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The Sleep Watcher
'That summer, my mind separated from my body as completely as an egg cracked from its shell. The splitting began in those hazy days just after exams were done when everything should have been easy.'
When she is sixteen, Kit suffers a summer of sleeplessness that isn't quite what it seems; her body lies in bed while she wanders through her family home, the streets of her run-down seaside town and into the houses of friends and strangers. Unseen and unheard, she witnesses her parents and their deteriorating relationship in a painful new way. Her home thrums with quiet violence that she can no longer ignore. With this secret knowledge it becomes impossible not to react and a single word soon changes everything.
Intimate, tense and exquisitely observed, The Sleepwatcher is a moving portrait of family, danger and guilt, captured through the strange summer heat of adolescence.
When she is sixteen, Kit suffers a summer of sleeplessness that isn't quite what it seems; her body lies in bed while she wanders through her family home, the streets of her run-down seaside town and into the houses of friends and strangers. Unseen and unheard, she witnesses her parents and their deteriorating relationship in a painful new way. Her home thrums with quiet violence that she can no longer ignore. With this secret knowledge it becomes impossible not to react and a single word soon changes everything.
Intimate, tense and exquisitely observed, The Sleepwatcher is a moving portrait of family, danger and guilt, captured through the strange summer heat of adolescence.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 20, 2023
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1511 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
August 16, 2023
I was very impressed with Rowan's debut novel - 'Harmless Like You' - and from the moment I read it I started to follow her every literary step.
'The Sleep Watcher' is her third novel painting a complex picture of hidden domestic violence and its dire consequences. Kit is an adolescent slowly discovering herself and what she wants in her life, but at the same time disturbed by her nightly out-of-body experiences. They allow her to scratch the surface of her parent's relationship and see things that under normal circumstances would be hidden from her. This is a story of difficult choices, violence and its varied faces, sometimes those that are hard to comprehend at first glance, and finding hope and clarity where all seems not to work. Rowan has a special gift for well-paced intimate stories that slowly unravel their secrets and subtly surprise us when we least expect it.
'The Sleep Watcher' is her third novel painting a complex picture of hidden domestic violence and its dire consequences. Kit is an adolescent slowly discovering herself and what she wants in her life, but at the same time disturbed by her nightly out-of-body experiences. They allow her to scratch the surface of her parent's relationship and see things that under normal circumstances would be hidden from her. This is a story of difficult choices, violence and its varied faces, sometimes those that are hard to comprehend at first glance, and finding hope and clarity where all seems not to work. Rowan has a special gift for well-paced intimate stories that slowly unravel their secrets and subtly surprise us when we least expect it.
February 5, 2023
I've loved Rowan Hisayo Buchanan's previous novels (Harmless Like You and Starling Days so I requested a copy of the author's latest novel on the strength of these books. Whilst there are some thematic similarities with her previous work, unfortunately I did not enjoy The Sleep Watcher nearly as much. Perhaps I went in with the wrong expectations but this novel felt distinctly middle grade/YA in feel and failed to linger in my mind after I finished reading. Not for me!
Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Staughton for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Staughton for the advance copy, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.
October 27, 2023
this was so magically beautiful while being so human and mundane. the author has been able to put into words things i wouldn't have thought possible. the feelings of guilt and fear, love and yearning. with so much nuance and care. i loved the descriptions of the town, too, but most of all is the writing with the often made-up adjectives, the unusual yet apt comparisons, that i am in awe of!!
March 26, 2024
This book was a real surprise and really grew on me. It does mix magical realism with fiction and the writing style is different..
April 29, 2023
I absolutely loved this book.
In it, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan has given us another protagonist with an unusual issue: in response to problems at home they start to have out of body experiences, wandering around their hometown and visiting the people they love at night, unseen.
As someone who reads a lot of crime fiction, I don’t need a reason for a first person narrative, I just accept it as the author’s choice. So often I can find the framing that is conventionally expected in literary fiction stretches my credulity. However, the framing here is exceptional: Kit is writing to their current lover about something from their past they say they can’t speak about.
This provided the book with tension. Questions that ran through my mind included: why is Kit telling their lover this? It’s not a suicide note, is it? How can they end happily after this? Meanwhile, Kit tells us about their quotidian experiences as a British teenager in a small seaside town.
I think novels with teenage protagonists that are not specifically aimed at the Young Adult market are quite rare. Apart from Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s earlier books, the only one I remember reading is James Joyce’s Stephen Hero.
Kit tells their lover about their youth with a mixture of nostalgia, wonder and shame. That framing doing some heavy lifting again.
Overall, Kit is another great addition to the pantheon of Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s writing. Kit foregrounds the often overlooked quality of gentleness - in their first lover, Andrew, and their current lover, to whom they are writing. Kit has seen some terrible things but we are left with the sense that they have had time and energy to do some healing and that they and their current lover will be OK. I hope so, anyway.
Three word review: Happiness is possible.
In it, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan has given us another protagonist with an unusual issue: in response to problems at home they start to have out of body experiences, wandering around their hometown and visiting the people they love at night, unseen.
As someone who reads a lot of crime fiction, I don’t need a reason for a first person narrative, I just accept it as the author’s choice. So often I can find the framing that is conventionally expected in literary fiction stretches my credulity. However, the framing here is exceptional: Kit is writing to their current lover about something from their past they say they can’t speak about.
This provided the book with tension. Questions that ran through my mind included: why is Kit telling their lover this? It’s not a suicide note, is it? How can they end happily after this? Meanwhile, Kit tells us about their quotidian experiences as a British teenager in a small seaside town.
I think novels with teenage protagonists that are not specifically aimed at the Young Adult market are quite rare. Apart from Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s earlier books, the only one I remember reading is James Joyce’s Stephen Hero.
Kit tells their lover about their youth with a mixture of nostalgia, wonder and shame. That framing doing some heavy lifting again.
Overall, Kit is another great addition to the pantheon of Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s writing. Kit foregrounds the often overlooked quality of gentleness - in their first lover, Andrew, and their current lover, to whom they are writing. Kit has seen some terrible things but we are left with the sense that they have had time and energy to do some healing and that they and their current lover will be OK. I hope so, anyway.
Three word review: Happiness is possible.
June 8, 2024
Easy to read, so beautifully written. Explored how gentle violence can be.
March 27, 2024
if i had to describe this book in three words beginning with it would be strange, simple, and sad.
it’s strange in the sense that i’ve never read anything like this before. the style and plot was definitely unusual but it worked ? the language is quite plain but i think that added to the story and the overall sombre tones of the book. for example there were assumptions and actions (this sounds ironic but bear with me) that were just very wrong and heavily influenced by perceived societal expectations, but the way they were stated so matter-of-factly and with such conviction and belief by the protagonist, a teenage girl, was so very depressing.
there were also other parts that were more explicitly sad, with lots of hints and signs dotted around that were easy for the reader to pick up on but less so for the protagonist. i didn’t go into this thinking it would be so unhappy so that definitely surprised me and made me reflect a little.
overall it’s very easy to read, has a funky writing style that seems kinda jarring and i think will deter some readers, but if you can get used to it then you might find this depressing yet refreshing.
tw: domestic violence, abuse, injury, trauma, sexual violence, dissociation, divorce, alcohol misuse, neglect
it’s strange in the sense that i’ve never read anything like this before. the style and plot was definitely unusual but it worked ? the language is quite plain but i think that added to the story and the overall sombre tones of the book. for example there were assumptions and actions (this sounds ironic but bear with me) that were just very wrong and heavily influenced by perceived societal expectations, but the way they were stated so matter-of-factly and with such conviction and belief by the protagonist, a teenage girl, was so very depressing.
there were also other parts that were more explicitly sad, with lots of hints and signs dotted around that were easy for the reader to pick up on but less so for the protagonist. i didn’t go into this thinking it would be so unhappy so that definitely surprised me and made me reflect a little.
overall it’s very easy to read, has a funky writing style that seems kinda jarring and i think will deter some readers, but if you can get used to it then you might find this depressing yet refreshing.
tw: domestic violence, abuse, injury, trauma, sexual violence, dissociation, divorce, alcohol misuse, neglect
March 28, 2024
A young woman, Kit, uses this book to addresses her lover to explain how her teenage self has made her who she is. She lived with her parents and younger brother in an unnamed seaside town in southern England and became prone to out-of-body nighttime wanderings as she slept. This device should have had nm slamming the book shut, never to open it again, but it worked. Able to travel round the town at will, she witnesses her parents in private moments and realises their relationship is increasingly fragile, her father not the happy-go-lucky man she thought she knew. She's also exploring her own sexuality with her closest school friend, Andrew. The satisfaction of reading this book lies in the evocation in just a few phrases of her home town, her teenage companions, her family, and the things they did. Her conflicting feelings about her parents - especially her father - whom she thought she knew are well portrayed. Kit is a convincing, if enigmatic character. An intriguing read.
July 16, 2024
Really liked this, eerily human and mundane I guess but also beautifully written and a lil plot twist at the end. Made me feel like a moody teenager again lol
August 27, 2023
Looking back into her past, Kit reflects back on the summer when she was aged sixteen, and her life and relationships with her increasingly distanced parents.
The novel begins as a letter to someone, it sounds like a confession and immediately introduces a feeling, a weight of guilt.
Written in first person, from the perspective of Kit, we are introduced early to the concept of an unreliable narrator, with an apologetic admission that her own aging memories may be blurred and not be wholly accurate. I must admit I do often struggle with an unreliable narrator but I think it creates the right tone for this particular book.
Intense and engaging from the start, the words are beautifully written, the sentences are dream like and flowing.
The main themes in the novel are of relationships, and the many shapes and forms that they can take and this is explored fairly successfully. The novel centers around its central characters and relationships, and the main criticism I have is that the world and plot building suffered a little as a consequence.
I struggle to articulate a plot behind that of a fairly vague blurb on the inside of the book. I felt at the end that there were elements that had been building so slowly and then rushed to a conclusion without the substance in between, and I feel it needed one more chapter to fully enable that to happen.
Whilst I think there are some elements that could’ve elevated the book even higher, this was a lovely book to read and I’d like to thank Hachette Books for an advanced copy.
TWs: for alcoholism, mental health issues, domestic abuse.
The novel begins as a letter to someone, it sounds like a confession and immediately introduces a feeling, a weight of guilt.
Written in first person, from the perspective of Kit, we are introduced early to the concept of an unreliable narrator, with an apologetic admission that her own aging memories may be blurred and not be wholly accurate. I must admit I do often struggle with an unreliable narrator but I think it creates the right tone for this particular book.
Intense and engaging from the start, the words are beautifully written, the sentences are dream like and flowing.
The main themes in the novel are of relationships, and the many shapes and forms that they can take and this is explored fairly successfully. The novel centers around its central characters and relationships, and the main criticism I have is that the world and plot building suffered a little as a consequence.
I struggle to articulate a plot behind that of a fairly vague blurb on the inside of the book. I felt at the end that there were elements that had been building so slowly and then rushed to a conclusion without the substance in between, and I feel it needed one more chapter to fully enable that to happen.
Whilst I think there are some elements that could’ve elevated the book even higher, this was a lovely book to read and I’d like to thank Hachette Books for an advanced copy.
TWs: for alcoholism, mental health issues, domestic abuse.
August 15, 2023
This was a difficult book for me to get into. It’s written as a letter from a woman to her lover, and the contents of the letter deal with her younger self. Because of this, it made it hard for me to feel as if I was getting into the story because these two barriers felt like they were keeping me at arms length as a spectator rather than a reading participant. The story deals with a young high school girl seeing her parents marriage fall apart as she can leave her sleeping body and explore the world around her. The letter she writes deals with how she dealt with these things as an attempt for her current lover to know and better understand her. Thematically, I liked the content. I liked seeing a young kid navigate the complexities of broken family in a more or less real way and the difficulties she had to go through, as well as the difficult decisions she had to make. However, I wasn’t crazy about the ending, as it felt like nothing was really answered, giving it an abrupt and incomplete feeling. But then again I think we are supposed to read this book as if we are the lover who is receiving this letter, in which case the abrupt ending makes sense.
Glad I read it, but not a book I’d recommend.
Glad I read it, but not a book I’d recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2024
Mundane and chilling. I liked the premise but something stopped me giving it higher.
January 12, 2025
“There was no break from wondering. There was no moment when I might escape into another world, a dream body, meet new monsters. There was no moment that I could ever slip out of my life. In or out of my body, it didn't matter.“ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s novel The Sleep Watcher is a dark, haunting exploration of family, the cloud of adolescence and the legacies of trauma; Kit, a teenage girl in a small coastal town, observes her parents and younger brother with increasing attention one summer, when she finds herself unexpectedly, uncontrollably astral projecting in her sleep, and seeing the side of her family life that had been kept from her for so long, and she herself had been unknowingly denying. The way Buchanan makes this surreal element seem so palpable is admirable, and contributes to how compelling the novel is overall; its treatment of domestic abuse and its overtly psychological elements, all done with sensitivity and subtlety, make the novel as humane as it is thrilling. I also really enjoyed its portrayal of the transitional phase from girlhood to womanhood, which Kit moves through with as much difficulty as joy in the course of the narrative. The novel’s form contributes to its power, Kit writing to a lover as an adult, reliving her strange, transformative summer from a distance. “I am so close to the end now. I don't want to write it. But I will. Even though I have spent so long trying not to think about what happened, it turns out that in writing, as in life, sometimes the sheer force of everything you've done keeps pushing you on.” The tragic, hopeful ending is as moving as it is rewarding, and all so beautifully crafted. Thank you Maria for this aching, heartbreaking proof!
June 25, 2024
I picked this book up from the library completely on impulse. I liked the cover and the title and so I didn't really look too much at what it was about. This is about Kit, a teenager who lives in a small town, who starts leaving her body when she sleeps and how what she sees affects her everyday life. It's a quiet kind of book, especially the tension between the parents and the children. The narrator, Kit, is writing it from a future for a loved one to explain some of her past.
I really did like this book. It's not the type of book I would reach for, the domestic violence and the tension is not something I tend to like in a book, but it really worked for me. Kit was not likeable, but neither was she unlikeable either. She was confused about what to do and what she was feeling, especially when she started to see more of her family, but it felt very realistic. There is no easy way to feel or not feel and this book highlights this really nicely.
I do like this book but I do wish we had gotten more of the future/present right at the end. We got snippets but I would have loved to see what Kit was doing now.
4 stars!
I really did like this book. It's not the type of book I would reach for, the domestic violence and the tension is not something I tend to like in a book, but it really worked for me. Kit was not likeable, but neither was she unlikeable either. She was confused about what to do and what she was feeling, especially when she started to see more of her family, but it felt very realistic. There is no easy way to feel or not feel and this book highlights this really nicely.
I do like this book but I do wish we had gotten more of the future/present right at the end. We got snippets but I would have loved to see what Kit was doing now.
4 stars!
January 27, 2025
🌟4.3/5
It was a very thought-provoking book I have read this year as my 1st read, and tbh I enjoyed it too..
So, in the beginning , I felt it was a little slow and kinda hard for me to cope up to read and kind off it was Boring For me, it was slowed after 130 or 150 pages, and it started getting Better and it shows us rhe the harsh truth about Society as well , like how the because of Parents their child have to go through a lot and sometimes it can be a trauma too...
● I was relating with the fmc in so many parts, and this book will make you feel like sometimes you are reading Your story (not for anyone tho but for me, i related in many lines)..
● It has a wonderful realistic love story that will feel like so real sometimes that you will forget that you are reading a fiction book...
Despite the start being slow for me but I still was like I'm going to finish this book this month and tbh I'm very about this that I finished this book last night...!!
Overall, am I going to recommend this to you guys ?? Definitely, yes, if you are looking for something, you can take your time to read and devour also a realistic yet emotional read, then this us For you...!!!🤎🍂
It was a very thought-provoking book I have read this year as my 1st read, and tbh I enjoyed it too..
So, in the beginning , I felt it was a little slow and kinda hard for me to cope up to read and kind off it was Boring For me, it was slowed after 130 or 150 pages, and it started getting Better and it shows us rhe the harsh truth about Society as well , like how the because of Parents their child have to go through a lot and sometimes it can be a trauma too...
● I was relating with the fmc in so many parts, and this book will make you feel like sometimes you are reading Your story (not for anyone tho but for me, i related in many lines)..
● It has a wonderful realistic love story that will feel like so real sometimes that you will forget that you are reading a fiction book...
Despite the start being slow for me but I still was like I'm going to finish this book this month and tbh I'm very about this that I finished this book last night...!!
Overall, am I going to recommend this to you guys ?? Definitely, yes, if you are looking for something, you can take your time to read and devour also a realistic yet emotional read, then this us For you...!!!🤎🍂
April 21, 2023
Let's Get Some Closure.
Being an old timer obviously I found this story and style of writing a little difficult to swallow.
It has all the accolades you can mention in the reviews, so it will no doubt win awards galore.
That's where this book and I go separate ways.
Yes, it is written in a suitably sheek and oh so hip a style, which, by halfway through, I found so utterly tiresome.
The characters are instantly forgettable, and the spattering of odd comments that were out of sync with the paragraph we were in, left me cold.
I gave it a whirl till halfway through, but realised this was as good as it gets.
Closing the book for the final time, I felt a torrent of utter relief.
Being an old timer obviously I found this story and style of writing a little difficult to swallow.
It has all the accolades you can mention in the reviews, so it will no doubt win awards galore.
That's where this book and I go separate ways.
Yes, it is written in a suitably sheek and oh so hip a style, which, by halfway through, I found so utterly tiresome.
The characters are instantly forgettable, and the spattering of odd comments that were out of sync with the paragraph we were in, left me cold.
I gave it a whirl till halfway through, but realised this was as good as it gets.
Closing the book for the final time, I felt a torrent of utter relief.
February 22, 2025
Tenía tantas ganas de leer a Rowan pero a pesar de que los primeros capítulos me engancharon; algo existió que me perdí en el hilo de la historia. No sabía en donde era un sueño y donde la realidad; quizás esa era la intención pero sucedió y perdí ese hook de la historia.
Quizás regresaría a este libro una vez más. La manera de escribirlo me parece original aunque quizás eso no ayudó. En fin, es un buen libro, quizás no está lista para esta lectura.
Quizás regresaría a este libro una vez más. La manera de escribirlo me parece original aunque quizás eso no ayudó. En fin, es un buen libro, quizás no está lista para esta lectura.
January 21, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. I found the sadness of the child observing the breakdown of her parents' relationship so poignant. The descriptions were so realistic and absorbing that I almost forgot the magical element was not real - it was so cleverly wound into the reality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2023
I absolutely loved this. Rowan is such a beautiful writer, felt so soothing and comforting to read. This is now one of my favourite books, so memorable.
May 26, 2023
Still the queen of simile.
July 15, 2023
Can’t say I enjoyed this as disturbing but it was a very good book. Story well told and interesting ideas woven in. A bit of a page turner but, as disturbing at times, I did put it down a few times.
January 1, 2024
Adding this to my list of reasons for crying in therapy.
February 29, 2024
Erm 😅 okay girl 😜
April 11, 2024
3.5 stars
Read
May 14, 2024liked the writing style until about 70% but then the events taking place left a bad taste in my mouth…. idk girl
June 11, 2024
A heartfelt & beautiful story about families & love. Will make your cry & smile all at the same time.
July 4, 2024
I don’t think I will ever get enough of Rowan’s writing style she is my favourite in the world this book was so beautiful to read
September 11, 2024
Brutal and beautiful - recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews