What do you think?
Rate this book
Sleepless #11
The fates of Poppy and Cyrenic are finally decided.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 9, 2019
33 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Vaughn
67 books157 followersSarah Vaughn is an artist, writer, over-thinker. She's penciled Sparkshooter and is currently working with Jonathan Luna on Alex + Ada for Image Comics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 12, 2019
As bad as I feel giving this issue a single star, I can't think of any reason not to. This series had two arcs, a complex world setting, tons of lore, what appeared to be several plots and mysteries intertwining with the main ones, characters who were quite different from those we usually see in comics in terms of culture and ethnies, but also in terms of roles and backgrounds (how often do we get a woman of color who is the outsider we're supposed to root for but also a powerful political figure, with allies just as strong as her enemies? How often do we get female main characters who aren't either super weak or way too Mary-Sue? Who are not "tomboys" nor femmes fatales? Young but not completely oblivious nor overly arrogant? I could go on and on, Poppy was so refreshing!!).
Yet, despite all those strong points, it completely failed to deliver. I have never read anything which missed the point so much. 100% of the issues raised during the course of the series deflated. 100%! The previous 10 publications were so good that I'm trying my best to explain my feelings and deception, but if I'm being honest with myself, the only review I can think of is:"much ado about nothing". Most of the questions raised by the subplots weren't answered, even those with strong links to the main character and her closest friends. What's the deal with the predictions made about Poppy's future? They were super grim but then... pif pouf magic! Everything's resolved! Why and how did Cyrenic manage to "wake up" when literally everyone who's ever drifted before was lost forever? How deep is this anti-monarchy organization implanted in Harbeny? Do they have agents in other countries, as well (since their boss wanted to avenge himself from Poppy's family, it'd make sense they'd attack her mom too, right?)? How did they manage to plot something so big with just a bunch of Sleepless and how did no one from their ranks question their "thoughtlessness" during the assassination's attempts? What the heck were their female counterparts doing during that time, except for braiding their hair? How did this dude recruit followers without raising suspicion? What the fuck does the king do?! Dude seems to be discovering everything that happens in his own CASTLE when Cyrenic asks for that stupid favor, how are we to believe he rules an entire country? How wasn't he more concerned about everyone's whereabouts and relationships when everything is a political mess and there's assassins ruining freely in his own corridors? What was that whole cavern crap about?? Why were we given a complex culture where believing Time to be some sort of deity granting people's powers (sleeplessness, healing magic, divination, etc.) lead to entire chunks of history to be erased, just to do nothing with this cool idea? How does it even work? The magic system is never explained, even though it has to be super duper powerful to grant life-saving magic, the gift of seeing the future in the stars, the capacity to erase entire lineages from history (although part of this seems to simply be due to the dictature and the fear of speaking against the throne's wishes/rules), and the possibility to infuse objects with some of its power (like Poppy's poppy head pin lol). It's like the biggest deal in the story, the one thing which could have explain tons of the lore and plot in just a few panels, but nope let's never ever touch it. And let's finish with a "we paid a twelve-year-old Twilight fanfiction writer to plot this finale issue", I'm sure the readers who followed a fantasy story with a complex world setting and magic system only want for the love story to go well (btw, they have zero chemistry ever since they got together...). Surely, they don't desire answers or even a point to the story, right? "Lol, I did it for love and my revenge was aimed at innocents" is super original, too. No one's ever done it before.
Anyway. I could go on and on, and I'm sure I sound really pissed off, but this ending doesn't deserve my anger. I'm just disappointed. Sleepless, more like sleeping on its own possibilities :)
Yet, despite all those strong points, it completely failed to deliver. I have never read anything which missed the point so much. 100% of the issues raised during the course of the series deflated. 100%! The previous 10 publications were so good that I'm trying my best to explain my feelings and deception, but if I'm being honest with myself, the only review I can think of is:"much ado about nothing". Most of the questions raised by the subplots weren't answered, even those with strong links to the main character and her closest friends. What's the deal with the predictions made about Poppy's future? They were super grim but then... pif pouf magic! Everything's resolved! Why and how did Cyrenic manage to "wake up" when literally everyone who's ever drifted before was lost forever? How deep is this anti-monarchy organization implanted in Harbeny? Do they have agents in other countries, as well (since their boss wanted to avenge himself from Poppy's family, it'd make sense they'd attack her mom too, right?)? How did they manage to plot something so big with just a bunch of Sleepless and how did no one from their ranks question their "thoughtlessness" during the assassination's attempts? What the heck were their female counterparts doing during that time, except for braiding their hair? How did this dude recruit followers without raising suspicion? What the fuck does the king do?! Dude seems to be discovering everything that happens in his own CASTLE when Cyrenic asks for that stupid favor, how are we to believe he rules an entire country? How wasn't he more concerned about everyone's whereabouts and relationships when everything is a political mess and there's assassins ruining freely in his own corridors? What was that whole cavern crap about?? Why were we given a complex culture where believing Time to be some sort of deity granting people's powers (sleeplessness, healing magic, divination, etc.) lead to entire chunks of history to be erased, just to do nothing with this cool idea? How does it even work? The magic system is never explained, even though it has to be super duper powerful to grant life-saving magic, the gift of seeing the future in the stars, the capacity to erase entire lineages from history (although part of this seems to simply be due to the dictature and the fear of speaking against the throne's wishes/rules), and the possibility to infuse objects with some of its power (like Poppy's poppy head pin lol). It's like the biggest deal in the story, the one thing which could have explain tons of the lore and plot in just a few panels, but nope let's never ever touch it. And let's finish with a "we paid a twelve-year-old Twilight fanfiction writer to plot this finale issue", I'm sure the readers who followed a fantasy story with a complex world setting and magic system only want for the love story to go well (btw, they have zero chemistry ever since they got together...). Surely, they don't desire answers or even a point to the story, right? "Lol, I did it for love and my revenge was aimed at innocents" is super original, too. No one's ever done it before.
Anyway. I could go on and on, and I'm sure I sound really pissed off, but this ending doesn't deserve my anger. I'm just disappointed. Sleepless, more like sleeping on its own possibilities :)
January 19, 2019
What a messy, confusing conclusion to what has otherwise been an outstanding series.
January 10, 2019
I don't know if I'm ready for this to be over. I believe my mark is reflected in how abrupt the end was, though it certainly needed to end the way it did. This issue is really about wrapping up loose ends and it does it's job. The cost was at the pacing we grew used to. A lot of what propelled this story into my heart was the mystery. The danger. The will-they/won't-they of our protagonists. Now that this is all established, I felt a bit jaded.
But every story needs an ending and I'm incredibly glad that I found Sleepless at all. I'm just bitter there will be no more, but I suppose the characters do deserve to retire.
33.75/50
But every story needs an ending and I'm incredibly glad that I found Sleepless at all. I'm just bitter there will be no more, but I suppose the characters do deserve to retire.
33.75/50
February 23, 2023
Weird to say this ending made me both unsettled and heart-warmed at the same time. As I grow older, I find I’m less happy with endings that privilege the privileged in the tale. But I also know that this is often how our world’s systems operate. Makes me realize how much more we should be doing to create a more equal world.
While I’m not saying Poppy should have died at the hands of Lord Otranto, I do believe what happened to Otranto and his fiancee was unjust. This was a gray ending in the same way that Silvia Moreno Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones was.
While I’m not saying Poppy should have died at the hands of Lord Otranto, I do believe what happened to Otranto and his fiancee was unjust. This was a gray ending in the same way that Silvia Moreno Garcia’s The Beautiful Ones was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 23, 2021
Felt a little rushed towards the end, but I'm kind of rating this series as a whole. It did have a little stop-go kind of quality (maybe from every edition being soooo short) where some parts were super slow and others were extremely fast, but I don't think it took away from the beautiful artwork and really cool storytelling and worldbuilding. :)
January 30, 2019
Perhaps this is really more of a 3.5? For fans who were merely waiting for the resolution of the “Will they won’t they?” romantic plot - this is as close to a five star ending as Vaughn is going to give you with this series - which actually is kind of disappointing for me. I would have loved much more talk between the characters about what their relationship is now and all the feelings they’d been hiding and what do they really want now - or even struggles in trying to figure that out!
We also came to the conclusion of the “Who done it?!” murder mystery which was conveniently tied up with some other loose threads so the series could be wrapped up, I suppose. And this was rather disappointing for me because the series could honestly gone one for a few/several more volumes explaining more about all the families slighted by the Harbeny dynasty, all the star-reading and fortune-telling of the Mirbeshi people and Poppy’s place or lack thereof working that Kingdom (I mean, my God, why mention Lady Pypennia’s mother every issue and never once actually show her?), all the Edtlish magic! So many, many wonderful details just abandoned by the wayside - particularly who those earlier people were from the catacombs and how do they tie all these different kingdoms and magics together.
This was a cute and sweet ending, I was not totally unsatisfied, but I also completely understand the disappointment of other reviewers. The series feels like its ended prematurely, but it is one I will cherish in my library nonetheless.
We also came to the conclusion of the “Who done it?!” murder mystery which was conveniently tied up with some other loose threads so the series could be wrapped up, I suppose. And this was rather disappointing for me because the series could honestly gone one for a few/several more volumes explaining more about all the families slighted by the Harbeny dynasty, all the star-reading and fortune-telling of the Mirbeshi people and Poppy’s place or lack thereof working that Kingdom (I mean, my God, why mention Lady Pypennia’s mother every issue and never once actually show her?), all the Edtlish magic! So many, many wonderful details just abandoned by the wayside - particularly who those earlier people were from the catacombs and how do they tie all these different kingdoms and magics together.
This was a cute and sweet ending, I was not totally unsatisfied, but I also completely understand the disappointment of other reviewers. The series feels like its ended prematurely, but it is one I will cherish in my library nonetheless.
June 21, 2020
i loved it so MUCH like omg. the poc inclusion. the way poppys stepmom isnt an evil bitch. poppy n rellen’s friendship. poppy and cyrenic. like everything is great everything is perfect ten out of ten its so sweet and good and not bad. i love it forever goobye
January 12, 2019
sadly, this series ended not with a bang but with a whimper. very rushed and plot threads weren't followed up on. eek. art still fire, though.
July 26, 2020
I've loved every aspect of the story of Poppy and Cyrenic. I've enjoyed a lot with their love story and with the mystery around of the mysterious attempt of murdering her.
January 4, 2021
Beautifully illustrated comic and sweet story.
January 30, 2022
The ending leaves a lot for the heart to desire.
Overall series rating: 3.5/5
The artwork is gorgeous. The ending is rushed.
Overall series rating: 3.5/5
The artwork is gorgeous. The ending is rushed.
April 23, 2022
This was such a beautiful graphic novel
December 30, 2020
3.5 stars
December 5, 2023
“The more I learn, the more I realize how vast Time is, and how short our paths are.” precious :,)
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews