Recent Reads: Sleeping Beauties Vol 1 by Stephen and Owen King

Sleeping Beauties (Graphic Novel) by Stephen King and Own King,
Illustrated by Alison Sampson, Adapted by Rio Youers
Series: Volume 1
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Publication Date:  October 13, 2020

 

Format: Hardback
Source: Borrowed from the Library

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

This graphic novel adaptation based on the horror novel by Stephen King and Owen King provides a visually stunning interpretation of the bestselling book.

A bizarre sleeping sickness, known as Aurora, has fallen over the world, and strangest of all, it only affects women. In the small town of Dooling, a mysterious woman has walked out of the woods; she calls herself Eve and leaves a trail of carnage behind her. More mysterious: she's the only woman not falling asleep.

Review: 

I know that a lot of people read Stephen King, I don't. There is one book that I have read that really resonated with me and that was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Otherwise they are too spooky for me. I saw Sleeping Beauties in graphic novel form at my library and was intrigued, so I picked it up. 

This graphic novel is violent, disturbing, a long and heavy read, and graphic. It is about a sleeping sickness rushing through the world. It only affects women and when they fall asleep they stay asleep and webbing covers their faces. This graphic novel adaptation paints a picture of hysteria in addition to other very sensitive issues - TRIGGER WARNINGS for rape, murder in various forms, assault and death of a child. There was a lot to swallow in this one. 

Aside from the very violent nature of the book, there were a number of characters to follow and I can only imagine the work that was done to convert this over to the graphic novel medium. Because there are so many characters it is hard to get fully invested in them and really care about what is going on with them specifically, especially because so many are women that become affected. 

I think what this book gains in shock and horror it lacks in character development and that is a downer. It was a good graphic novel but might not have needed to be a graphic novel.