Dreamers

It was good, but I'm torn between giving it three and four stars because I don't feel like I understood... the Point? It seemed interesting, but I'm not sure what it was trying to say. I got the impression it was trying to say something, but I'm not sure what.... what was the point. The ending was a little rushed, but it was probably my favorite part.

CW: death, suicide, xenophobia, c-section, and blood

Rep: Chinese American MC, Queer POV (mlm couple), Egyptian side characters.

CW: death, suicide, xenophobia, c-section, and blood

Rep: Chinese American MC, Queer POV (mlm couple), Egyptian side characters.

This book was good overall. I admit I expected it to be a bit more action-packed or suspenseful based on what I knew of it, but it was more vignettes of characters experiencing this disease taking over their town. It was by no means boring. There were some beautiful sentences I highlighted and it was well-researched. But, I admit, I wish I could have had a more satisfying ending, and a deeper dive into the characters.

I came very close to giving this 5 stars, considering that I read it in one sitting, up until 2am on a weeknight.

This book could be perceived as timely, but for me it was a rather a glimpse into the truth of the statment, “the past is a different country.” I found it fascinating to reflect on a time before the pandemic, and what the author (and I) imagined it would be like.

It was quite the trip to read this as COVID-19 spreads through the US. . . . An enjoyable read overall, though I feel like some of the more interesting threads were dropped halfway through.

I don't get this

A quiet dystopian. Certain scenes have stayed with me and I love when a novel can do that.

I think that some people will really love this book. It is a very specific style of prose that will probably appeal to some, but it's just not my cup of tea. There was a lot of ruminating and philosophizing in a very slow, sleepy way. (Listening to it on audiobook may have exacerbated this for me.) There was also a lot of talk (and I mean, a LOT) about the wonder and miracle of being a parent. Just to the point of feeling like it was repeating itself. It makes sense for that to be part of a story that includes characters who are new parents - but it was like reading an Anita Blake book where every four pages there's another steamy group sex scene and you just get to the point where you roll your eyes and think, “again?!”

I found myself feeling like this book was very light on the action and heavy on the poetry and wandering descriptions. And if you like that - and lots of people do, nothing wrong with it - then you'll love this book. I personally just wanted more action.

The concept was interesting and fairly novel, but the story lacked a lot of the exploration in directions the author could have chosen to take it in.
The story started strong and fairly thrilling before waning into a fairly boring a repetitive middle section which picked up again with some more interesting ideas about the dreamers themselves in the final few chapters. Between the heavily clichéd group of characters, from anti pharma college kid to paranoid prepper, I didn't find myself particularly drawn to any individual or rooting for them in any way. I would have liked less blurb of characters going about the town, this middle of the section lacked any thrill or mystery and just kind of dragged on. Delving into the dreams themselves and what the sick were experiencing could have helped spark some interesting ideas here which were briefly touched upon in the lackluster conclusion.

I will probably forever associate author Karen Thompson Walker with the number “one million.” It's a fairly big number and it's also quite a lot for the author to live up to. If you didn't know, Walker's debut novel, The Age of Miracles, was the subject of a bidding war that garnered an advance of over one millions dollars. This is a substantial amount of money for any novelist who is not a household name, but particularly for one who is a debut novelist. Surely, there was pressure on Walker to deliver a million dollar book with The Age of Miracles—do you think it's made that back yet?—but there also must be continued pressure to deliver on subsequent efforts.

My feelings toward The Dreamers isn't all that different from The Age of Miracles, to be honest. Karen Thompson Walker is quite the writer actually. She has a way with language. It is simple, yet lulling. Poetic, but generally not cloying (except for most mentions of “the fetus”). The result is a book that can almost lull you asleep. For some readers, that's a bad thing. For others, it's a plus. Yet it surprises me that such a language-centric author would pull in such a huge advance.

So there's language, but there's also plot. With both of Walker's books, there's a really great idea at the core. The story could really drive the language, but I don't know that it does. In both novels, the pace sometimes slows considerably. I'm okay with these things, but I still don't know how she received such a—

Okay, so like I said, I cannot disassociate Walker with that number. Maybe someday I will, but I doubt it. Putting all that aside, my feelings are this: Entering either of these novels, I immediately was pulled in, by the brilliance of the language and the plot; the longer the story goes, however, the less gripping the plot becomes, the more the prose takes over; in the end, I can say that I enjoyed the novel, but I cannot say that I particularly loved the story, though elements, specific scenes, continue to haunt my memory. The Age of Miracles and The Dreamers were both elusive stories, but difficult to shake completely—much like a dream. the Dreamers: an apt title for Walker's sophomore effort.

A bit underwhelming as a sophomore novel, but I was certainly hooked. The ending wasn't quite as satisfying as I'd hoped.

Definitely not as strong as Thompson Walker's debut, [b:The Age of Miracles 12401556 The Age of Miracles Karen Thompson Walker https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1342487370s/12401556.jpg 17382941]. Very hypnotic reading but didn't seem to add up to anything. Except maybe "Hey man, what if our lives are really just dreams, and our dreams are our real lives?" - you know, the kind of thing you think of when you're a stoned college kid. There was a lot of unnecessary information about how a fetus develops over time, which might be fascinating for a new parent like the author but just seemed like one big anti-abortion argument to me. And I don't expect a happy ending for everyone in a book, but I thought that one of the characters who doesn't fare well was given a particularly cruel fate that caused the book to change from dreamily eerie to downright depressing. Age of Miracles was one of my favorite books of 2012 and it provided lots of rich fodder for my book club discussion. The Dreamers was disappointing, but maybe it's just a sophomore slump from which Walker can rally for her next book.