Thursday, September 14, 2017

Review: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel


Title: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Published by: Del Rey
Released: 2016
Source: Library

Summary: A young girl takes a walk in the woods of South Dakota and falls into a mysterious hole. The rescuers discover her laying in a giant, metal hand. No one knows where this hand came from, what it is, or even what it is made of. It's a mystery that lies unsolved for 17 years.
That little girl has now grown up to be a scientist, and she crosses paths with that Giant Hand again. She's determined to figure out the purpose of this hand that had a great impact on her life.
Told in a series of interviews with a mysterious government agent, this novel is exciting and intriguing.
My Thoughts: Well, that was fun. I've been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about it. I was intrigued by the synopsis, and the epistolary style it was written in. I think it's best to go into this book knowing only the vaguest of vague about its inside contents. A little girl falls into a hole and lands on a mysterious, giant hand, that's all you need to know. Then you can have fun discovering everything that happens next.
I'm always excited when books are written in a different format. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it can get repetitive. I think the epistolary format worked in the case of this book. The characters switched up, and it was fun to read.
One aspect that made this book fun was all the drama between the characters. Each character had a distinctive voice, distinctive personality, (except maybe one) and I felt like I liked most of them. I was surprised with how real the characters felt, because that can sometimes be hard to do in a novel written in mostly interviews.
I also felt an X-Files vibe while reading this. Our mysterious interviewer/man-with-all-kinds-of-connections reminded me of the Cigarette Man on the show. I think our mysterious interviewer was nicer, and had a soul, unlike Cigarette Man, but he was so mysterious, powerful, and had this influence over all kinds of government agencies. He also knew all kinds of secrets. He's the character that I'm probably most curious about.
This novel did have weird time jumps that I don't know if I was the biggest fan of. At times, it could feel kind of scattered.
I'm also not sure how I feel about Dr. Rose Franklin. She was just kind of an ehh character for me, not the most fun or exciting. Her story could be very interesting in the sequel though.
For all the hype about this book, I think it held its own. It was a very interesting story that I enjoyed reading. I'm excited to see what happens in the sequel. I would recommend giving this book a read. I thought it was fun.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 4/5
Okay, I'm Intrigued.

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