It is VERY rare for me to rate a book only one star. In fact, I feel like even books that are not good in my mind still deserve at least two because the author put effort into writing it. But “The Sleepwalkers” by Scarlett Thomas could not earn more than one star in my opinion. I should preface this review by saying that many renowned publications gave this book glowing reviews (including The New York Times and The Guardian), so maybe this is a case of me just not getting it.

The premise could have made for an interesting novel. Honeymooners Richard and Evelyn are vacationing in Greece, when they come across some suspicious people (including the mysterious hotel owner, Isabella). They hear several accounts about a couple who stayed at the hotel the previous year who drowned under strange circumstances (they’re the ones deemed ‘The Sleepwalkers.’) Richard and Evelyn are far from a match made in heaven – they bicker and snipe at each other. And both characters have some extremely unlikable qualities. When a huge storm hits, the couple must try to confess to each other about their own misdeeds and survive the night at a hotel that seems to be harboring some pretty serious secrets.

This novel’s downfall in my mind was the structure. It just made absolutely no sense to me. First, most sections are written in epistolary form, but this quickly loses its charm and effectiveness. There are so many instances when the characters are explaining events that the other person was present for. It might have been logical to start every chapter with a letter, and then move into regular prose. There were also sections thrown in from the perspectives of side characters, that only left me feeling even more confused. One whole section was a ‘transcript’ that detailed a recorded conversation between characters, but the recorder missed words or misunderstood what the speaker had said. It felt like torture to try to slog through what was actually intended (and I never need to feel challenged in that way just to read through an unnecessary chapter in a book).

The main emotion I had reading this book was either confusion or disgust. It tries to take on a light-hearted, humorous tone at times, and then other times it feels like it’s so dark that Thomas is purely going for shock value. I felt mild revulsion pretty much the whole book. I was hoping for an ending that at least would make sense of the previous plot points, but the resolution felt rushed (even though I was glad when the book was over).

I’ve seen this book compared to White Lotus, which is kind of insane to me. That show is smartly written, with effective character development (even when the characters have unlikable traits). And I never feel like I want to fast forward just to be finished with it.

I definitely don’t agree with the rave reviews of this one at all.

1 star

*Free ARC provided by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review*