Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun

Black Moon: A Novel
Author: Kenneth Calhoun
Published by: Hogarth

People are becoming mean savages. Hurting people, abandoning their children, going insane. Why? Because for some reason people are unable to sleep. They stay awake for hours until they're awake for days on end. They are unable to string words together, to take care of themselves, to take care of others. But there a few, who can still sleep - and in this world, there is nothing more dangerous.

I really wanted to like this book but it just didn't leave me satisfied.

The way Calhoun writes is lyrical. His words, like the insomniacs, can be incoherent but it doesn't make it any less beautiful. His writing is easy to envision. The dystopian world he creates seems as if it would be an interesting read but unfortunately it is not.

There are a lot of characters in this story. Each chapter looks at a different character and it can be hard to keep up with them all. Plus, with all of the characters floating around it becomes difficult to get much development out of them. The novel isn't very long. Calhoun should have dived into his characters more and made the novel longer.

Though the words are beautifully written, they just couldn't keep me hooked. Every time I put the book down I'd have to force myself to pick it back up again. The chapters seemed disconnected even though they are all having the same battles.

Reading the book is almost like being an insomniac yourself. You wonder what the book is about. You wonder if you missed something because nothing is really happening and you don't know why what has happened, did. You start to think about other things while you're reading it and you find yourself halfway in the middle of a sentence that you continue anyway because, eh, it doesn't really matter.

This book had such promise but as it is now it seems unfinished, under developed and left me unfulfilled.


I give it one cateye.

*I received this book courtesy of Blogging for Books but all options are my own.*