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Stephen King, Owen King: Sleeping Beauties (Hardcover, 2017, Scribner) 3 stars

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women …

Review of 'Sleeping Beauties' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A good read, thoughtful and interesting, with the in-depth character studies and looping connecting plots that are so delightful in a book with such a wild premise. Spooky and humourous by turns, bittersweet and realistic in others, it was a little narrow in focus but a good if dated (despite being published quite recently) story.

Largest flaw was the absolute binary of male/female - there are no transfolk , no intersex, no chromosomal combinations other than XX and XY discussed which I really felt the lack of. I can see it was done to focus the narrative - the entire climax of the story revolves around different groups seeking to protect or harm the one woman who seems immune to whatever it is making women fall asleep and not wake up - but the lack of such realistic touches was such a huge departure from actual scientific fact that it hung over the book from beginnig to end. I feel it could have been adressed, and doing so would have elevated this to a much better book.