The Dreamers by Karen Thompson WalkerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think the cover (the UK one at least) and the title of this book are misleading - I thought it was going to be some modern fairy tale. Well, I suppose it is a fairy tale (I am not sure the "sleeping sickness" that people contract is medically possible) but it is a very dark one. There's a creeping sense of horror as more and more people become ill; nobody knows who is going to become ill next or what will happen to those who become ill. For me the book is less about what the "dreamers" are dreaming about but more about what happens to society when there's a plague. Essentially, it breaks down as people start to focus on survival.
Overall, The Dreamers is hard to classify. It's sort of young adult, sort of fantasy and sort of science fiction. It's not bleak enough to be described as dystopian but not exactly feel good either. I appreciated this book but I can't say I enjoyed it. I feel a definite need to now read something a bit more comedic/light hearted!
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