diary like entries, internal monologue and scientific observations. Our narrator is unreliable and the reader has to piece together the truth as Thea searches for it.
Flitting between the past and the present, dreams and nightmares, the prose switches from poetic and haunting, to scientific and clinical.

There’s some zombie and vampire inspiration, but the sleepless are relatively sparse throughout the book. We only catch glimpses of the end of the world. The Sleepless are a terrifying unknown that we only really witness in a controlled environment.
A new discovery ushers in hope for a cure, but again mistakes are made in the name of science and progress.

This book is an introspective exploration of what it means to be human. How do we define ourselves and others. What do you have to lose before you become less than human? Where do you draw the line? Is natural, cruel behaviour worse than conscious, optional brutality. What is an acceptable cost for progress ?

Awakened also examines our medical system, our society, illness, our need for scientific progress and what’s ignored in this endeavour, chronic fatigue syndrome, agency and consent.
It calls attention to the apathy and otherness assigned to anyone who is different.

The characters are difficult to place in the beginning, but all feel authentic and flawed in a very human way.
Thea is haunted by the past, present and future. As Thea’s understanding of herself and the world dissolves its reflected in her entries and the final chapters of the book. There are some gut wrenching twists. Over all a really enjoyable read.

A bunch of scientists hole up in a tower after playing too much God and inventing vampires. Main character Thea feels super guilty about this because all she was trying to do was cure her chronically ill mother. When a couple of vampires who are still kind of human turn up on their doorstep in search of shelter, the scientists let them in and interview the only verbal one within an inch of his life. They call him Vladimir, and he goes along with it because he can take a joke. This is not a romance novel, but Vladimir is very alluring and could easily carry his own Twilight series. Thea is a hot mess, but so would I be if I was living in I Am Legend with no cute dog to make up for it. Alex is the kind of person who secretly thinks Andrew Tate has a point. The writing is poetic and stunning.
good for fans of: dystopian existential dread, body horror, the prison season of The Walking Dead, vampires with excellent table manners, goats

"There are really only two types of monster: the one that can hurt us and the one we don't want to be. The Sleepless are both."

Welcome to a surreal speculative horror where sleep has ceased to exist but nightmares are very real.

Awakened is a cerebral, existential crises in book form.

Thea offers a fantastic diarised narration of the whole ordeal, switching between her own memories and observations, reports and research and whatever intrusive thoughts pop into her head while giving us a real sense of the tricking by of time and a building sense of both liminality and urgency. Her desperation to help people like her mother who survived through chronic fatigue and soul crushing tiredness might have been what got her there, but now she needs to save everyone. There was a real conversation littered throughout about our relationships with our bodies, how the chronically ill are so aware of the fragility of the human form, how their tiredness can be soul destroying and that hit very close my heart.

"She isn't made of suffering alone. She's made of what we're all made of: a ghost trapped in a machine, looking for more than we can see. We are not mere stardust decaying across time, we are thought and hope and our own inner dreams, and I think I'm beginning to understand."

This book tries to bridge fiction with reality, making this world of horror seem possible with the little details - whether it’s including the highly controversial HeLa cells as part of their research, — with subtle kind of horror that isn’t zombies clawing down the door, but despair, death, fear and the unknown.

It read more like a dystopian, literary tale but definitely would appeal to the horror lovers too. If you loved Bird Box, Omega Man, or The Girl with All the Gifts you will loooooove this.

This book was definitely a darker/ heavier read. I loved the whole concept of scientists trying to create a more progressive humanity by eliminating our need for sleep, but at how it changed us at our core to become something more primal.

I felt at times the conversations became quite frustrating with not really answering or explaining anything and just raising more questions, and felt like some of the dialogue was put in as people would expect more dialogue.

But otherwise I really enjoyed this book, it was a really good read and I would recommend.

I really didn’t like the writing style in this book which is a real shame as I think the idea and premise are excellent. It was too heavy and wordy for my liking and I found it very difficult to follow what was actually happening and in what period of time

march has been a slow reading month for me… anyone else feeling the same? 🙇🏻‍♀️

Awakened
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I finally finished Awakened! this dystopian sci-fi ARC really caught my attention with its medical influence, especially as a chronically ill person (any other Type 1 Diabetics out there? 🙋🏻‍♀️).

it’s a bit unsettling since it explores the darker side of medical advancements made at the expense of others. the story’s fast pace kept me hooked but at times the erratic storytelling felt hard to follow. i think maybe this was intentional, as it mirrored the confusion and discomfort the main character was experiencing throughout the story. definitely a solid read! 📚

thanks @angryrobotbooks and @netgalley for the ARC 💛

#bookstagram #dystopianfiction #scifi #bookreview #currentlyreading #type1diabetes #chronicallyill #bookcommunity #readerlife #netgalley #bookish #readingislife #booklover #bookaddict #booktok

I will start by saying I really quite enjoyed the premise of this book. I am a sucker for dystopian books and this one did not disappoint. I found the writing engaging and the story line held my interest. It had taken me a while to get through but that was all on me. And the fact I came back to it after somewhat of a break speaks to my enjoyment of this book. If you are into dystopian/ horror books this one is really enjoyable.

I entered this book with high hopes, as I am a big fan of dystopian stories. However, I found the writing style to be quite heavy, which made it challenging for me to fully engage with the narrative. The pacing felt slow, and it took me a significant amount of time to reach a point where I actually started to enjoy the story. I was thinking in not give a review to it because I don't want affect other people read this book. But I honestly couldn't enjoy the writing style.

I honestly gave this book a right go . I didn’t really like it, I think the writing style wasn’t to my taste I had really high hopes I’d enjoy it.

The premise of this really intrigued me. However it was very rambly and at times felt like I was reading a textbook. DNFed at 20%, really disappointed since it sounded so interesting but the pace was way too slow.

Awakened by Laura Elliot

Sleep; many revel in its spatial awareness of another plane of existence, while others fear the unknown and haunting reminders of how minuscule and tragic human life can be. Laura Elliot creates a world that attempts to solve this conundrum. Thea Chares and her scientific colleagues have an idea. Computer chip implementation placed within the recipient's brain attempts to seize control of their sleep habits under the guise of increasing human productivity. Surely, more uptime means more productivity. Why waste time sleeping? However, humanity starts to fade into a post-apocalyptic nightmare when these chips start to "malfunction." Humans turn into despondent beasts whose only purpose is to feed on scraps of rotten flesh within trash piles in the London area. Or is there more to the story? What can a survivor named Vladimir teach us?

I have visited the Tower of London, which rises majestically above the Thames River. I was amazed at its architecture and immenseness, providing shelter within its barriers. Of course, this was its intent—to be a self-sufficient community in case of warfare. A siege, from whom you may ask? Why the vast majority of London residents whose lives succumbed to research gone wrong in this tale, of course. Within these walls, readers are provided a glimpse within the location that provides a haven for the scientists. They are safe, or so it seems. What can’t protect them are their “brilliant” ideas. The need to provide solutions for the betterment of humanity becomes yet another instance of one that also provides an avenue of control. The moral dilemma begins as Vladimir, the rare victim who has managed to survive this "outbreak,” takes Thea through an arduous journey of human enlightenment. His ideas serve as a reminder to those who will listen that the creatures outside the gates were and remain human regardless of outward appearance and behavior. Thus posing a question to the reader: What is wrong with who we are now?

At times, I must admit, some conversations may have lingered a little too long. This caused moments of distraction and was far from a seamless experience. That said, I felt like the message was important. I wondered if employees of the technological community have these same ethical battles internally. Do they question their research or simply rely upon a ready-made corporate answer that justifies the decision-making? We must already be aware that some only flourish in an environment of totalitarianism, seeking to subjugate humanity at all costs. Using clever marketing and offering the threat of fear circling around us like buzzards targeting a new corpse. We are programmed to seek change. In a society constantly enamored with progression, we, the citizens, only seem to regress in our way of life. A very interesting dichotomy exists. I digress.

I found the plot interesting, and Thea's character in particular likeable, but let's not kid ourselves; this was a grim read. Fear not, fellow readers; all is not lost. Sleep is the place that allows true freedom and escape. A sacred moment that is ours and ours alone. Perhaps this is why I read. Wonderous landscapes created by talented authors are awaiting my eyes. Soaking up knowledge like a ray of sun on a hot summer day, and in those moments I am truly free from constraint and judgement. These types of books are important to remind me I am human, in my simpleton caveman-like form, and that is ok. I am giving this 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4 stars. Recommended!

Many thanks to Angry Robot for the ARC through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.