Stephen King and his son, Owen, teamed together to create something beautiful, intriguing, and… strange. It’s very obvious that this was a father/son outing. Which I find interesting. Stephen King writes really entertaining, gripping pieces and Sleeping Beauties is definitely a Stephen King novel. But, there is something different here. The book is really smart? I don’t know how else to explain it. Stephen King usually has amazing world building followed by a baddie killing a bunch of people. But Sleeping Beauties feels really highbrow. Like it wants to teach you a moral. It wants you to dig through and have an inner-awakening. It’s trying to say something.
The problem is, by the time you get to the actual lesson, the novel feels like it has overstayed its welcome. I tried starting this book four different times. But the first 200 pages drag on and on. It is really slow-going in the beginning. Which is usually something Stephen King does something so well. I usually pick up one of his novels and find myself 300 pages in before I know it. But Sleeping Beauties takes its time. That’s for sure.
As for the actual plot, it too is very smart. A woman randomly murders some meth dealers in a trailer house. She is seemingly out of her mind. At the same time, a strange disease is spreading across the world. This disease makes women fall into a permanent slumber. As they are sleeping, they wrap themselves in cocoons, never to be heard from again. The men are left to use their dumb lizard brains to try and figure out what’s going on. The main bulk of the story takes place in a women’s prison (which I love as a setting for a story). Where all the women are slowly falling asleep. Except the crazed woman that murdered those meth dealers. It’s a really interesting story. Plus! Unlike a lot of Stephen King novels, the ending is very strong (maybe thanks to Owen?). It’s awesome. The only problem is, once again, it takes a long long long time to get there.
The only other gripe I really have is that a lot of the characters were almost not necessary? Stephen King throws a lot side characters and main characters into this novel. Because there are so many of them, they all sort of muddy together. But the problem is you can basically ignore this and just let them all blend together. Simply because a lot of them do not matter in the end. I re-read this book and I did not remember most of the characters. I don’t even know if I will remember their names a month from now.
Overall, I give Sleeping Beauties a 2 out of 4. It is a wonderful idea and the story totally pays off. But is the message worth the journey? I don’t know. It rides the line of being “worth it.” It is a totally different novel than Stephen King usually writes. Probably because of Owen. But I don’t know if I like that? Maybe this book will one day enter a metamorphosis in my mind and reveal itself as a beautiful butterfly. But as for now, it’s stuck in a cocoon on my bookshelf. If the book taught me anything, it’s not to open the cocoon in fear of it eating my face. So I think I’m good letting the book stay on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
As for my read through of the entire Stephen King works, (which this is the fourth book I’ve read for this so far) Sleeping Beauties ranks:
- The Institute
- The Outsider
- Sleeping Beauties
- Elevation