Jenna Brouwer

Stephen King will always be one of my go to reads! This book does not depart from his classics in the sense that it has the wide and dynamic character scape, the small town you live in or know, and constant discomfort. King's exploration of humanity reveals something much more grotesque than any of the actual gore, monsters, creatures or physical evil he tells us about. This book which he co-wrote with his son, does accomplish this, with a caveat. The grotesque humanity King and his son write about in "Sleeping Beauties" is (broadly) sexism, misogyny and America's obsession with gender roles . I've read some reviews calling the juxtaposition of the females and males "gratuitous", but I think they are missing the intentionality of this choice. It is absurd, and they wrote it absurdly! King has always included real cultural phenomena in his books, and I was shocked to see how many reviews took issue with that same choice here(what other explanation besides what would appear to be their fundamental disagreement or denial of said topics) I was admittedly a bit skeptical about two males telling the female experience, but what the book talks about is simply the human experience and the conditions our arbitrary labeling of "males" and "females" produces. I have to give a hard eye roll to the reviews saying the antagonistic actions of females are overlooked or excused (without giving away too much) recall that Evie is forced to reconcile her own error in reducing all men to being evil, and does so in a very womanly way.