Beauty Sleep

I'm glad that this book got right into the premise. It didn't dawdle, didn't linger and made sure that you knew exactly what was going on straight away. Not only does this make it a better read, and more enticing straight away, but it also doesn't allow Laura's thoughts to loiter too much so that her thoughts, confusion, anger, sadness doesn't have to be overly expressed.

I also like how the other point of view was introduced, quick and without much introduction. It gave us a clear idea of the character and his personality, but it also gave us quite a few hints as to who he was if you pay close attention.

A couple of times I noticed how some descriptions were done, in ways that didn't feel like they fit with the book too well, although it didn't take away as much as I thought it would. "Eyebrows like slugs." It takes a little away from the book in my opinion, based on what I specifically like, but from a writers point of view, I can see how well this encapsulates the feature, even with the small exaggeration. However, on the flip side, I liked how this gave characterisation to each person. Everyone has different thoughts, and using language like this allows that distinguishment to be made much easier and earlier.

This book really encapsulated how any of us would react to being put into a new technological era. It is very hard to imagine what could potentially come in the future that we haven't already theorised or thought about before and because of that, if something new, something that we hadn't seen previously suddenly appeared as we woke up, far in the future, I think that the reaction is genuine and mirrors life.

The feeling that this book brings up when you are reading it is a massive credit to the author. She does a great job leaving small gaps, things that could mean something and some that might mean nothing. You never know which and are always on your toes looking for these things, wondering if they mean anything, or if you're just being paranoid. The reason I really like this is that it is something that Laura would be experiencing herself, having been thrown into a whole new world, new everything, and not having everyone from her past able to hold her through it. Rather than showing the reader how she feels mainly, she provides the feeling through her writing, the words she uses and how she puts them together.

One thing that I made a connection to, was how certain parts of the story seemed to mirror some prison systems across the world and how they aren't for rehabilitation, but for profit. There were also other problems, more explicit problems that were clearly stated. Such as homelessness, and how we end up treating a lot of them as criminals and excluding them from our society because of how everything is slowly moving towards only online. Another thing, that was obvious was how big pharma gets away with a lot of things, mainly doing experiments on animals to further research, and how there most definitely are places that involuntarily take people and experiment on them in ways that they didn't consent to.

While the story, at points, felt a little stagnant, I was happy to carry on reading, wanting to finish the book and find out everything that happened in the end. I also really liked the irregular length of each chapter. It keeps you on your toes, you never know what is going to happen next, who is going to be speaking of the two, and how long their thoughts and dialogue are going to last. It is right in line with the rest of the book, being unpredictable and intriguing. As the book moved towards the end things became faster-paced. More information started making sense as we learned more.

The ending was also satisfying. It felt real, like something that could happen in real life. Not everything was resolved, and there were still some things that were left unanswered even once the book ended but I think that fits in with the rest of the story. Not everything needs to be solved to have a satisfying conclusion, in fact, making things unresolved, certain things adds to the realism in the story. A few parts in the ending did feel like they were too perfect as if they were written to make the book wrap up nicely, which doesn't take too much away from the overall feeling and messages in the book.

The twists and turns that I experienced through this book only made it better, and the realism only further drew me in. I would recommend this book as something that can be enjoyed a lot, especially if you have read the blurb and like the sound of it. It definitely lives up to expectations.

book: Beauty Sleep

author: Kathryn Evans