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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.0
“Those are not my words. In fact, I had to look up the exact quote. Like everyone else, I only knew 'I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' We tend to romanticize good quotes, and I always imagined Oppenheimer uttering those words while staring at the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. In reality, he spoke those words during an interview for an NBC documentary in 1965. He had had twenty years to think about it.”
➽ I was curious about Sleeping Giants because it's a pretty popular sci-fi! I really enjoy mixed-media books and the audiobook has a full cast, so I was excited to check it out. Sleeping Giants is about a young girl called Rose who discovers a giant metal hand. Years later, she's leading a research time to find out more about the bizarre artefacts that have been left all over the world. The body parts are supposed to make up a giant figure, but there seem to be even more secrets hiding within them! I liked the idea and the fact that the story is told in journal entries and interviews! Unfortunately, unlike other similar books (such as The Illuminae Files) I didn't enjoy Sleeping Giants, as I wasn't engaged in the story.
➽ I had such a hard time caring for any of the characters. They didn't have much depth and the interview format worked against connecting to anyone in this book. I think it would have been better to focus on Rose since she has a personal connection to the hand and reframe the story from her perspective. I also wasn't a big fan of the included forced romances, as they felt out of place. I wanted more focus on the giants and less on the romantic drama in the research team.
➽ Another big issue was that I despised the unnamed interviewer, he was always acting so smug and superior. Since 80% of the files are interviews, he showed up all the time. We never really find out who he is, so it's hard to tolerate him when he's constantly manipulating and insulting the people he interviews. I actually liked him more in the very end, as he finally loses his composure instead of being this insufferable know-it-all. I just found all the interviews so offputting, since the interviewer constantly lets you know how powerful he is and that he seemingly can solve all the problems.
➽ In general, I was just disappointed by this story. It wasn't engaging and the only hook happens in the epilogue, but still isn't enough to make me want to read the sequels. I feel like the story was all over the place with all the military operations and discussions of war I didn't care about. So much went over my head and the mystery of the giant should have been the focus. I don't think I ever understood why everyone was so obsessed with this research, the story failed to establish the personal and bigger stakes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism, Torture, Kidnapping, and War
thriftedbookworm's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
i honestly really wanted to like this, as it was marketed as some alien giant robot story and told in interview format like world war z. and while those still remain true, it felt as if the giant alien robot wasn’t even that central to the story. it read more like a political novel with sci-fi interspersed throughout, and definitely more of a prologue to the rest of the series than a good novel that stands up on its own. all of the characters, including our mysterious interviewer, just kind of fell flat for me and it read more boring than entertaining.
and don’t get me started on the romance subplot forced into here. man was that not fun to read. i will say that the premise did hold some merit, which is why it isn’t a one star read, but the author definitely fell short on execution.
will i read the next book(s)? probably because i hate an incomplete narrative. will i like them? probably not
and don’t get me started on the romance subplot forced into here. man was that not fun to read. i will say that the premise did hold some merit, which is why it isn’t a one star read, but the author definitely fell short on execution.
will i read the next book(s)? probably because i hate an incomplete narrative. will i like them? probably not
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief and Deportation
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.25
Finished reading: September 7th 2023
“I was smart enough to know it was wrong, but not brave enough to stop them.”
It's true that I don't usually read a lot of sci-fi, and especially when there are aliens involved... But there was something about Sleeping Giants that made me curious ever since it was first published back in 2016. I guess my TBR jar thought it was time I finally gave this first book of a trilogy a chance, and I'm very glad this title popped up now. Why? I have to say that I was very much impressed by Sleeping Giants! There was just something about this story that was both addictive and able to make you feel humble at the same time. The fact that you don't exactly know what is going on only adds to the suspense, and it was absolutely fascinating learning more about what was being discovered. The writing style itself stands out as it is told through interviews, diaries and other files, but somehow the story was still very readable. It makes you wonder what would happen if such a discovery would be made in real life, and how the people involved would react... The different characters involved added humanity to the story and while I could have done without the love triangle, in general I enjoyed learning more about them. And after how things ended, I also can't wait to pick up the sequel to see what will happen next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Genocide, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
surprisebear's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
jojo_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
thereadinghammock's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book had been on my TBR for ages and I decided to rec it for a book club to have folks to read it with. I was still lingering on a book hangover, but finally kicked myself into gear to get it read, and at just under 300 pages, I figured it wouldn't be too tough a read. The book ended up being a lot darker than I was expecting, and left me with a lot of questions I wasn't expecting to want answered at the end.
The format of the book was a bit strange at first. The interview format with the forever nameless interviewer was intriguing, and his complete anonymity was both frustrating and intriguing throughout the entire book. Kara was a hot head and a very relatable character from the very beginning. Rose was so loveable and sweet and I loved how excited she got for all the science. Vincent and Ryan were a bit more of wild cards for me, though I grew to like Vincent a bit more after "The Incident" and we got to see his resolve and effort to getting back into the machine.
What I was NOT expecting was Ryan slipping off the deep end and trying to kill Vincent, or the pulse weapon vaporizing the Denver facility and killing (or so we thought) Rose! Oh my gods I think I actually gasped!! Some things I was aghast at, but not really surprised by: the nameless interviewer forcing a radical surgical procedure to give Vincent reversible knees, given the unique anatomy of the robot; and Papantoniou resorting to forced IVF egg retrieval, given her insistence on having back up pilots. Once she was in control of the program, it was clear that everything was just going to hell in a handbasket. What I hadn't been sure of was whether it would be because of her need for control and success or because she wouldn't have the backbone to stand on her own two feet against The Board, but WOW was that a tough read toward the end. But I think I was the most impressed with Vincent's character development overall. He ended up being a character I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
The format of the book was a bit strange at first. The interview format with the forever nameless interviewer was intriguing, and his complete anonymity was both frustrating and intriguing throughout the entire book. Kara was a hot head and a very relatable character from the very beginning. Rose was so loveable and sweet and I loved how excited she got for all the science. Vincent and Ryan were a bit more of wild cards for me, though I grew to like Vincent a bit more after "The Incident" and we got to see his resolve and effort to getting back into the machine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Car accident
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Sexism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, and War
bardic_llama's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Torture, and Kidnapping
With the sexual violence, one assumably female character without the consent of another female character,