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jrow's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Very fun to read. Looking forward to the second book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Medical trauma, and Car accident
Minor: Grief
caterina_1212's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Oh wow this book is so bad. Wouldn't have finished if I wasn't reading for book club. The interview/ recording format doesn't hold up, everyone except Mystery Man shares way too much. On top of that the women are really poorly written, and the men are all either egomaniacs or soldiers who don't question orders. It goes back and forth between scientific discovery and global politics, and turns into a huge meddled mess. Ending is so bonkers I have zero interest in a sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
spacey_frog's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
While I love books being in weird formats, I spent the whole time wondering why this story was presented like this. Any context I could imagine for all these files to exist under was often contradicted by the numbering or what was being recorded. Maybe it's worth it as an audio book?
The concept and lore are interesting but the story that holds them is poorly executed (I'm not dinging the author on referencing other big robot media, that's kind of how big robot media works). Things happen in a way that feels like the author just went 'hmm and what if...' before sitting down every day. Towards the first half/third (cannot remember exactly when) it was pretty good, but the arbitrarily raising stakes and seemingly random actions of b-villains in the later part was the unfun kind of hokey and ruined the rest of it for me.
Nothing to write home about in regards to characters, the main cast are very samey and bland. The narrator/view-point character is just kitschy (and not Rose btw ) and a touch annoying. Plus their morals and core motivations seem to change on a whim according to who knows what. I really thought they were gonna turn out to be an alien or related to the aliens but... they're not?? What?? Then why do they care so much????
It's a super quick read, which is a huge plus. If the library had the third volume on the shelf I'd probably read the others for completion's sake but it wasn't there so I'll spare myself (for now).
The concept and lore are interesting but the story that holds them is poorly executed (I'm not dinging the author on referencing other big robot media, that's kind of how big robot media works). Things happen in a way that feels like the author just went 'hmm and what if...' before sitting down every day. Towards the first half/third (cannot remember exactly when) it was pretty good, but the arbitrarily raising stakes and seemingly random actions of b-villains in the later part was the unfun kind of hokey and ruined the rest of it for me.
Nothing to write home about in regards to characters, the main cast are very samey and bland. The narrator/view-point character is just kitschy (
It's a super quick read, which is a huge plus. If the library had the third volume on the shelf I'd probably read the others for completion's sake but it wasn't there so I'll spare myself (for now).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror and Medical trauma
Minor: Car accident and Deportation
arlorees's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I would recommend listening to this book, I listened to the audiobook over a few long drives and it was fantastic. The characters are super engaging, the story is fascinating and I love sci-fi which focuses on the human reaction to alien things. There are a lot of serious topics touched upon in this but none are in too much depth.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
musicalpopcorn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
When a giant hand is discovered underground in South Dakota, the world will never be the same.
I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audiobook and it was almost like listening to a play with all the different actors. Even though the story was written in a way that the reader didn’t get the minute details of everything you would normally get in a sci-fi kind of novel, it was just so enthralling. I quite liked all the characters, I laughed out loud a few times, I just overall really enjoyed the experience of listening to this story.
There were parts of the story that were a touch cheesy. The romance angle was a little bit eye-roll inducing, but not so much as to overshadow the whole story.
I really enjoyed this book. I listened to the audiobook and it was almost like listening to a play with all the different actors. Even though the story was written in a way that the reader didn’t get the minute details of everything you would normally get in a sci-fi kind of novel, it was just so enthralling. I quite liked all the characters, I laughed out loud a few times, I just overall really enjoyed the experience of listening to this story.
There were parts of the story that were a touch cheesy. The romance angle was a little bit eye-roll inducing, but not so much as to overshadow the whole story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Car accident, and Deportation
Minor: Violence, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
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
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
marareading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This didn't fully land for me. I normally love a book written in an interview style. This story felt character driven up front and plot driven at the end. I didn't connect the overall story, but the characters were interesting. The end definitely had some twisted story lines that grabbed me. Not enough for me to reach for book two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
deejmgee's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, War, and Injury/Injury detail
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