The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is a moving and thought provoking story of grief and love. I was immediately engrossed in the plot which features 4 strangers on a road trip to The Poppy Fields, an experimental and controversial treatment center where people are given the opportunity to sleep away their grief for a month. The novel slowly reveals the backstory of each of the characters and their individual reasons for wanting to go to the Poppy Fields. The founder of the treatment center is also central to the story. I enjoyed the aspects of found friendship as well as the characters individual journeys to forgiveness and healing.
I think Ms Erlick may be the M. Night Shyamalan of books - they are highly conceptualized, fascinating and profound. I really enjoyed her perspective on grief and how personal it is for everyone. I highly recommend this novel, and think it would make a fabulous book club selection.
I listened the audio version of this novel and enjoyed the multiple narrators and formats, including news articles and interviews. 4.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own. Pub date: 6/17/25

A book about grief and the myriad of ways people process it. While it does drag at times, it still felt very emotional in how each person comes to terms with their situations. I appreciated the character development and how it differed for each, from accepting why a family member went to sleep, to another accepting they didn't need it after all to move on.

The Poppy Fields was such a cool concept, just like Nikki Erlick's first book. However it fell a little flat for me. It really focused on the character's stories and while I usually love character-driven novels, these characters didn't have a ton of depth to them and I wasn't really invested in their stories.

The Poppy Fields explores what lengths we would go to for the elimination of grief in our life. This is the story of four strangers all dealing with grief, loss and heartbreak, and their individual reasons for going to the. Poppy fields. The poppy fields, located in the remote Californian desert, is a magical place where patients are put to sleep for a month or two, and when they wake up, their grief is muted if not eliminated.

Nikki Erick has done it again! This book is beautifully paced, keeps the reader engaged, and explores a topic that has touched us all. The Poppy Fields will be a perfect book club selection guaranteed to spark conversation and debate.

The Poppy Fields
By Nikki Erlick
Release Date: 6/17/25

Thank you HarperAudio and William Morrow Books for an e-ARC and Audio ARC of Nikki Erlick's new novel, The Poppy Fields.

This is a speculative fiction novel, following multiple people as they travel to the infamous Poppy Fields and one that works inside of the Poppy Fields. Everyone has a different story and reasons as to what brought them there and why they decided to come to the fields to sleep their grief away. Similar to Erlick's other novel, the Measure, we have many opinions being shared throughout by journalists and such stating what they think of the fields. Along with that people don't hesitate to judge those that chose to sleep to better process their grief instead of facing it head on risking the potential side effects of erasing the memories all together. I applaud Erlick for challenging our thinking on fictitious topics while applying very realistic bias.

I don't feel as though I was drawn into this one as deeply as I was with the Measure, but still another great read by Nikki Erlick. I'm excited to meet her at an author event this summer and can't wait to see what unique storyline she comes up with next!

Really interesting concept + plot. Great pacing. The characters and their grief, emotions and motives felt so real and understandable. The steps in their journey and the way they related to each other felt so realistic and interesting. I was drawn into their stories and propelled forward to find out what would happen to them once they reached the poppy fields.

Advanced listener copy provided by harper Audio adult but all opinions are my own.

I couldn’t wait for the release of this book novel after recently finishing “The Measure.” It did not disappoint.—I could not stop listening and finished it in one day. The plot was very intriguing and had me hooked from the beginning. The imagery and character development was fluid and easy to follow despite the numerous perspectives. I was also very impressed with the narration, as I mostly “read” via audiobook and find it difficult to enjoy a book if the narration is flat or distracting. Overall a great read and can’t wait for her next one!

Nikki Erlick did not disappoint in her sophomore novel. All the thought-provoking, mind blowing membrane that she brought to us are back. I love when I read a story that makes me continue to think long after I turn the last page and The Poppy Fields will do so. Exploring grief, guilt, and forgiveness with a twist, this is one not to miss.
The audio, featuring Malin Ireland and a full cast is exceptional.

Wonder, worthy, and willingness.

It all started at the Kansas City airport, as a tornado warning goes off and the flights are cancelled. It turns out that three strangers are headed to the desert to the Poppy Fields.
Quite controversial, the Poppy Fields are where grieving people are able to go and sleep for 4/6 weeks to help with devastating losses in their lives. This comes with many questions, support, and backlash from the public.
As we proceed through this very uniquely written story of these strangers, (and their stories), you get to know them well. Why would they be seeking this period of sleep? Relief from unimaginable grief is something everyone would want to obtain. Is time of sadness/hopelessness in our world healed by sleep? Is it worth missing a period of your life, to feel more complete again?
The four day journey that these strangers take, turns into a beautiful story that is one worth every minute of time you spend in this story.

The author of The Measure has come through again, with another incredible thought provoking novel. Thank you, NetGalley for this special opportunity.

I adored this story; for the plots, the characters, and the storytelling itself through this audiobook. I loved the cast of narrators and how they provided reality and helped to breathe life into the story. I am a sucker for found family, misfits finding their home, and this story provided that in spades. The nods to the wizard of oz and its characters and themes were perfectly woven throughout, while not feeling like they overtook the uniqueness of Erlick’s story - and if you don’t catch the references, you’re not losing anything, they just serve as a fun bonus. The writing beautiful portrayed themes of finding family in odd places, or facing grief in its messiest form and learning not to move on from loss, but simply to find a way to move forward.

This story was sweet, relatable and a must read. I loved her nod to her first book, the measure, with the mention of a universe where your life is presented to you in the size of a peice of rope - just a fun little nod to her previous work that made me giddy.

Through the muddled grey that is grief, Erlick did an amazing job of displaying where light can find a way to shine through giving you the chance to determine if the sun is setting on days passed, or rising on what’s to come. There were so many themes and ideas addressed here that really made me think, google, and want to share what I was reading with everyone around me. Simply amazing. All the stars.

Thank you so, so incredibly much for the advanced copy of The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick. I was a fan of her novel, The Measure, and was excited for an opportunity to experience her next work early. I sometimes have trouble paying attention to audiobooks, but Marin Ireland and the supporting narrators were well-cast and delivered.

Erlick has done another phenomenal job with this book. Just… wow. It was creative, thoughtful, and profound. The Poppy Fields has a unique approach to grief and healing, and the concept is executed in a way that’s easy on the page and heavy on the heart.

The reader meets a group of characters through multiple POVs that intersect throughout the novel. Four of them (and a pup) find themselves making their way from the Midwest to California, and another main character is already on-site in California. Per the title, their destination is The Poppy Fields - a controversial but successful experimental facility where approved applicants are put to sleep for 1-2 months with an intent on overcoming grief. The majority of applicants are grieving the loss of a loved one, although Erlick does a wonderful and organic job of incorporating other means of grief and pain that could “benefit” from a prolonged sleep period. There is a 25% chance that patients will wake up with a more intense side effect - one that means they are not less aggrieved but rather indifferent towards the loss.

The writing is poetic. The concept is thought-provoking. The characters each have their own meaning and delivery. The corresponding interviews offer an additional perspective to the topic. I also appreciated the red-string nod to The Measure.

Overall, The Poppy Fields is an easy 5-star review that I hope many readers choose to experience. I’d recommend this to fans of The Measure of course, but honestly to anyone interested in high-concept, meaningful storytelling that offers a different lens on loss, healing, and our limited time here.

The Poppy Fields is a haunting, hopeful exploration of grief and healing. I enjoyed the different POVs and how each person dealt with their loss in a unique, heartfelt way. The concept of sleeping through pain was both fascinating and unsettling, and the story balanced emotion with just the right touch of mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley & HarperAudio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Nikki Elick’s The Poppy Fields is a masterful blend of raw emotion, sharp wit, and unexpected beauty, woven into a story that lingers long after the final page. With a title as bold as its narrative, this book challenges readers to find meaning in the messy, the imperfect, and the overlooked.

Elick’s prose is both lyrical and unflinching, painting vivid landscapes of resilience, humor, and transformation. Whether exploring the struggles of identity, the weight of loss, or the strange poetry hidden in the everyday, The Poppy Fields invites readers to embrace life’s contradictions. The characters are achingly real—flawed, fierce, and unforgettable—pulling us into a journey that is as heart-wrenching as it is uplifting.

What makes The Poppy Fields extraordinary is its refusal to shy away from the rawness of existence. It does not romanticize pain, nor does it sanitize joy. Instead, it reminds us that growth often comes from the most unexpected places. Elick proves herself to be a fearless storyteller, unafraid to dig deep and unearth truths that are both uncomfortable and necessary.

With its balance of humor and heartbreak, light and shadow, The Poppy Fields is a triumph—one that will leave readers reflecting on the beauty of imperfection and the power of embracing the messiness of life.

A must-read for those who appreciate storytelling that is both profound and wildly original.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this ARC!

3.5 ⭐️
After absolutely loving The Measure by Nikki Erlick, I was sooo excited to be approved for an ARC of her next novel! While this book had an interesting concept, I felt like I wasn’t as attached to the characters and didn’t feel it was as deeply impactful or as interesting as The Measure. This book follows 4 strangers traveling together to “The Poppy Fields” which is a new technology grief treatment that allows you to go to sleep for weeks at a time, and wake up feeling…”better”. This is a very speculative novel, and based in the future where this technology could possibly exist. And while I find that part of the book interesting, I felt the characters themselves just weren’t my favourite. Go in with an open mind, and you may find you love it! I really enjoyed the audiobook production, and how they had multiple narrators for different characters and interviews/talk shows!

Nikki Erlick has done it again. This novel really makes you stop and think about love, loss, life, grief and how we are all connected.

This story follows Ava, Skye, Ray, Sasha, Ellis and PJ the puppy. The Poppy Fields have become a controversial new treatment facility where people who have experienced grief and loss can apply to sleep. The month long sleep the patients undertake is supposed to help the patients deal with their loss. One of the side effects of the treatment for a percentage of the patients is although they feel better when they wake up they start losing memories of the people altogether. In this journey the characters stories interweave as they set out for a carpool on the way to the Poppy Fields. This group is thrown together when their flight is unable to to take off due to a tornado at the airport. While we journey across the country we learn about the struggles of each character and it really makes you think what would you do to overcome grief and loss? Is grief just a part of life? Would you be willing to take the chance? The narrators for this story had great pacing, really added to the characters and were great to listen to.


Thank you Harper Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is a thought-provoking, compelling story with well-crafted characters and incredible emotional depth. It’s a moving exploration of loss, identity, and healing that will resonate with a lot of readers and make a great book club pick.

This is my first Nikki Erlick book but it won't be my last. The Poppy Fields is a facility, where the bereft can seek solace and healing but it's not without it's controversy. This story weaves together the journeys of 3 people who, for various reasons, are attempting to gain entry to the Poppy Fields and a teenage tag along who's ready to embark on the great, big adventure that is life.

Grief is subjective and that holds true for the characters. As their individual reasons for wanting to visit the Poppy Fields are revealed, we get a deeper understanding of the many and varied ways grief can touch a person. Each character's story is equal measures heartbreaking and inspiring and when the book was over, I wasn't ready to leave them.

The narration was fantastic and made the character's grief even more palpable and realistic.

i really enjoyed this!! i had no idea what this story was about and i went in blind - it really surprised me and the audio was very well done!

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is a beautifully written and thought-provoking novel set in a near-future where grief has become something that can be paused—at a cost. The story centers around four strangers—Ava, a book illustrator; Ray, a firefighter; Sky, a free spirit; and Sasha, an occupational therapist—who meet by chance after their flights are canceled. Each is traveling from the Midwest to the Poppy Fields, an experimental and controversial treatment center located in the California desert, where people can choose to sleep through their grief for a period of time. While the promise of temporary relief is tempting, the treatment comes with potential side effects that each character must weigh for themselves. Interwoven with their journeys is the story of Ellis, the enigmatic founder of the Poppy Fields, whose motivations and past add depth and intrigue to the narrative.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved The Measure, and once again, Nikki Erlick delivers a novel that makes us reflect on our humanity and the complex ways we process grief. The characters were relatable, interesting, and emotionally layered, each bringing their own perspective on love, loss, and healing. I received the audiobook version and found the narration engaging and well-suited to the tone of the story. The pacing was excellent, and the character development felt natural and satisfying. Overall, The Poppy Fields is a compelling, emotionally resonant story that I would absolutely recommend.

What if you could sleep away your grief?

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick is a haunting and hopeful speculative novel about four strangers who travel across the country to a mysterious desert clinic—where you can enter a long sleep to heal from loss.

Each character is broken in their own way—Ava, Ray, Sasha, and Sky—and as they head toward this strange place called The Poppy Fields, their lives slowly begin to intertwine.

It’s emotional, thought-provoking, and asks: what would you do to let go of pain?

If you loved The Measure or anything that mixes grief with a touch of the surreal—this is your next read.