Length 736 pages
Format softcover
Published 2017
Series standalone
My Copy I bought it
This tome is big on characters but slow moving on plot. As a constant reader, I knew there would be a heap of backstory and character development in Sleeping Beauties, a fact made up front in the softcover edition which immediately shows some 3 pages at the beginning of the book listing the characters and their primary setting in the story. Don't let this deter you, I found the volume of characters, while daunting at first, to be manageable, with each memorable in their own way and each (for the most part) contributing to the broader story.
The basis of the book is a simple 'what if' scenario come true; what if males were left to their own devices in a world devoid of females? One day women the world over went to sleep and didn't wake, rather falling into a deep slumber with a silky cocoon forming over their bodies. Nobody but a mysterious woman who ends up in a prison seems to know anything about the phenomena - the result is madness with law enforcement resembling a gang of unbridled bullies and the inhabitants of the small town where the book is set turning murderous without cause.
As with any Stephen King book (and in this instance, Owen King too) there's an element of strangeness to it - that's where the fantastical really kicks in - equally enjoyable as the town loosing-the-plot aspect.
Despite its size, Sleeping Beauties reads quite quick, at no point did I feel I was slogging through pages despite the plot seeming to plod along, in fact it was the opposite, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!
My rating: 4/5 stars. Perhaps cutting back on a couple characters would've helped with the flow but it's a minor gripe really. I dug this book.
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