3.5
Awakened
ByPublisher Description
From debut author Laura Elliot comes a tense horror novel emboldened by the surreal, perfect for fans of 28 Days Later and The Quiet Place.
Science has stolen sleep and awakened a world of horror.
“I’ve been an insomniac all of my life, but I’m not Sleepless and I won’t become Sleepless, just as long as the chips that were put into their heads never get put into mine. There’s little chance of that, since I won’t put the machinery into my brain and neither will Edgar and neither will the Professor, and we’re the only three left who could. I don’t want to be Sleepless…”
Civilisation has ended. In a bid to make us more productive, to give us more time, science took sleep from humanity. But sleeplessness turned people into feral monsters and now a small group of scientists are trapped in the Tower of London, consumed by guilt at what they have done and desperately searching for a cure. And then one day, as the last ravens circle, two miraculous survivors walk into the Tower.
Are they the answer or a terrible question?
Science has stolen sleep and awakened a world of horror.
“I’ve been an insomniac all of my life, but I’m not Sleepless and I won’t become Sleepless, just as long as the chips that were put into their heads never get put into mine. There’s little chance of that, since I won’t put the machinery into my brain and neither will Edgar and neither will the Professor, and we’re the only three left who could. I don’t want to be Sleepless…”
Civilisation has ended. In a bid to make us more productive, to give us more time, science took sleep from humanity. But sleeplessness turned people into feral monsters and now a small group of scientists are trapped in the Tower of London, consumed by guilt at what they have done and desperately searching for a cure. And then one day, as the last ravens circle, two miraculous survivors walk into the Tower.
Are they the answer or a terrible question?
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesAwakened Reviews
3.5
“I loved the eerily plausible premise of sleep being another victim of consumerist culture. I also really loved how familiar everything felt as it’s set in London, albeit futuristic and dystopian. There were a lot of philosophical questions posed throughout the story and I enjoyed taking the time to ponder my own answers. The whole book was filled with chilling suspense, but I was confused for far too much of it. I’m not entirely confident I understood the ending, hence the 3 star rating. I wish I could give it four stars.”
“This book does a lot, but not necessarily good. This is psychology-dystopian fiction at best, and that's being more than generous. It wasn't even a close match to the vibes and description, which is what interested me in the first place.
The horror here has little to do anything plot related; it's more to do with the clunky writing, bland characters, and slower-than-paint-drying pacing. I would take it as far as this really isn't a horror novel at its core. It reads like a watered-down thriller to me, which might be a positive for some people. We walk through a few different timelines as the story progress, much to my annoyance. I love a dual timeline when its done right and I'm not already struggling to connect with the characters and understand the plot. Needless to say, this was not the case and only made everything that much more difficult.
All of the characters were very much textbook, and it easily felt like I've seen their stereotypes more than a few times in other books and forms of media. I felt little to no connection to them, and often times I found it hard to understand their behavior and interactions. Speaking of difficult to understand; this plot was ALL over the place, with twists feeling like a shot in the dark to keep readers on their toes and trying to hide how poorly this was written. It felt like this was trying to be many things at once instead of just one incredible plotline.”
About Laura Elliott
Laura Elliott is a disabled writer and journalist, originally from Scunthorpe. Her work has been published by The Guardian, ByLine Times, Boudicca Press, Monstrous Regiment, Hachette Kids, and others. She lives in Sheffield with her partner, James, and their two feline overseers, Catticus Finch and Hercule Purrot.
Other books by Laura Elliott
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